Pinch Pot Challenge - The Blue Bottle Tree (2024)

FAQs

What is the pinch pot technique? ›

A pinch pot is a simple form of hand-made pottery produced from ancient times to the present. The pinching method is to create pottery that can be ornamental or functional, and has been widely employed across culture. The method used is to simply have a lob of clay, then pinch it to the shape desired.

The piece can now be shaped into your desired outcome, continually being pinched out to make the form of a pot around a quarter of an inch thick. You can also smooth out the base of your piece at this step so that it sits nice and flat onto a surface.

Pinch pots that date back over 17,000 years have been discovered in China. At some point, the practice that started as a necessity—making an object to hold food or water—turned into the foundations of creating ornate vessels, and later, the basis for learning to manipulate clay.

The cutaway shows where the thumb should be, inside the clay. Use your fingers and crooked thumb to pinch out the shape from the bottom of the ball first. Work in small, close pinching movements, rotating the clay in the palm of the hand in a rhythmic action to even out the marks made as you thin-out the wall.

The name comes from the way you form them, wherein you gently pinch from the center of the ball of clay to shape it into a bowl or vase. Pinch pots are quick to make and can be decorated with patterns or designs using a variety of techniques, such as carving, painting, glazing, decals, and enamels.

You can use porcelain clay to make pinch pots. If you are a beginner though, you may find something with a bit of grog more forgiving and less prone to cracking, Brand is less important than what cone you will be firing to. Before you buy any clay, figure out how you will get your work fired.

You can make a pinch pot out of any clay including air-dry clay or homemade clay. But I do recommend keeping a few things in mind when selecting your clay. First off, I would recommend a type of clay that's plastic or easy to shape. The best two for that are earthenware or stoneware.

Some historians believe that the first pottery made by Native Americans can be dated to about 3,500 B.C.E. These pieces were primarily functional containers for storing food or water. As the craft evolved, more elaborate and decorative pieces were created for ceremonial purposes.

A pinch pot is a traditional clay handbuilding technique that has been used for thousands of years. Initially, hand-built vessels were made solely for utilitarian purposes, with little consideration for artistry.

Cracking is mainly caused by uneven drying of the piece, meaning that some parts of the pottery shrink more than others. The key to avoiding these pitfalls is to create a consistent environment for drying the piece and undertaking the necessary preparation to ensure that the entire piece dries at a similar rate.

How do you burnish a pinch pot? ›

Burnishing Pottery - Step-by-Step

Wet the entire pot, inside and out, with your fingers dipped in water, then re-wet the inside of the rim. Work the water in well. With dry fingers, rub the stone on the dampened area, being sure to avoid leaving un-burnished streaks.

Bisque ware: Clay that has been fired once, at a low temperature. Clay is hard but porous and absorbent.

Pinch Pot Techniques

It's essentially the same process as rolling a clay worm or snake before. Once you've rolled out the clay into a sausage-like shape, you can press the coil onto the rim, or maybe use it to form a handle for your pot. Of course, you can add smaller clay parts of any shape you wish.

The key to success lies in controlling the turning rhythm while keeping the amount of pressure even for each pinch. Practice: Pinch Pot To make a basic pinch pot, take a lump of clay about the size of a lemon. It should fit comfortably in your hand.