Clay Bar

Santa Ana’s Legacy in Your Hands. Rustic, rich, and full of heritage.

Cone 6 Firing Results:

• Turns a dark purplish brown

• With translucent glaze, nearly black

• Stunning with opaque finishes

• Great copper response due to its iron-rich body

• Shrinkage 14%

Best Use:

• Excellent for throwing (plastic, creamy, but gritty with natural texture)

• For hand-building, avoid over wetting and allow very slow drying to prevent cracking

Why we love it:
This is a distinctly Costa Rican clay, bold, textured, and expressive.

10 KG Bag 7,700 Colonies.

This tan bodied mix was originally shared by Mariela Salvar, a legendary San José potter. We adapted her formula with a small addition of manganese to give it beautiful surface specks.

Studio Notes:
Feels amazing straight from the pugmill
Hand-building: Works beautifully, sturdy, smooth.
Throwing: Fresh mix is decent, but recycled batches lose strength
Suspecting ball clay weakens with recycling
In future sustainable versions, we hope to eliminate

ball clay while keeping talc/grog for structure

 Wet Clay Ratio:

• 1 part Talc

• 3 parts Ball Clay (pre-wet with water)

• 2 parts Grog Clay

• 4 parts Esteban’s Clay (Santa Ana terracotta)

• + 1% Manganese (varied mesh for speckled surface)

Shrinkae 13%
1KG 1,800 Colonies

Toilet Paper Clay – Lightweight & Flexible
Paper + Clay = Magic.

This mix includes shredded toilet paper pulp blended into Grog. The result is a super lightweight, fibrous body that’s great for:

Sculpture & Repair Work
Hand-building delicate forms
Attaching dry to dry pieces (patchwork magic!)

Why we use it:
Paper fibers hold moisture and reduce cracking
Makes clay more flexible, even when bit dry leather hard
Can be joined at different drying stages
Excellent for thin, experimental structures

1KG 2.200 Colonies

Translucent & Refined. Delicate. Pure. Glows in the light.

When fired to maturity (cone 6+), thin areas become translucent, giving a glowing, almost ethereal quality.

Best for:
Small sculpture
Slip casting
Jewelry or translucent light pieces

Studio Notes:
Tends to warp during the dry process.
Glazes beautifully, especially celadons and clear
1KG 2,600 Colonies

Pure. Wild. Untouched.
This is the clay that started it all—harvested directly from the Cherepos land, without any additives or blends. It’s raw, honest, and full of spirit.

Made of: 100% Cherepos clay
Use: For those who want to work with the soul of the land

Not mixed, not modified—just pure Cherepos earth.

Cherepos Magic is our sustainable studio clay project, a mix that honors local materials while aiming for professional grade usability and beauty. The goal? A smooth, tan-bodied clay using mostly Cherepos soil, natural tempering, and just a touch of kaolin for structure and color balance.

Current Formula (In Progress):
~60% Cherepos clay

~20% Testing local temper
~20% Kaolin (only imported material)
Natural additives: Baking soda + vinegar

Target qualities:
Tan color when fired
Smooth enough for throwing
Strong enough for hand-building
Cone 04–6 firing range

Fully recyclable and sustainable