4 Pinch Method project
Before potters had the wheel, they created clay forms using their hands and basic hand tools. Handbuilding methods include pinching the clay, building with coils of clay, and joining slabs. Each of these methods is introduced in projects exploring clay. The instructions work for clays that are fired in a kiln and for air-dry clays that will simply be painted. If a kiln is not available, you will need to use air-dry clay and paint the objects with acrylic paints. Since kilns are usually not available in the home environment, glazing and finishing techniques used with kiln-fired clays will not be covered in this text.
A common first experience with clay is to make a pinch pot. The pinching method is a very direct way to stretch the clay into a form by squeezing it. Here we use the method to create a sculpture that goes a bit beyond a simple pot. Clay pots are made and then attached to a simple form or to each other.
Pinch pots can be (a.) deep (b.) shallow (c.) curve inward (d.) curve outward as shown. Use these examples to spark your own ideas for making a pinch pot sculpture.
a.
b.
c.
d.
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