The Ceramics Studio at Wayne County Day Treatment Services
The Wayne County Day Treatment Services (DTS) Ceramic Studio is located at the Romulus NeuroSkills Center in Romulus, Michigan. Through a series of generous donations and unforeseen events, we acquired the necessary equipment to build and operate our own ceramics studio within Wayne County DTS. A few of the DTS Team Members volunteered to help set up the studio and learn how the process works. Tom, from Clay Magic, taught the staff how to use the materials and make the ceramic pieces.
There is a process for making the ceramic pieces. First, the artist has to choose a mold. Then the artist pours slip (liquid clay) into the mold. Fifteen to thirty minutes later, the mold is flipped over to let the excess slip drip out. When the clay dries in the mold, it’s called greenware. It is soft and fragile and needs to be removed from the mold VERY CAREFULLY! Otherwise it would SQUISH! After the piece dries for a while, the artist ‘cleans’ the piece using sponges, knives, or various shaped files or sandpaper. Cleaning the greenware is important because it removes any lines, seams, or other imperfections from the piece. Afterwards, the cleaned greenware is then placed into a kiln which is basically an oven that bakes and hardens the greenware at 2,800⁰. This step is referred to as ‘firing’ process. This process takes a full 24 hours since the piece must rest inside of the kiln while cooling down. At this point in the process, your piece can be referred to as ‘bisque’. Now it can be ‘glazed’, which is liquid glass that you apply to your bisque with brushes. There are several types of glazes including: Foundations, Crystalites, and Elements. They all produce a different effect on the bisque. After it’s dry, it gets put into the kiln for a second time. After 24 long hours, it’s ready to be sold or admired!The leaders, Ann and Brenda, have been here since the ceramics studio started. They supervise and make sure the artist’s produce quality pieces. They both enjoy seeing the looks of satisfaction on an artist’s face when they finish their piece. The artists have a lot of pride in their work, and they will tell you all about it!
David is an artist whose favorite part is cleaning the greenware. He says, “Working in ceramics makes me feel more comfortable, and (he) finds it very soothing.” He shared his excitement about how some of his pieces were sold in Traverse City at a conference last fall. He shared that he LOVED the experience and how people loved his work.
Jim is another one of the studio’s artists. He prefers and enjoys working on the pouring step of the ceramics process. This is when you pour the slip into the molds, and remove the piece once it’s hardened. When he first began working in the studio, he made a unicorn piece and gave it to his daughter. He shared, with a grin on his face that his daughter was in disbelief that the unicorn was made by him. Jim said, “I love working in the ceramic studio because it makes me feel AWESOME!!!”
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| Tile for mosaic wall at NCC! |
