Weather Features

Artist Uses Scientists' Sediment To Make Pottery

FALMOUTH (WBZ) ― A local artisan has found a unique way to create pottery using muddy sediments collected by scientists from every corner of the globe.

When the scientists dig up mud sediments to unravel the mysteries of our planet, some of the leftovers of their research end up in a pottery studio in Falmouth.

It's a collection of mud that reads like a world map from the China Sea to Penobscot Bay.

"Every one seems different," Joan Lederman told WBZ.  "I might say grainy, slippery smooth, sticky."

Lederman also sees opportunity in these muddy sediments.

"If you give me the choice of mud or gold, I could do a lot more with mud," she said. 

Using water to thin her samples, the mud is turned into a glaze for her pottery.

Once fired in a kiln, each sediment reveals its own unique values. For example, one was just collected from a new area of open ice in the Arctic Circle never studied before.

Lederman has sediment from Bermuda, the mid-Atlantic ridge, the Indian Ocean, the Santa Barbra Basin in the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, and the Red Sea.

No ocean floor is forgotten.

"This is how I travel, you don't have to worry about airline schedules," Lederman said.

She added that the glaze she has from Boston Harbor has never looked as good as it does today.

Joan Lederman's gallery is open year round by appointment.

For more information, click here.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)