I dug this clay in the backyard down near the beaver pond at the home of Jennie Lorette Keatts. I took the clay slaked it down and put it through a window screen and then dried it on a piece of plaster to a workable consistency. I made a couple of pinch pots and a shrink bar. The Jugtown family loaded them into the groundhog kiln and here are the results. Thank you- Jugtown.
I left a small bag for Vernon Owens to throw. He told his wife Pam it was a four letter word. Pam and I both thought he meant shit. He said it was "soil". Like many of the wild clays of NC it could use the addition of another/ clay material. This clay wasn't all that plastic so I think some ball clay would work wonders.
That said I heard all at Jugtown were pretty pleased at how well it salted. The NC clay is highly siliceous so it attracts salt well. One bowl I made without screening. I left the chunks of flint stones in it. The other I put through a kitchen screen.
I'm working in the studio on Sunday after my son Jay and his wife Denise and two of my 3 beautiful grand d
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| Looks like my grand daughters made these |
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| Pots in the groundhog are fired on flint stones- nice random markings. |
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| I did a five inch shrink slab- not much shrinkage? |
aughters leave after a weekend with Grandpa. We are going to eat junk food, pizza, wings and go bowling. I can't wait to see them.
On Sunday aft I am building a couple of slab built candelabras to fire in Queen Anne with Duncan and Emma. The kiln will be reduction cooled so I am going to apply laterite. I hope I can get them finished dried and bisqued for loading on Thursday. Kinda wishing I had 25 pounds of Wild Beaver Pond clay sans flint stones .Queen Anne gets a lot of alkaline vapour equivalent of a good salting.
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