Wild Clay Project

These ‘pots’ have been hand built with wild clay from the fields surrounding the workshop, which I discovered when having a large hole dug to install and new transformer to run my new kiln! It is an ongoing project and I’m now trying to develop a glaze using a combination of clay and other natural ingredients such as peat ash. 

The clay comes out of the ground a blue/grey colour (see pictures below) and when fired to 1080oC (low fired) it turns a lovely terracotta.  The higher I fire the clay, to 1220oC the darker it becomes, whilst still maintaining it’s integrity. 

I have experimented with sieving the clay to remove all but the smallest stones, through to leaving in all the stones, to see how it behaves.  You can see the results from the smooth vase as compared to the very rough ‘platter’ and larger vessel. 

It’s an exciting project and there’s something very special about digging up my own clay and using it to make useful (or just beautiful) items.

There are a few wild clay pots for sale in my shop and I’m adding to the range all the time.