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Hand Building TechiquesIt doesn't have to be all about the wheel
Perhaps your initial thoughts about pottery spring to the kick or electric wheel. When first venturing onto the wheel it can be exciting, mesmerising, intimidating and if you have a bad experience, off putting. According to my research The potter's wheel did not appear in history until around 4,000 years ago. Prior to that, hand building using pinch and coil construction methods prevailed as the main ways clay was formed by ancient man.
A great way of getting experience with working with clay is to use hand building techniques for it opens up a whole new spectrum of excitement.
Hand building is the most individualized way of working with clay. I first started out on my journey with clay by experimenting with all sorts of methods for constructing a piece of pottery. It is an excellent way of learning what the boundaries are with clay and also has the great benefit of being very therapeutic.
Your pottery wares and projects can be constructed by hand from coils of clay, from flat slabs of clay, from solid balls of clay by making pinch pots, press moulding and sculpture, tiling and jewellery bead work — or some combination of these. Parts of hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid of slip, a runny mixture of clay and water. Hand building is slower and more gradual than wheel-throwing, but it offers you a high degree of control over the size and shape of your pottery piece. Hand building is more conducive to fully using the imagination to create one-of-a-kind works and the photos on this page show recent work done by my hand build students at the Victory Hall and Mission Hall.
In all hand building with clay is wonderful place for beginners to start and a continuing fascination for experienced potters. You only have to visit the Dorset Pottery Groups Annual Exhibition in the Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre each October to see a wonderful display of new work.
There are separate pages about some of my techniques and materials :-
The making techniques. Follow this link.
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