Processing clay at The Slow Working Institute of Pragmatic Expressionism. The clay we made today is a combination of two Tasmanian materials: a nice yellow clay from Oyster cove and this beautiful plastic white clay from the lagoon at Cremorne just down the hill from the institute. This particular lump is from the batch we dug last time I was here in 2011.

bashing up clay

screening the blunged slurry

drying beds

detail

pipe clay lagoon

dig a hole

Clay!

detail of clay

shells for days

Docking up some timber out in the bush with the ute for the upcoming firing. The toilets might flush the other way but chainsaws cut the same downunder. @ridgelinepottery

Dustin Fowler and I have spent the first few days of our residency at the Slow Working Institute for Pragmatic Expressionism (SWIPE) working on gathering and processing local Tasmanian materials for the upcoming firing. Ben Richardson, our amazing host, friend and teacher, has done an amazing amount of research with the materials that surround the pottery and has developed a place based making practice that incorporates them into his process at a level that you rarely find these days. It is a passion that both Ben and I share, and it was this interest that initially brought us together in 2006 at the International Woodfire Conference in Flagstaff, AZ.