The method used for my clay artwork is harvesting natural earth clays at Acoma valley and hillsides. The clay is soaked in water for a week and then sifted and cleaned several times until mixture is silky and smooth. It is then put in pans to air dry until the clay is ready to be wedged. After a few weeks it is ready to mix with temper, which is pottery sherds ground into fine powder, then wedged again to make the clay pliable to hand build the figurines or pottery. They are dried for a few weeks and the white or yellow slips are applied to the surface, then burnished with smooth stones before painting them. I use black hematite with wild spinach and yellow and white sandstone slips to paint on the clay pottery and figurines.I use yucca brushes for the painting especially for the fine detail work. After they are painted, I high fire the pots in an open pit fire using cedar wood and low fire the figurines in a kiln.