Hansen's Clay Mine

Okay, it is more of a small hole in the ground. But anyway, I scooped up a clean piece and molded it into a hand formed bowl. In Kansas, we had marine clay about 300 million years old. This stuff here in Alexandria is the various decompositions of mountains that were once as grand as the Himalayas. The clay is toothy, still full of mica. There is an extremely plastic component as well. You could say it has everything between basketballs and golf balls, to use potter Hank Murrow's analogy. Naturally, I will process this clay properly and it can be used for clay body, engobes, or slips, what ever it seems fit for. Recently I have become aware of Alexandria's long ceramics history via seeing Eddie Wilder's book on colonial era stoneware potters in the heart of what is now Old Town. At:

http://www.alexandriavapottery.com/index.html