1. Clay Art By Tia Tisdale

2. How Clay Is Made Clay is very fine particles of dirt which float in a stream or river and then sink to the bottom where they press on each other and stick together. You generally find clay along the banks of a river or stream, wherever the river is pulling dirt down off the mountains or hills, and dropping it in a quiet part of the river lower down.

3. How People Collect The Clay They use their hands or tools and they gather up the clay. Then the clay is soaked in a bucket of water to get out small twigs and pebbles. After the debris is removed, the clay is dried, ground, tempered or stored or used. Water is added to the dry, cured clay and it must be worked, wedged and smoothed to remove any air pockets.

4. Clay is squishy when it is wet, so you can make it any shape you like, and then it dries in the sun as the water evaporates out. You can make it soft again by putting it in a bucket of water and waiting a week or two. How Clay Dries

5. Metal and Silver Clay Metal clays are made from particles of metal suspended in water and a moldable base made of organic material. The process for creating these clays originated from the recycling of movie film containing particles of real silver and gelatin.

6. Clay Statues People used clay for statues too. The Etruscans and people from china and West Africa in particular made great clay statues.

7. I picked clay art because someday I want to make my own sculpture out of clay. I learned that there is clay that is metal and silver. I learned how clay is made. Why I Picked Clay Art

8. References Ehow.com www.historyforkids.org