How to Find Wild Clay for Pottery | 5 Essential Tips

#wildclay #pottery #ceramics

What really got me into working with clay more seriously was the excitement of delving into every step of the process—this starts with scouting for and digging my own clay locally. It’s actually not as difficult as it might sound, and this video gives you five essential tips for finding your own clay to work with. It’s incredibly rewarding and a great way to understand and appreciate your medium more.
If you’ve ever wanted to become more independent and invested in your pottery or ceramic art, this is the way.

Here’s an overview of the video contents:
1. Look in places where the lower layers of earth have been revealed: rivers and road cuts and construction sites.
2. Look or colorful earth to indicate clay, especially red.
3. Look for crumbly ridges of natural, dry clay; or smooth, short walls of cut clay.
4. Do a coil test to check for plasticity.
5. Explore an area where you’ve found clay to find different clays with different properties.
BONUS: Research local geology for great leads on where to find clay near you.

Music by @JakeShaneMusic

[mabdub]

Almost nothing beats understanding the value of practicality, i.e., using your brain. Wish more people would share their knowledge in such a straightforward no nonsense way. Thanks a lot for this helpful video.

[themoodyonejb]

I dug a hole in my backyard and found some beautiful red clay. (Metro Atlanta, Ga) I cleaned & sifted it, and now I love looking and finding raw natural clay. Thanks for this video. I'm going to be looking all over now.

[jimlahey]

That opening line cannot describe my current condition any better

[farpointstation]

Your videos are an inspiration, your delivery is calm and engaging and your a/v game is on point.

[shlanebep]

I'm binging your videos because they're so informative and entertaining. You have a super smooth voice that dances on the syllables of words and the subject matter is fascinating even if you aren't into clay. Keep up the awesome content, I can see you growing fast my child

[jakeshane]

Full of great information and really clear explanations. Makes me want to go looking for clay!

[angibenet]

I appreciate that you mention to do it sustainably. I always say: nature is abundant, there's only one rule: don't take more than you need. A question: how do you know if the clay you've found is high temperature or not? (or maybe it doesn't matter is you just use fire like in your other video).

[artwyoming]

Excellent work! I am sharing with my HS pottery students= Thank you!

[loveflowers]

Great video. I live in Hawaii . On the island of Oahu. Where I live, we can’t dig anywhere without getting lava rocks or other rocks and clay soil. Once you get through the tons of rocks there is plenty of clay ( tons actually :), in the soil.

[nhw]

Thank you so much for such an educational video. Could kindly share what clay would be best to use for moulding for cement casting? 🙏🏻

[tarareyes]

Taking notes! Thanks for the wisdom Ben!

[wcouch]

Tihs series is amazing. How is it that you do not have a ga-zillions views? I will share with my pottery friends.

[matthewerdman]

There's approximately 250, 000, 000 tons of clay in Latah county in Idaho. I've came across quite a bit building lots of fence around Moscow. There's also a lot up by Clarkia in Emerald Creek, especially where you pay for garnet hunting. Just make sure you don't wear good cloths because the clay will indefinitely stain them. Very rich vibrant red/orange color.

[anitahamlin]

I wonder if dry river beds would work. Very interesting.

[kiimmig]

@3:19 that looks like my front yard. 😉

[lindacsmith]

When I was young my dad used to find flat discs of clay by a river near us. I'm not sure exactly how they formed such perfect discs. My sister actually kept one from probably 55 years ago. The river flows through the local Audubon Society land and I looked for more of these recently. Of course I didn't feel comfortable ripping up their land so I didn't find anything. I hope to go back soon.

[karenkratzer]

I love this and I never met a pistachio child.

[Jotato_Tube]

Absolutely awesome. Thanks for teaching 🤘
@trinityjmg

[sandgrains]

Why doesn't a translation appear inside the video????