Working with the Different States Back to Art Home back to ceramics
Wet Clay Methods
Pinch Method: Primarily used for bowls and small sculptures. Basic pinch pots begin with a smooth ball of clay. Squeezing and pressing your thumb into the center of the ball with one hand, supporting it in the palm of your other hand, rotate the ball and work the walls of the bowl outward, gently pressing/squeezing small amounts while rotating.
Coil Method: This is one of the oldest ways of forming pottery. The coil method allows you to make larger vessels than with the pinch method. Vessels or bowls can be formed by wrapping a rope of clay around a base, stacking and joining the coils to the shape and height desired. Students will create coils in the diameter that is most comfortable for them. Discourage coils that are as thin or thinner than a pencil. Be certain to join the coils by scoring.
Slab Work: Slab work is created with a rolling pin and can be used for shallow bowls, tiles, and dimensional images. Students should pat out the clay into a flat shape before beginning to roll. Rolling gently from the center, outward, the slab is thinned a little at a time. After each round of thinning the slab, lift the clay and flip it to the reverse side. This makes rolling the slab easier, maintains an even thickness, and keeps it from sticking and distorting when removing it from the placemat.
Joining Clay
Clay pieces will adhere to each other better if they are moist and also have the same moisture content. Because some projects need stiffer clay for structural stability, you need to familiarize yourself with which moisture level works best for the project you are working on
Slip: A mixture of clay and water used to attach pieces of clay together. Slip can be used to repair artwork that has broken before the first (bisque) firing.
Score: Use a tool to scratch/hatch the surfaces that are being joined. Hatch marks ///// vertically and horizontally to create tic-tac-toe marks ### must be made on both clay pieces before being joined together. Add water to the scored surface, slide and wiggle them together until slip is developed and the pieces take hold well and do not separate when tugged.
Lute: Most often used to join coils together, and used in conjunction with scoring. Using a finger, squish and smooth the clay from each of the joined pieces together at the contact point.