Explore how locally collected clay and minerals can be used as ceramic materials. During the course, we collect, process and test local clay and minerals, following their transformation from raw material to fired ceramics.

This course starts with a field trip to look for possible clay deposits, take small samples and discuss responsible ways of collecting them. We also learn how to prepare the clay for drying. You are encouraged to bring smaller stones and minerals that you would like to investigate. These will be fired to around 700°C beforehand to prepare them for processing during the course.

We work with the collected clay by soaking it in water, sieving it and preparing it for testing. We test its plasticity, shrinkage and firing behaviour at 1030°C. We also learn the basic differences between earthenware and stoneware, their typical firing temperatures, and how to find a suitable firing temperature for a locally found clay through testing.

We explore different ways of using the wild clay. We make slip from the clay and test clay powder in different percentages in a simple glaze base recipe, observing how it affects colour and surface. We learn about processing minerals, including crushing and grinding with a mortar and using a ball mill, and fire samples of the ground minerals to investigate their properties.

Alongside our experiments, we look at where ceramic raw materials come from and how clay and minerals are extracted and processed industrially, giving some context to the materials we work with. At the end of the course, we load and fire a kiln with our clay, as well as test tiles with slip, glaze and mineral tests. This allows us to compare the different materials and firing results and discuss what we have learned from the experiments.

The aim of the course is to develop an understanding of wild clay and other ceramic raw materials, how to source them responsibly, and practical methods for investigating, processing and using locally found materials in ceramic practice. The course also includes a list of further resources and books for continuing to explore local clays and ceramic minerals.

OM KURSLEDAREN:
Marilen Rauch is a ceramic and visual artist based in Gothenburg. She holds an MFA in Ceramic Art from HDK-Valand and has been working with self-extracted clay and ceramic minerals since 2020. Her research began with local earthenware clays around Gothenburg and has since expanded to clay and mineral mining regions in Sweden, Germany and France. In her practice, she traces the processes behind the ready made materials commonly used in ceramics. She is interested in where clay and ceramic minerals come from, how they are extracted and processed and how these processes shape both the materials and the landscapes they come from. In 2023, she co-founded Tontouristen, a collective researching clay landscapes, mining and the cultural and industrial histories connected to ceramic materials. She has worked as a guest lecturer at EKA – Estonian Academy of Art, IKKG – Institute for Ceramic and Glass Art in Koblenz and the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany. In 2025, she was Interim Artistic Director of the international ceramic residency programme at Keramikkünstlerhaus Neumünster in Germany. Her work has been exhibited in Sweden and internationally, including at Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, European Ceramic Context, Konstepidemin and Keramikkünstlerhaus Neumünster.