CLAY WORK

​Our work with clay includes a very broad spectrum of activities and involves the use of native materials as clay bodies, glazes, and cob.

MATERIALS

The substance in this photo is called lodgment till. We collect it here on the farm and use it as a primary element in the mixing of cob as well as in glazes. There are no sufficiently plastic native clays in our region, so we travel about three hours to a site where it can be dug.

CLAY PREPARATION

Mixing our own clay, reconstituting trimmings and dried clay, and general preparation of clay for use require a variety of special techniques.

EXERCISES WITH CLAY

Making connections between conceptual elements of form and the manual ability to accurately apply them to substance, is the essence of acquiring skill. Like musicians learning to play an instrument, who practice scales, we strengthen fingers, hands, and arms while learning to correctly shape basic geometric forms.

CANDLE HOLDERS
This project was inspired by the molten material inadvertently produced in a blacksmithing forge made from local cob. At high temperatures the clay/till/sand mixture actually melts, making beautifully colored glass. We use a commercial raku clay body to make the candle holder, then experiment with various mixtures of natural cob materials to create glazes.

FLOWER POTS

We travel to a neighboring state to dig native clay. In it's pure state this semi-plastic material is not quite suitable for hand-shaping pottery. We amend it with various mixtures of clay and ground flint in order to produce a suitable clay body. From mixing through to firing, many individuals contribute their skills to the process by which these pieces of pottery are created.

COB

Cob is a building material containing various proportions of earthen materials such as clay and sand, mixed with organic materials like manure and straw. We  use cob for constructing a variety of outdoor furnaces and subject it to extreme pyrotechnic conditions. 
OUR WORK