I was on an excursion with a friend exploring the coastline of California and literally stumbled upon a discovery. The stones on the beach were of a wide variety of colors ranging from burgundy to malachite green. I don't know enough geology to identify anything or deduce how it was created, but the colors were stunning. The cliff-face had a peculiar color range of turquoise to shale and areas of buttercream brown to ash black! It seemed hard as rock and was in some places. To my astonishment, some of it was the consistency of the clay that I work with on a continual basis. The area has a rugged end-of-the-land atmosphere with spectacular crashing waves beating the cliffs in shape. Centuries of erosion and grinding working the edge of the continent into sand.
Infinity driftwood
I returned to that spot this weekend with a large bucket and spade on a mission. I collected a couple samples of the earth to refine into clay and test fire it. That was the easy part!
Spade action shot
Driftwood chewed on by sea worms
This plastic bucket warped, and handle pulverized under the weight it was carrying. I wonder what an effect this had on my skeleton... No, the image is not altered.
The bucket of samples easily topped a toddler's weight and entered into the small adult range. Carrying that bastard up the steep slopes back to the car was an olympian feat. We switched hands and tried to divide the weight using a branch between Cher and me, but it was arduous nonetheless. Eventually, success! With endorphins coursing through my head, we made it back home and took some pictures of the harvest. Looking forward to refining it and seeing how it holds up to different temperatures. You'll see this clay in my work further down the line.
Clay of the darker variety. It's plastic and is easily moldable and has a smoky smell to it reminiscent of hot pavement on a summer day.
Green clay! Its more coarse and has more rocks that need to be sieved out before it reaches the desired plasticity.