Rachel and Eric on mon 2 nov 98
Amy,
May be that the Georgia indians got their clay in the river bank or
somewhere else. Who knows. Here in Southern Mexico the indians are still
potting just as the Chehaw were way back when. From village to village the
way clay is prepared is distinctive based on raw materails. But they are all
basically doing the same thing, which is gathering and prepping clay and
grog and then mixing them in the right proportion.
Here is one example of how that is done. In San Marcos the clay is
dug up out in the corn fields. It comes up in clods. The clod pile is taken
home and spread in the courtyard to dry in the sun. Here that usually takes
a day or 2.
The dry clods are then put into a large pot, the ceramic equivalent
of a 5 gal. plastic bucket. Filled about halfway with clods and then topped
off with water. This is left to soak until the clods dissolve. This might
require some help from your hands to break things up.
Once all is disloved the potter stirs the pot around with her hands,
getting a slippy soup. Next to this pot she has another just like it. Using
a dipper she pulls out clay-laden water from the top of her mix. This she
passes through a sieve (standard kitchen sieve). Liquid passes through,
roots and other organics get caught in the sieve and tossed. All heavy
stuff stays at the bottom of the pot. You keep this up until you get to the
bottom. It is usually necessary to add more water to keep your mix nice and
fluid.
Once you've sieved off all the clay and it is all in the next pot
over, you leave it for a day while it all settles out. Next day you'll find
clear water in the top, clay on the bottom. The potter will gently remove
all of this clear water with her ladel. Once she's down to the clay she'll
add grog.
Grog in San Marcos is very fine sand, sieved through a fine mesh. In
this case a certain type of bag used by non-potters for shopping. The grog
is poured into this very wet clay and mixed with the hand. A lot of grog
goes in. About 50% seems to be grog.
Understand, however, that this is quick fired pottery. Fired to
temperature (+-1300 Farhenheit) in under an hour and cooled back to ambient
in another 20 minutes. Low fire pottery made specifically for putting into
cooking fires for the length of its usable life, just like the pottery
you're finding along the river there. So, to do this, to ride the
temperature shocks, it is grog rich. Such groggy clay behaves rather
differently than clays most folks are used to. Can't thow with it. Very
course. Your potters were, and the Oaxacans still are, supreme experts at
handbuilding.
Anyway, the potter mixes her clay and grog. Knowing when you've
added enough is purely experiencial. The potter suddenly stops mixing, takes
a taste of the clay and delcares it done. At this point it is still quite
moist, like hot fudge, and can be poured. A thin bed of grog sand is
prepared on a clean piece of courtyard floor (earth) and the clay is poured
thinly, 1/2", over this bed and left to firm up. Here that will take about 4
hours. Keep turkeys and goats from running through it during this time it at
all possible. The clay firms from the edges inward and is collected bit by
bit as it is deemed ready. BAsically it is ready when it feels like clay you
would normally work with, perhaps a bit stiffer. Then it is wedged up and
ready to work.
Folks more familar with high temp firing can tell you more about
testing it and melting etc. I don't think any clay melts at 1300 degrees.
Have big fun
Eric
ordering some clay yesterday...Why cannot I make clay outta this river bed
clay.?..When I dig deep into the banks you can clearly see the clay and =
smell it
too=21
What would I have to do about making it and testing it? What would I have =
to
add to the clay to make it work for me? I am assuming that I would dig the =
clay
let it dry...seive out the larger particles and then remoisten to a workable
clay?
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would surely appreciate it=21
Rachel Werling
and/or
Eric Mindling
Manos de Oaxaca
AP 1452
Oaxaca, Oax.
CP 68000
M E X I C O
http://www.foothill.net/~mindling
fax 011 52 (952) 1-4186
email: rayeric@antequera.com
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