Lets get Dirty
Wild Clay Pottery, Its not for everybody. Pottery should be spiritual not technical. The fulfillment that creating from the Earth is extremely satisfying. I hope to convey a connection between human beings and Mother Earth with everything that I make.
Sorry for the Photos, I have pieced together several dig site and dates to show the Means & Methods I use to just get to the point of making a Pot.
My Flint Hills Site for Clay.
The things we go through…
This site is typically below water level at Perry Lake. Even the weeds in the background are usually underwater. I have dug hundreds of pounds of clay from this area. The rock foundation is probably from an original homestead.
Its a 1/4 mile walk back to the truck, each bucket probably 50 pounds. This trip I hauled 10 buckets, which yields about 50 percent clay. About once a year I can access this location, this is an extreme drought condition, I’m making the best of it.
Beginning the clay processing part.
First soak, remove floating stuff, let sit, stir, repeat, let sit, stir, repeat. “SOMETIMES DAYS”
Then I run everything through a series of screens until I get down to window screen size, removing all foreign material. Limestone is my biggest enemy, even pieces the size of sand can cause my pottery to chip off or even explode. I have to be very picky as to the sights I choose. The organics left behind after screening will typically burn off in during firing.
After screening the SLURRY is placed into a sheet to drain the water out. The wood frame in this photo is made from 2x4’s and is 4 foot square. I let the soup sit for up to a week during the hot summer, longer when its cool.
Once the water has leached out through the fabric I have a raw clay ready for testing.
On more then one occasion I have gone through this entire process to find out the clay is just not suitable for pottery. Small scale trials are advised but not always followed.
The testing consist of small coils and tile pieces also coil and pinch pots. I add sand or grog (sand size fired pottery pieces) at certain volumes or weight by percentage. I test 6” test strips to see how much my clay shrinks during drying.
After hundreds of pounds of clay, I have a pretty good feel as to how much I need to add. The additives help with shrinking and breakage during firing. Some clay’s change color (usually to red) at certain temperatures. Its pretty disappointing to see a beautiful gray clay turn out brick red. I have plenty of red clay.
Now we can make some pottery.