POTTERY AT HOME - Pinch Pot Vases - Beginner Friendly Home Decor DIY

[Music] hello everyone and welcome back to another video my name is jana and on my channel i show all different kinds of diys today i'm gonna work with stoneware clay and i want to show you how i created this vase using the pinching technique the pinching technique is really great if you don't have a lot of tools at home or if you don't own a wheel the tools i use in this video i bought as a starter pack at my local pottery studio so i will link a similar one like that for you below but if you don't have any tools you can just use what you have at home or even just your fingers so it's really quite a beginner friendly project if you potter at home you probably don't own your own kiln at least that's how it is for me so i went and found a pottery studio in my area that offers a burning service like that you can explore and learn pottery without having to commit to buying your own kiln and you can connect to other people that are also into pottering but now let's get started first i started by weighing my clay on a kitchen scale but you can also eyeball it just in case you want to make more vases that have the same size it can be good to know how much clay you're using so in my case i used one kilogram of clay that i divided into two equal parts these 500 gram pieces of clay i wedged on my working board to make sure the clay has no air enclosures and shape them into little balls by slapping the clay with my hands into the wanted shape [Music] one of the balls i covered in some plastic to make sure it doesn't dry out while i work on the other one to give you a quick first overview of what i'm about to make let's watch this little animation that breaks down the process the base form i will be creating is made out of two pinch bowls that i then merge together creating a hollow sphere with this shape you can actually create many different things even something like this teapot here but like i said today i'm gonna make a vase i want to form the ball into a bowl and to do so i stick my thumb in the middle going in a bit more than half way and then start pinching the clay by pressing my thumb towards my fingers [Music] while i do so i rotate the clay in my hand to make sure the thickness of the clay stays somewhat even all around like this i slowly work my way around and around to create a larger and larger bowl [Music] i also make sure to not make the clay too thin as this would make the bowl instable and harder to work with for this project once i'm happy with the size and the wall thickness i move on to the second clay ball and repeat the exact same thing in the end the two bowls should have about the same size the next step is to merge the two bowls into a sphere so flattening the rims by tapping the bowl gently upside down on the table helps to create a better surface for the bowls to touch if you want to join two clay pieces you should always make sure to score the clay first scoring is what i'm doing here so i use a sharp tool like a needle or a knife and scratch up the surface of the clay that will help binding the clay pieces together without having air enclosures in my case the clay is still very wet so i don't use slip which is basically liquid clay that you can use to bind two clay pieces if the clay is more on the drier side i often use a wet brush to smudge up the clay and create basically some instant slip to merge the two pieces even better i roll out a coil about as thick as a pencil and flatten it slightly this coil i wrap around the seam and start smudging out the clay using my fingers i always start in the middle and go in one direction first and then use the rest of the clay coil to blend it in the other direction in the end the seam is all covered and the clay seamlessly merged now you have a sealed clay ball with air inside so it's quite sturdy to work with rolling the ball along the seam also helps to flatten this part and blend it better [Music] i use my metal rip to smoothen out the clay surface even more for this you can also use a credit card or the good old fingers [Music] once the ball is smooth and i can't see the seam i want to bring it in the wanted shape the ball is basically the belly of the vase so it can be a perfect sphere or more cylindrical depending on what i want to create since there is air trapped inside the ball it only allows me to deform it so much so if i want to deform it even more i have to release some air and to do so i poke a hole in it that i then cover up again by blending the clay with my finger the trapped air inside helps to keep the shape stable so if the hole would stay open it could happen that the clay body collapses as i work on it another way to form the clay is to slap it with a wooden tool i use the flat side of this kitchen spatula [Music] [Music] to be able to spin the clay ball while i work on it i put it on a piece of paper like this it doesn't stick to the workboard and it's easier to handle [Music] once i'm happy with the shape of the body i start working on the neck of the vase for this i take a piece of clay and roll it into a thick coil the length of the coil should be about the length i want the neck to be as the width will change as i work on it but not the length [Music] now i take a