Even the gods have to make clay test tiles

All ceramists make clay test tiles. These are used to see if the clay is suitable for work and firing at the desired temperature. But these small clay tiles are also used to see if the glaze is good and suitable for that clay.

My stock of test tiles started to come to an end, so it was time to make new ones. Devising and making glaze tests is second nature for me. This is what makes ceramics so different from other art forms. A writer is not going to develop a PC before he starts writing.

But a ceramist, who makes his own work, cannot escape pre-testing. Can’t escape the technique of making. Can’t escape the laws of nature. Even the gods cannot escape from making clay test tiles…

Ceramist God Juok

My grandmother told me when I was a little boy, that according to the Indians (“Native Americans” or “American Indians” in modern English) the goddess made people out of clay. But at the first attempt she fired the clay too low and people remained white. In the second attempt she fired the clay too high and they came black out of the kiln. It was only the third time that she managed to get people with a beautiful red color out of her kiln; the Indians.

As a little boy, I loved two things: clay and Indians, so this story has always been with me. In Bryan Sentance’s book “Ceramics, a world guide to traditional Techniques”, I recently read the story my grandmother told me.

But there are stories and legends all over the world that people are made out of clay. According to a myth of the Shilluk from the Sudan, the god Juok also made people out of clay. And he too needed several attempts to eventually create the beautiful black Shilluk from a good clay.

So you see there’s no shame as a ceramist, if something goes wrong in the kiln. Even the gods need multiple attempts to create something beautiful from clay.

The best clay test tiles

I may not be able to create people from clay, like the gods and goddesses of the past. But I can try to make the best clay test tiles that can be made.

The question is of course, what are the best test tiles? Shall I make red, white or black tiles? As with everything in ceramics, opinions on this are divided. And even the gods disagree about what color is best…

I’m going to try them all, after all you have to test everything as a ceramist. And unlike the gods of the past, I have no preferences which color my ceramics have when it comes out of the kiln…