Black Mountain

The greening of the mountains from Tanbark Ridge overlook, elevation 3175 feet, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. The road seen in upper left is the parkway as it continues northeast. Can you see the little houses, including my favorite, the red roofed one?

Thursday, September 27, 2018

In the Minerals Museum

Of course I took pictures as I wandered around this small museum.




 I chose to start with the mines...it's a loop, so I eventually got to mountains.



 I liked the fake rocks entrance to the exhibits...someone had a good idea to design it this way.

 As a potter, I was intrigued by the exhibit of a Wedgwood vase.


 The kaolin mine in North Carolina was mined out by Wedgwood, and potters get their clay material from other mines now. Incidentally, our manufactured clay is mixed based on percentages of each mineral, but if a mine stops producing and the clay is mixed with different materials from a new source, it often has different results in the firing.  Recently we had trouble with some glazes which used the same forumulas (recipes) but the source of some of the minerals had changed.

Tomorrow I'll share about these mica artifacts.

1 comment:

  1. So interesting. That Wedgwood vase is gorgeous. I have a couple of small Wedgwood pieces that I love.

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