After practicing medicine for more than two decades, Steven Raheb became an adjunct professor at Quinebaug Valley Community College, teaching biology. An art aficionado and practitioner, Steven Raheb spends some of his free time harvesting and preparing clay for art projects.
Clay can be harvested from the soil in different ways. The wet extraction method for clay is a simple technique that can be performed by anyone - including kids. Since all it requires is sufficient water, available in many places, this approach is less limited to location and season. In contrast, the traditional dry extraction method requires consistent sunlight.
The wet extraction method begins by filling a bucket with soil and sufficient water to stir the mixture. After some time, the rock, sand, and silt components of the soil will settle. What's left suspended in the water is clay. The slurry is further filtered through a sheet or fine cloth to collect the clay. Steve is lucky to live in an area rich in clay and produces an earthenware / terra cotta grade clay body in his backyard.
