Residency @ Rancho Linda Vista

For the summer of 2012, Clive and I will be resident artists at the historic artists' community of Rancho Linda Vista in Oracle, Arizona.
I have a whole bunch of dirt that I've collected this spring during our travels around Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico, and I'm ready to use it. To get started I have to prepare some clay bodies.
I prefer to make my own clay, but during such a short time as a residency I tend to rely on pre-made, bagged clay, since I'll be using only small quantities.

However, I can’t just use it out of the bag.

Unfortunately for us potters, clay is produced mainly for industry, the main consumer, and we artists are pretty unimportant. I find the bagged clay here way to stiff, unless special ordered, so here is what I do with each bag to make it beautiful and plastic.

First I use a wire to cut up the clay (this is Hagi Porcelain, a cone 6 clay) into small pieces: 

Then into the bucket:

 

 I often add some fiber, in this case cheap loo roll:

And water:

 

A good thing about cheap toilet paper is that it breaks down very quickly. I let this batch sit for a week, and I added a teaspoonful of bleach to stop it from rotting. (I have also had good luck, and better smell, with mouthwash.)

Then I blend the clay with a paint mixer on a drill, if I am lucky, or with my hands, if necessary:

When the clay is thoroughly mixed, I let it sit another 24 hours or so, and then I line a bucket with two pillowcases, one inside the other:

 

And pour in the liquid clay:

 

I let the clay slowly dry and age, turning the bag over regularly, or hanging it on a hook:

 

Depending on the humidity, this can take a few days to a few weeks. The longer it takes to stiffen up, the more aged and plastic the clay will be. I usually have a few bags going at a time. I wedge it on a plaster slab when it is just stiff enough not to be sticky, and keep it a bit soft in a plastic bag until I am ready to use it.

Here is my most loyal studio assistant testing it out:

 

I have to put a plug in here for the best clay-in-a-bag I’ve ever had. The Northern Irish company, Scarva, makes the best clay I have ever bought. I am not sure if they have changed, but when I used to use it back in Britain, they hand-made all of their clay to perfection specifically for potters. I wish they would open a store in the USA! Yummy Ming porcelain in the sexy black bag. Do they still use those black bags, I wonder?