Bing

Tried the coil around the finger test; absolutely no cracking. It’s very plastic. Another characteristic I forgot to mention is that it seems to dry extremely slowly. Much slower than the array of porcelains and stoneware clays I work with.

New to this all, and thank you so much for these thoughtful responses. I will continue since the idea of the wild really intrigues me. Your comments will lead me on. Unfortunately, no kiln of my own yet but I will experiment in the ways that I can.

I have a dark (iron filled, I’ve been told) natural clay I dug from a foundation job nearby. Our neighborhood has a spring fed underground stream system running through it. I’m able to throw using it but it has some noticeable properties: while plastic, it has a tendency to sheer off if not super well-wetted, it has detectable fine sand in it but is quite sticky, it also does not adhere to itself. I attempted to put a handle on a mug I’d thrown, but there was no affinity when I tried to get it to attach. I’ve done a test bisque. The deep coffee-bean colored clay bisques to a brilliant brick red. About 14% shrinkage and it held its shape well. When I ran it through a cone six firing it returned to its deep brown color and acquired a pretty sheen that my studio teacher said was probably the beginnings of vitrification. He suggested I try it at cone two. Does any of this information give anyone an idea of how I might make the clay a bit more workable?