dowel or a round pencil and poke it through the center of the coil rolling it along the table as i poke it through helps to keep it centered once it comes through on the other side i can hold it like a rolling pin and roll the clay along the dowel [Music] i make sure to use the same amount of pressure throughout so the clay has kind of the same thickness all around i then use a thicker dowel to repeat the same process to widen the opening even more [Music] i use my metal rip again to smoothen out the surface and cut the edges straight [Music] now it's time to place the neck on the body so first i find the perfect placement [Music] then i mark the inside with my needle tool take the neck off again and cut out the marked hole if you want to create a more simple vase you can also just skip the neck [Music] then comes the scoring again i do this both around the hole in the vase and around the rim of the neck with a wet brush i soften up the clay a bit and create some instant slip then i place the neck back onto the vase and wiggle it a little bit until it feels that the clay is proper stuck together to blend the clay nice and even i roll a very thin coil that i place around the seam again and smudge it out in both ways [Music] i also wanted to create a handle for my vase so i rolled another coil and experimented with the placement i wasn't sure if i wanted one or two handles and decided on only one [Music] i attached the handle again by scoring and slightly wettening the connection points here i didn't use a coil along the seam but just merged the seam using my fingers a wooden tool and a brush [Music] in case one day someone excavates my vase i want to let them know who made it so i added my signature on the bottom using some rubber letter stamps so this was the building process to be able to glaze the pieces they need to be fired the first time the first fire is called the bisque fire and it's normally at a lower temperature than the second fire and to be able to do that it needs to be proper dry drying times can vary depending on the thickness of the piece the temperature and the humidity in your surrounding i picked up my vase after the bisque firing from the pottery store and prepared it for glazing to do so i washed it with clear water and a sponge to make sure it's dust and fat free the glazes i'm using are liquid glazes from the brand bots that you can either brush on or water them up a bit and use it for dipping or pouring this video is not sponsored i just like using them i use a glossy white glaze and a textured glaze called mistral i will link them for you as well the mystery glaze is not food safe though so make sure to always check that if you want to use it for tableware i want to glaze the top part of the vase in white and the bottom in the textured glaze so i use this little box with my pen on top to mark a line around the vase as a guideline my white glaze here is very liquid because i watered it up for another project so normally it is a lot easier to handle with the brush if it's thicker the glaze drip down into the other half but it's very easy to wipe it off with a wet cloth afterwards most glazes require two to three coats when you brush them on the inside of the vase i glazed as well by pouring the glaze into it then i slowly move it around and pour it out again the glaze on the inside will help to make it waterproof even if the clay is burned on a slightly lower temperature then i applied the other glaze on the bottom part again by using a brush this one has little hard bits in it which are minerals that will melt in the oven and create a nice texture that you will see later the bottom of the pieces need to stay free from any glaze otherwise it will get stuck to the oven once the glaze starts melting some glazes run more than others in the oven so make sure to leave a few millimeters unglazed on the very bottom after the glaze is dry i touched up little air bubbles and unevenness by simply rubbing over it with my fingers for this process i normally go outside and wear a mask and gloves the dust that is created is basically mineral dust that can get airborne and you don't want to breathe that in so in general it's always good to work as clean as possible with glaze to avoid glazed dust the water bucket i'm working over helps to catch the falling dust and makes cleaning afterwards easier i'm just always a bit afraid of dropping my pieces in it but so far it thankfully never happened hope i didn't jinx it then all there is left is to fire it again and this is how it looks after as you've just seen i've created two more vases using the exact same technique and if you want to create a foot for the vase you can do that in the same way as you would create the neck thank you so much for watching i hope you enjoy the pottery content let me know if there's any tips and tricks that i didn't mention also feel free to like and subscribe and i'm looking forward seeing you in the next video bye [Music] [Music]

Channel: Jana Storm

Views: 234,003

Keywords: diy, home decor, selfmade, homemade, crafting, tutorial, how to, decoration ideas, pottering, pottery, pinch pot, potery, töpfern, ceramics, ceramic, stoneware

Id: oA-nS1paoIk

Length: 17min 39sec (1059 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 31 2021