I’ve reached a place of equilibrium. In this new space, it feels important to physically connect with the earth on which I reside and it’s history.

For many decades, potters gravitated to Central Victoria due to it’s sizeable clay deposits, but until relatively recently, there were no commercial clay manufacturers in this region. Potters found local sources of plastic, wild clays and dug, slaked and sieved them.

So much beauty in this process! Wild clays speak of a unique and specific geological time and place and carry with them impurities which lend unexpected markings and variances to the clay body. And arguably, an artist sourcing their own local clay has a small environmental footprint compared with the extraction and distribution processes of large scale manufacturing.

I’ve embarked on a life long, wild clay path, to deepen my relationship with my medium and with this place I now call home.

Golden Point Clay

After a brief chat with Peter Pilven, I ascertained that there are several local areas with good clay deposits, Golden Point, Pittong, Lal Lal, Nerrina and Enfield. Some sites are old quarries which have been purchased by various industries and fenced off, while other sites are still accessible.

The Mercure Hotel in Golden Point apparently used to be the Old Ballarat Pottery. At the rear of the Mercure Hotel is a lake and around the lake at different sites there are three distinct types of clay, a sand coloured stoneware, a bright red midfire and white kaolin. all three are beautifully plastic and can be found almost at surface level.

Nerrina Clay

I’m not sure where in Nerrina to dig! Peter mentioned Lofven St so I drove right to the end of Lofven into the bush and filled a bucket with what I thought was terracotta. It must have been too close to the surface because it has no plasticity.

I think I remember Peter saying there’s a good dig site between Lofven and Humffray St with an open area and a highway running through it, so… Monte Christo Bushland Reserve maybe?

Golden point clay

The miraculous river in Golden Point yielding three distinct clay types.

The brightest crimson clay I’ve ever seen!

A bucket of kaolin I dragged home. To get to it you have to wade through the scrub along the water.

A bucket of red midfire clay, ready to slake and sieve.

Nerrina clay

I did find terracotta but no good for making pots.

Results

The black clay is actually from my backyard. The previous samples I’ve fired didn’t vitrify so this time I dug three feet down. What’s near the surface might have too much in it that isn’t clay.

I’m struck by these vivid tones! What a phenomenal colour palette.The red and white clays are from Golden Point.

My amazingly intelligent and loyal maremma rescue Cece! She loved that place, I could’nt get her back in the car lol.

I threw Cece in the car and drove to the bush at the edge of Nerrina. What a stunning part of the world I live in.

I noticed that there were very soft rocks in the Nerrina sample, each with it’s own distinct tone, so I thought I’d throw a sample in the kiln and see what it does.

The beige clay is the stoneware from Golden Point and the brown is Nerrina terracotta.