Diggin' it!

I've had this idea of making pots that are all or primarily made from locally dug materials. To that end I've done some extensive research into the deposits in my area. Most seriously viable deposits are owned and commercially mined for materials. There are still some here and there but they are few and nearly all are owned or protected. I did have some luck in a particular layer of strata today. I won't disclose all the details of this location except to say it's in the NW and it's also on private property, I dug a sample with the land owners permission.

The clay I was most interested in at the first site was the gray material with the stripes of red iron. Upon closer examination under a good lamp I could see trace amounts of mica. This deposit probably won't be exactly what I'm looking for, however it's exciting to dig a shovel full of something that feels like the clay in your studio.

There are layers of pyroclasts that are not decomposed under the clay. I also found a second set of strata just 10 M down lower in the layers that had another four sections of clay that were similar but different. One was a puce color probably containing manganese, and another was yellow. I didn't have room to take the yellow, so I'll probably go back for a sample later.