Description
Bracker's never really stocked or sold the Flint Hills Clay works body, "Missouri Gold" so we had no idea how popular or how lovely it was until we bought Flint Hills Clay Works. We'd resisted stocking the clay because of the Kansas-Missouri, um, conflicts over the years. There's a rivalry between Kansas and Missouri going back before the civil war and the Missouri Ruffians rode across the border into Kansas and tried to burn down Lawrence THREE TIMES in the 1860s. They never really got over their loss and we still harbor some hard feelings about their repeated arsonistic tendencies. In the more recent past it's translated to sports team rivalries, especially between the Kansas Jayhawks teams and the University of Missouri teams when they were in the same conference. Obviously some of us are more successful about moving past it than others...
However, we quickly fell in love with the warm golden color of the fired clay and then tragedy struck. The producer of the one of the primary components of the clay recipe (that gave "Missouri Gold" the golden color) announced that it was no longer available. After much mad scientist-type moments and a LOT of testing, Cindy Bracker developed a new mid-fire stoneware clay body we're calling Kansas Wheat. It's a little warmer color than the Flint Hills 5/6 Buff. After getting rave reviews from the select group of customers who have been test-driving the clay, we're going to add it to our production cycle. Customers have told us it's great for throwing as well as handbuilding (there's no grog in this body, but it's a toothy mid-fired stoneware clay). Customers have tested it with a wide variety of glazes from different manufacturers with no unusual glaze fit issues.
