Categories

If you're interested in doing slab building pottery work, you're not alone. Many people find this type of clay work to be not only soothing, but also quite fulfilling. But if you don't have time for a clay class, you might want to buy some air dry clay and start making your own artistic creations at home. After all, when you want to be artistic, you don't need to go to a studio. You can create the most basic of clay forms right at home – the pinch pot.

What You Need

Before you can begin, you will want to have just a few basic art supplies on hand. These supplies can be purchased at your local arts and crafts store or at any online art supply website. The first thing you will want is some clay. You can find clay that air dries at home or that will dry when you put it into a regular oven, so shop around to see what may appeal to you. These clays don’t need to be put into a kiln, so they aren't as strong as the traditional clay pieces you might make in a studio, but they can be just as decorative. You might also want to pick up a few basic carving tools that will allow you to carve designs in to the sides of your pinch pot if you like. These tools will also help you to score the edges of your bottoms that you might put onto your pinch pot. If you can, some wet clay will also be nice to act as a glue to the edges of a piece if you want to create more complicated edges and attachments.

To Get Started

It's quite simple to create a pinch pot, all you need is a ball of clay and you are ready to start. Take the clay in your hands and push your thumb into the middle of the rolled up ball. This will create a hole in the clay that you can then squeeze out to create a small bowl-like shape. Use both hands to slowly make your way around the edges until they are the perfect thickness for your pinch pot. From these, you can then shape the bottom of your pot so that it rests on the table evenly or you might want to create a separate bottom. To create a separate bottom, you might want to take another piece of clay and flatten it into a pancake-like shape. Put your pinch pot on top of this piece to make sure it fits and no adjustments are necessary. When you're satisfied with the fit, take your clay and on both the bottom of the pot and the place where the bottom of the pot will meet the bottom piece, make score marks back and forth. This creates a rough surface for the pieces to attach to each other. Then put some slip (wet clay) on both of these scored surfaces and push the put into the bottom piece. Some people may want to pull some clay up from the bottom piece to further reinforce the bottom, but it's not necessary.

The Score and Slip Technique

You can use the core and slip technique to attach anything to your pinch pot – handles, decorations, etc. Just score both of the sides that need to be attached, add a little slip, and then push them together.