New Tsfat Clay

Builder Amir drove his tractor past the studio a while ago and offered me some of this stuff,from the bottom of a neighborhood well [constant readers will recall a similar find a couple of years ago,which turned out,wierdly,to be stoneware]. This batch looks like earthenware- it has a beautiful orange/brown raw colour,but seems very short/friable. Discovering local clays is rather exciting [especially when they arrive outside your studio,relatively clean,soft,and in the shovel of a tractor]. As you can see,I instantly dried some out on the stove,threw a rough cylinder,got a cone ready,and will try a small experimental firing in the test kiln as soon as it looks dry enough.
Neighbour Batya has just appeared with a pottery/firing issue for us to solve,so that's all for now...