SCCA Education Manager Nicole Nichols reviews the basics of how to wedge your clay.

Why is wedging your clay important?
Wedging makes the clay more pliable, ensures a uniform consistency, and removes air pockets as well as small hard spots in the clay before you use or reuse the clay for a project. If you don’t wedge your clay, you may have a harder time throwing or handbuilding. Prep work is key!

Learn the basics of how to center your clay on the potter’s wheel.

Why is centering your clay important?
Centering is the cornerstone of successfully creating a pot on the wheel. If your clay isn’t centered, your pot can end up with:

• Uneven or inconsistent wall thickness

• Uneven height around your pot (one side may be taller than the other)

• Uneven base or bottom of your pot

The key to learning how to center is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Pay attention to how the clay feels and how your whole body is reacting during throwing. Be patient with yourself- you’re learning!

There are basically two ways to open a centered piece of clay when you begin throwing a pot: either as a bowl or as a cylinder. Most all finished pieces of wheel thrown pottery will evolve from these two shapes. The difference between them is that the inside bottom of a cylinder is flat and the inside bottom of a bowl is curved.

A cylinder is the basis for throwing so many types of forms - cups, vases, jars. The mark of the cylinder is that signature flat bottom with evenly-pulled walls. The point where your pot’s wall and the base meet should be a 90 degree angle.

Bowls are one of the most basic forms to master on the wheel (next to cylinders.) The trickiest part of bowls is to make sure the inside of your bowl stays curved and doesn’t become flat, like a cylinder.

Practice, practice, practice to keep that continuous upward curve from the center of your bowl’s bottom up to the rim to make sure that your bowl STAYS a bowl, and doesn’t become a cylinder during your throwing process.

Creating a plate on a potter’s wheel can be intimidating, but it’s actually not too tricky! The key to creating a successful plate form is to:

1) Wedge and center your clay super well. Air bubbles are NOT your friend!

2) Compress, compress, compress. Nicole’s method of using a rib to create your plate form takes a lot of this work off your shoulders. Compression is important to avoid s-cracks

3) Slow the drying process down. Bad things happen (cracking, warping, etc) when you try to speed up the drying process, so take your time! Keep your plates wrapped up to slow down their drying. We strongly recommend using a sandbag or weight on top of the plate once it’s leather-hard, to help prevent bowing while it dries.

Why do we trim pottery?

1. To finish the pot by removing excess clay on the lower part that could not be accessed while throwing.
2. To give the pot walls and bottom an even consistent thickness throughout.
3. To give the pot a foot for stability and/or function.
4. To give the pot aesthetic beauty and "lift".
5. To create a stopping or break point for glaze to prevent run off onto the kiln shelf

When do we trim?
The pot should be "leather hard", that is it should be the consistency of chocolate or cheddar cheese. You should be able to press a finger nail into the clay but it should be firm enough to be handled without damaging its shape.

A few extra pointers:
1. Always trim the pot based on or following the inside shape.
2. "S" cracks have several causes, one of which is an uneven thickness in the bottom of the pot. It is very important to maintain as much consistency as possible in wall and bottom thickness.

This form is a little more advanced, but not too complicated once you get the hang of it. Throwing a chip and dip form requires taking one ball of clay and throwing 2 different forms at once - a plate and a bowl, attached to each other.

This technique can also be used to create coffee pour-overs, hollowed donut shapes, and more.

Slabs can be made in a variety of methods. The most common method is to roll out the slab by hand using a rolling pin. Other methods include using slab rollers and hand tossing.

Slab rollers are large pieces of equipment that enable potters to roll large slabs to uniform thicknesses rapidly. 

Or, for a more organic approach, slabs can be formed by tossing the clay onto a hard surface at an angle. The resulting slabs are not uniform in thickness and can give a handmade feel to a piece.

Slab building pottery is a type of handbuilding where walled pieces are formed together through score and slip.

“Score and slip” refers to a method of joining two pieces of clay together. First, score the clay; this means that you make scratches in the surfaces that will be sticking together. Then you slip it; that is you wet the surface with some slip or liquid clay, using it like glue. Next, you press the two pieces together. It is very important to always score and slip clay that is leather hard. If you do not, the pieces will likely pop apart when they are fired.

Slab pots are typically more angular pieces than other traditional ceramic projects. The technique calls for you to create “walls” of a container.

Coil-building is a method of handbuilding pottery where a potter forms a base, walls, and style by combining clay coils. The potter rolls the clay into coils, stacks the coils together, and joins the coils through pressure and the score/slip method to create a vessel.

A pinch pot is a simple form of handbuilding pottery that ANYONE can do! The pinching method is to create pottery that can be ornamental or functional. The method used is to simply have a lob of clay, then pinch it to the desired shape.

Making a pinch pot is a great way to show off the organic shape that pottery can take - being able to see your finger indentations in the pot, connecting it back to the maker.

Handles are great additions to your thrown or handbuilt pots - and can transform your pieces from simple cylinders to mugs, pitchers, teapots, and so on.

Handles can be made from cutting them out of a slab, or can be “pulled” using a repetitive motion and some water. Slabs can be made in a variety of methods. The most common method is to roll out the slab by hand using a rolling pin. Other methods include using slab rollers and hand tossing.

Slab rollers are large pieces of equipment that enable potters to roll large slabs to uniform thicknesses rapidly. 

Or, for a more organic approach, slabs can be formed by tossing the clay onto a hard surface at an angle. The resulting slabs are not uniform in thickness and can give a handmade feel to a piece.

Why do we glaze our pottery?
Glazing enhances the fired clay piece both on an aesthetic and a functional level. Visually, ceramic glazes can be decorative and a great source of color and texture. Practically, glazes can seal your clay bodies once fired, making them waterproof and food-safe. Many clay bodies are not vitreous without being glazed, meaning if you added liquid to an unglazed ceramic, it would leak through the pores. If you want to enjoy coffee in your mug, you have to glaze it first!

If you can bake a cake, you can mix a glaze. We know, it’s intimidating to mix your own glazes! But with Madison’s helpful tips you’ll be set. In this how-to video, we review:

1. Safety basics

2. Reducing dust exposure

3. How to read a glaze recipe

4. How to use your scale & measure ingredients

5. Hand-mixing your glaze

We use dry chemical materials from Highwater Clays, but there are plenty of vendors in Atlanta and Nashville that you can purchase from as well. Free glaze recipes can be found on glazy.org.

A wet-mixing how-to video will be coming soon, so you can finish your glaze mixing process!