YellowSpiders Potter’s Club is one of its kind pottery clubs in Mumbai run by NID graduate Neha Ramaiya. The club is the only Pottery Club in Mumbai, having advanced tools and equipments to teach pottery for career and art. It has recently introduced new claymation facilities for animation professionals and students who want to create and sculpt new characters.
AnimationXpress.com’s, Parita Upadhyayahad a conversation with Neha Ramaiya, founder of YellowSpiders Potter’s club about the latest developments and introduction of claymation facilities in her club and more…
Excerpts
1)What is the Objective behind finding the YellowSpiders potters club?
POTTERY has always been looked at as a cool hobby or fun activity to take up during holidays or vacations. The reasons for its popularity are many. Whether it is the idea of going back to your rustic roots or the sheer thought of moulding and creating something so beautiful with your own hands, whatever the reason may be, it is definitely on most people’s ‘to-learn’ list. Not to forget the fact that it takes you back to the days when you were little, having your fill with all the clay available at home! Unfortunately, though tempting enough to cultivate as a hobby, it rarely falls into or figures on most people’s list of ‘serious’ career options.
2)Elaborate on what the yellow spider club is all about?
According to me, a lot of awareness is required about pottery as an art form and the fact
that it can be taken up as a serious career. “There are very few institutes offering technical,
professional and advanced courses in pottery for interested learners. Abroad, pottery is
taken very seriously as an art form and has a lot of scope and is a very lucrative career
option. Sadly, it is not the same in India.”
Adding to this is the other pitfall, the earnings! “You need to be extremely passionate,
dedicated and patient as the investments in this field are very high with slow returns in the
bargain.”
3)How will it be useful for animation professionals and students?
Just about anything in your everyday world can be transformed into something extraordinary with a little bit of clay magic and a little bit of creativity. Just look around your house and you will discover lots of great ideas.
Clay is one of the most malleable forming substances known. It is ideal for almost any shape or design. It can be embellished with extremely intricate detail and even combined with other materials anything from a tiny figurative sculpture, to a massive bowl can be formed in clay. Molds can be used to make clay and can take on any form or texture. Some clay bodies, as in this example, are self-hardening and require no kiln-firing to cure. Self-hardening modeling clay is therefore an ideal starting material that lets you focus on the modeling aspect.
For example make a figure of a man out of clay using a technique that makes it realistically proportioned. Build the inside of the clay figure with a type of wire “skeleton” and body structure to make sure it is sturdy. By using air-dry modeling clay, you don’t have to do any baking or firing to get it to harden and it comes in many different colors which you can use for the skin and other surfaces of the clay man.
4)Has there been any character creation activity recently? Can you please elaborate upon that as a detailed insight into how character creation can be done at your studio?
As we are just beginning to offer studio facilities for claymation , we haven’t yet ventured into any projects
5)What all can be done with clay and pottery?
Most sculptors making clay models use primarily their hands to shape the clay, but there are some tools which make sculpting clay much easier and more creative. Clay can be modeled either on a solid surface or thrown on a pottery wheel. The tools used can vary slightly by the method of modeling, but are similar in use and design for both types of clay modeling.
Polymer Modeling Clay. Polymer modeling clay is available These different polymer modelling clays have various degrees of softness at room temperature, and they can be mixed to combine their individual properties – for example, to make a softer clay stiffer by combining it with a firmer clay. They are finished by baking in an oven at 265°-275°F (129°-135°C) for 15 minutes for each ? inch (6mm) of thickness.
Although they are made to be paintable upon baking, polymer modeling clays are available in a wide variety of colors, which can be mixed. In addition, some special feature colors have been created, including translucent, fluorescent, metallic, and bright colors. Other featured specialty clays have a stone texture or glow in the dark.
Dough Modeling Clay. Dough modeling clay, which may be edible or inedible, resembles the product PlayDoh®, and is often, in fact, called playdough. Playdoughs are easily made at home in both cooked and uncooked versions, and are less expensive than some of the other types of modeling clay. They are made of such ingredients as flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, oil, and water. They can be colored when made, for example, with food coloring, or have color added after. Cookie dough is one example of edible modeling clay.
One of the useful features of dough modeling clay is that it reusable, though, for example, in the case of a gingerbread house, baking is used to set and preserve the form. Flour-based products – including PlayDoh®, which clearly states that it is meant to be used and reused rather than employed to make lasting items – have a tendency to crack as they dry..
Pottery Clay or Firing Clay. This type of modeling clay is used for pottery and stoneware, and is worked by hand and on a potter’s wheel. It is meant to be air-dried and then fired in a kiln. Glazes with glossy, matte, or specialty finishes are used to decorate pottery and are baked on during the firing process. There are low fire, mid, and high fire clays, and glazes for each type.
Pottery clay is usually available in terra cotta, a rust-colored clay, and white, which may appear gray when moist, but dries white. However, some clays do have different tints. Clays are described by their raw and firing color; texture; amenity to throwing, slab, and other particular uses; and the size(s) and thickness(es) for which they work best.
6)What all facilities do you provide for animation professionals and students who want to create and sculpt new characters?
Complete Studio infrastructure for working with clay , space to model their work and design inputs
7)How many animators are currently working?
None so far, like I said earlier, it’s a maiden venture
8)How would animators and students get benefited through YellowSpiders potters club?
Only once they experience a project undertaken at YellowSpiders will I be able to talk about it.But we have many testimonials from other students of YellowSpiders.