Clay Pinch Pots -Student Work

Ceramics I students, sorry it's taken me so long to get these pieces up, and Ceramics II hold tight, yours are coming soon  :)

The pinch technique is a handbuilding process, and is one of the first techniques I have my students learn.  It involves starting with a solid ball of clay and lends itself to many other more complex forms such as teapots.  I'm very lucky to once again have an amazing bunch of beginners who take direction well plus also have some lovely design ideas.  These pieces were many of my favorites done this year in pinch.  The kids had a choice whether to make a bowl with a foot or a mug with a handle.

Above and below we have the 2 sides of senior Lilith Huang's bowl.  In addition to forming the bowl, the kids were required to learn the art of clay applique using scoring and slip to apply the decorative shapes with.  and not only did Lilith applique her shapes but she also stamped some of them.  What a terrific piece!

In this next bowl by junior Sharmara Mustafa, I love that she has elongated her feet.  That gives her pot a very elegant look.  Sharmara has also come to me with a fantastic sense of design, and her applique designs are so lovely.  Look closely and you can see how she has marbelized our red and white clay bodies thru the transparent glaze which gives her piece so much more interest.   

This sweet little turtle bowl was the clever work of junior Justyn Li.  Justyn comes to me with a marvelous work ethic, and spends many extra hours on all her pieces.

This next work by senior Kevin Luong really impressed me with the protruding edges, and how he wrapped and continued them under to turn them into feet.  Very clever boy!

This last lovely belongs to senior Kristen Palmer.  I love those beautiful leaves that she applied onto her mug.    And she chose a really nice glaze to compliment her pot.  She stained the leaves with red iron oxide first then waxed them before dipping into her glaze color.