Manipulating clay is a truly unique creative and sensory experience.
Clay has all the characteristics to allow a free, autonomous manipulative experience that involves all the senses. It is a natural material, it comes from the earth, it is moist, it smells good, it is pleasant to the touch, it is fresh, soft and can be easily shaped.
It transforms in different ways:
- it can be used in solid, powder or liquid form;
- it is cold to the touch, but when you manipulate it, it warms up;
- under the action of water it melts and dries in the air.
The transformation of clay is an earth and fire process that has always held a deep fascination for human beings.
Clay is a material present in nature that allows you to create different artifacts (“handmade”).
It is the raw material used to make pottery. It can be found in specialized fine arts stores, by potters or can be taken from the ground itself.
Raw clay looks like a plastic mass of different colors depending on the minerals and oxides it contains. Colors range from white, yellow to gray, red, blue, brown and black.
It is generally reddish in color due to the presence of iron minerals.
It is usually found at a depth of about 50 cm / 1 m, extracted from quarries in alluvial areas and wet environments.
It is very malleable and easy to work with because of the presence of water in it, but when it dries it becomes stiff and brittle. If it is baked, it becomes permanently solid.
Nowadays, shaping clay is a pleasant and relaxing activity that allows us, with little money and in a simple way, to create, build, manipulate, expressing our imagination and fantasy.