#wildclay

#Nature is the ultimate creative expression from which we as artists and craftspeople draw our inspiration. I unloaded the kiln yesterday and this is my favorite pot out of the batch, inspired by my favorite plant, and decorated with the rich earth tones of #WildClay. The glossy brown of the neck rings comes from a single clay—not a formulated glaze—collected from beneath an electric pole, roadside on some farmland in Northern #Louisiana. I noticed it while driving by. More in the #AltText.

I love this part of my process. I spread out all of my test tiles (both glaze and terra sigillata) on my work table and create combinations that I’ll use on my #pottery. The four tiles to the right are one of the color combos I picked out. I wrote about the process of converting foraged #WildClay samples to terra sigillata (refined decorating slip) in this blogpost: “Earthen Rainbow: Decorating with Clay”

I’m making a clay body out of a dried out bag of porcelain a friend gave me and some super sandy clay from a construction site that someone brought me back in 2023. It’s for a community event on Monday. I can’t wait to see what it feels like to work with. Here are photos from the source. #WildClay

Super fun activity with the teen mentee today. I showed her how to turn #WildClay into a workable clay body, a slip and terra sigillata. We processed the clay, removing small rocks and root material with a sieve. We dipped a test tile into the resulting creamy slip and then poured some of that slip onto plaster to quick-dry it into a plastic state. She made a little pinch pot from that. Then we watered down the slip and added a touch of sodium silicate for the sig. She was stoked. #AltText

A couple favorite Earth Tone pots from my last kiln load. I sent them to a gallery this week for an upcoming show. The theme is geometric patterning. I can’t wait to see the work from the other makers. It will be very cool to see everyone’s pottery grouped together—unique, yet united by a common theme. #pottery #ceramics #WildClay

Two different terra sigillata results from the same #WildClay sample. I’ve talked a lot about how terra sig is just refined clay slip—Clay and water blended, left to settle and then you collect the silky fine layer at the top to decorate with. Well, you can get varied results depending on how long you let the clay solution settle. The shiny red is a highly refined sig (left to sit for four days) and the green is a less refined sig (sat for 24 hrs.) I find this so interesting!

George Washington Carver, best known for his scientific innovations, was also an artist who experimented with natural pigments since childhood. These paint swatches at the GW Carver Museum at Tuskegee show the color palettes he developed using natural #clay from Alabama. He freely shared recipes detailing the process of turning clay into house paint so that those with little or no money could still enjoy beautiful surroundings. #BlackFedi #AddToBlacksky #WildClay #art #BlackHistory

I finally got around to processing several #WildClay samples I'd collected over the last half of the year. I really love having this very tangible way to reflect on the places I've been. I've made some predictions of what results I might get from my test tiles, but mostly, I'm prepared to be surprised--which is what makes it a fun and inspiring way to work. I wanted to share my blog post "Earthen Rainbow: Decorating with Clay" for those who haven't seen it.