For 2025 I have mostly worked with  porcelain, although a few pieces here are stoneware and some North Dakota Clay (literally dug from the ground in Western North Dakota by Don Miller and Curt Wessman, And, by the way, it's quite a process to get that native clay ready for working with and firing...a labor of love, believe me...). ​

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But after working with it for about a year, I have finished up the ND clay, and at the end of June, the porcelain is gone too. I worked with that clay for about a year also. Now it is back to high fire white stoneware and  another commercial stoneware.

 

Since I mostly do coil work, hand building--the going is slow. And also the firing of the cone 9/10 gas reduction kiln is only a few times a year-- it is a practice in patience, which I guess is a good thing. 

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People have asked me which clay I prefer...and it depends on which technique I'm using--in throwing they all have their own characteristics, which is also true in hand building. For example, coil building with porcelain is like trying to build something out of bread dough...but again, patience--letting each coil dry enough so that I can then stretch it with a metal rib--it's doable, but pots do tend to be a bit wonkier (my preferred style anyway), but also more prone to cracking.

 

A wooden modeling tool and a metal rib are my tools of choice--and that is for any clay that I'm using...but I use very few tools, finding my own hands the best tools for me.

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But which clay is my favorite? Well, after the experimenting with the different types and learning a lot along the way, I guess stonewares rate pretty high because not only can I build them up pretty fast, stretch them thin and have them hold their shape, and with fewer problems, such as cracking--they are the ones that can result in a really nice luster and /or carbon trapping on a shino glaze in the cone 9/10 gas reduction firing. And I find that so beautiful. But the experimenting is fun and sometimes I get some pretty nice surprises and interesting results (along with some epic fails, sigh.) It's all part of the process.

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And when I don't have my hands in clay, I also spend a bit of time working on watercolor painting, which I truly love. Painting on clay is so different from watercolor on paper...both  good practices, and I'd say time well spent. (of course, the house is sadly neglected and a mess...but oh well...)

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Life is good!