Mastodawn

A pyramid of ceramic test tiles showing the various tones I get from some of the different #WildClay samples I've collected. The pots I decorate with these clays are called my Earth Tone series. I began working this way in 2024.

The iron red tiles along the bottom are very similar to one another, but IRL it's easier to notice differences in sheen and undertone. Each one is unique.

Each #color is a gift from nature. All I have to do is arrange them to my liking.

Pottery by Osa May 5

Working on new batches of decorating slips with clays from Alabama, Georgia and New Mexico.

I was contacted recently by Rhonda Willers, the author of Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques. She’s working on a 2nd edition and wants to include my midrange #WildClay experiments. We got on the phone the other day and I learned so much from speaking with her. My process is very self-guided so being able to get into the nitty gritty on such a specific topic is rare and extremely helpful.

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Pottery by Osa Apr 25

I wanted to show this mug finished. It's one of the pieces I sent to Red Lodge for the "Clay As Place" show, labeled with the locations where the #clay I used to make the decorating slip was collected. #pottery #ceramics #WildClay

Pottery by Osa Apr 15

George Washington Carver, best known for his scientific innovations, was also an artist who experimented with natural pigments since childhood. These paint swatches at the GW Carver Museum at Tuskegee show the color palettes he developed using natural #clay from Alabama. He freely shared recipes detailing the process of turning clay into house paint so that those with little or no money could still enjoy beautiful surroundings. #BlackFedi #AddToBlacksky #WildClay #art #BlackHistory

Pottery by Osa Mar 9

I’m making a custom clay body for my upcoming workshop using #WildClay I collected just south of where I live, and combining it with a midrange commercial clay to give it the durability it lacks on its own. The sample on the right was fired to over 2100°F, just under its melting point, and is still fragile and easily broken. The color transformation is lovely, though. I’m excited to give workshop participants a unique opportunity to work with local clay.

Pottery by Osa Mar 1

I’m making terra sigillata from the clay I collected from my birthplace last summer. I’ve been invited to a show called “Clay as Place: The Transient Object” and it reminds me that my #WildClay collection is a mirror of my experience with transience—moving, touring and visiting. But when I went and collected that clay from the duck pond in Virginia, I could be certain that it’s the same earth that was there when I was four years old, throwing the birds stale bread.

Pottery by Osa Feb 16

In the before picture, the mug has been painted with terra sig (from Louisiana, Virginia and Ontario) and is unglazed. This is one of the pieces I decorated at the dining room table when it was too cold to be in my studio. #BeforeAndAfter #ceramics #pottery #WildClay

StrangeRock Dec 22

basking in the SAD lamp light, thinking about how to make my #glazes pop on our new #wildclay body

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Pottery by Osa Dec 22

It’s tough to make #pottery with this type of clay that we would deem functional. I’ve attempted to do so by combining it with commercially mined materials that help decrease porosity (or encourage vitrification.) In the end, I decided to honor its natural qualities instead of trying to force it to be something it isn’t. (Beautiful life lesson, right?) This is a sculptural vessel I made last year with minimally processed #Florida clay. #WildClay

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Pottery by Osa Dec 22

I tested the #clay the surfer gave me and it turns out to be very similar to many other samples I’ve found in #Florida. The gray-to-yellow/off-white transformation, the high porosity even when fired to high temps—this is the most common type of clay I’ve found, not just in SW FL, but even in central and NE FL. #WildClay