Clay Clay is a natural earthy material consisting of fine mineral s with high plasticity that can be used for sculpting . When the became trapped in Kukulkan ' s force globe and attempted to escape , their efforts were described as being as if the ship was " " ramming into a wall of clay . " " ( ) The Sacred Chalice of Rixx , a notable Betazoid artifact held by Lwaxana Troi , was described by her daughter , Deanna , as being " " an old clay pot with mold growing inside it . " " ( ) During the Borg invasion of 2366 Geordi La Forge used the analogy that his " mind ' s turned to clay " during a late night staff meeting . Wesley Crusher agreed with La Forge ' s comment , as the senior staff of the began to exhaust their options while exploring means to defeat the invading Borg cube . ( ) In 2368 , Alexander Rozhenko chose to make a cup for his father out of clay . He offered to let a fellow classmate , Clara Sutter , assist him , who at first was unsuccessful in her technique , but finally got the hang of it . While the two slowly became friends , Isabella , Clara ' s " invisible friend " , tried the break up their friendship by pushing a block of clay over onto the cup Alexander had been working on for two week s , crushing it . ( ) When Mullibok explained his farming to Kira Nerys , and how he tamed his fields , he stated that whenever he had hit a patch of mineralized clay , he would just grind it up in his teeth to enrich the soil . ( ) The winner of the first annual Captain Picard Day , in 2370 , was Paul Menegay , who made a clay sculpture of Captain Picard ' s head . In recalling the entry , Commander Riker inquired if it was " " the orange one with lumpy skin ? " " ( ) Later that year , " Enterprise " - D teacher Mrs . Narsu instructed her class with sculpting with clay ; Deanna Troi observed the class , which included Eric Burton and Data . According to Troi " " it is important to make the clay take the shape you want it to have , " " however that day the students were not to concentrate on technique , but rather to " " focus on the feelings you want to convey ; " " Eric chose to sculpt a bird wing out of clay , to express the concept of flight . Data , however , had difficulty expressing his imagination , and created a treble clef as his concept of music . After coming under the influence of the D ' Arsay archive , Data created a clay mask , which represented the D ' Arsay queen Masaka . When Troi saw it , she described it as " amazing " , while Data himself described the source of his inspiration , stating , " " for some reason , as I was shaping the clay , the image of the mask was exceptionally clear in my mind . The design seemed to flow naturally . " " ( ) While visiting Risa , Jadzia Dax relaxed while working with clay . She was assisted by Risian Arandis , who guided Dax ' s hands while she molded the clay , guided her technique , by telling her to pour her emotion s into it . ( ) Kathryn Janeway instructed Seven of Nine how to mold with clay in Leonardo da Vinci ' s workshop . Janeway ' s first rule being : " " don ' t be afraid of the clay , " " meaning , " " you can ' t concern yourself with making a mistake , or whether the image you had in your mind is what ' s taking form in front of you . You just have to let your hands – and the clay – do the work . " " While Seven ultimately seemed to find the entire activity unproductive , Janeway , explained that she found that the activity gave her great pleasure and helped her relax and unwind . ( ) Despite her seeming disinterest in the previous exercise , it seemed Seven may have gotten something out of it , as she had the Borg children that she was caring for , Icheb , Mezoti , Azan and Rebi , participate in clay sculpting in 2376 . She instructed the children to create geometric shapes , but Mezoti instead chose to create a sculpture of her . Icheb asked if she was going to implement a punishment protocol for Mezoti ' s not following the instructions , but Seven , following the advice of Chakotay , praised Mezoti for demonstrating ingenuity and individuality and told her to resume her disorder . ( )