Mixing Clays

Helen wafted through the studio and remarked on how nice the clay looks in this state: she's right [as usual] and reminds me of one of the original motivations for this blog- to show some of the behind-the-scenes beauty normally reserved for the observant potter in his studio.
Here I'm mixing a very rough red stoneware with a slightly milder version of the same clay and a bag of my regular stoneware with a view to concocting a Japanese Stone Lantern mixture. Ever since Sydney and I got back from Japan the shapes of those lanterns have been floating around in my mind,and I think it's time to have a go at a few,and see what they look like transposed into clay. Now to wedge this lot up until it has a uniform colour. Maybe throw in some different grog,maybe some Shigaraki feldspar,and probably a pinch of Mashiko dust,for that authentic Eastern flavour.I'm supposed to be doing something else today,but this activity suddenly burst in and asked to be taken care of [I think the trigger was checking out a website where someone tried casting a lantern from a cement mixture].