Pinch Technique

For this assignment our Ceramics I class made three different projects using the pinch technique. The first project that we did with the pinch technique was making a pinch bowl. We started with our clay rolled into a ball and then I began to create my bowl by pressing my thumb into the center of the top of my clay ball. As I continued to shape my bowl I kept pressing my thumb down in the hole I had made at the top, and then I pinched the sides, widening them. I followed this process until I was satisfied with the depth and then I focused on continuing to pinch the sides of the bowl until they were even. The next step, after my bowl was constructed, was to smooth it down using a metal rib tool so all my finger marks from pinching would disappear. This Is where my first problem occurred. I only was able to smooth one side of my bowl before class was over and I did not wrap my bowl well enough in the plastic and the next time I had class the bowl was bone dry. I decided to make another bowl because my first bowl (top left) had all my finger marks in it making it appear lumpy. I glazed it with a clear glaze (3 coats) because I wanted it to stay plain, and moved on to my second bowl. I used a smaller bowl of clay this time because my first one had been bigger than I wanted it to be. I followed the same steps and process of pressing the center and pinching out the sides I had done to create my first bowl. I was happier with the size difference between the two bowls, and then I took the time to smooth it all the way out with the metal rib tool so there would not be any finger marks visible. When it came out of the bisque firing ready to be glazed, I picked a midnight blue glaze because I wanted to use it to hold my jewelry, which would stand out against the dark blue, almost black, glaze. This was the first piece I glazed that didn't use underglaze or was 2-D. I did 3 even coats on my bowl. Looking back, I wish I had been more careful glazing toward the bottom because on my coil there is a patch of glaze that makes my bowl look a little bit sloppy. Overall, I am happy with the way my second bowl turned out and that I was able to improve on my skills from my first bowl.

For our second project using the pinch technique, we were instructed to create two pinch bowls that were almost exactly the same size and then attach them together using the "scratch, scratch, water, attach" method, which resulted in a sphere. The second part of the assignment was to decorate our spheres any way we liked. I made my two pinch bowls by starting with two similarly sized balls of clay and used the pinch technique of pressing my thumb in the top center of the clay ball and pinch the sides until I was happy with the width of the bowl. I did this again with my second ball of clay, which took me longer because I had to match it almost exactly to my first pinch bowl. Next, I attached the two bowls by using the (spiky) serrated metal rib tool on the rim of each bowl and added slip to each side, and then attached the two bowls together making a sphere. The first step for smoothing my sphere was to get rid of the seam that was leftover from attaching the two bowls together. This took a while, but once I was done I smoothed the rest of the fingernail marks I had made along with the lumps from handling my sphere. Once I was satisfied with how smooth my sphere was I started to decorate my sphere. I decided to add stars and moons to my sphere because I wanted to decorate it like a starry night sky. I rolled out a slab of clay and used a needle tool to cut out my star and moon designs. I cut out the stars and moons in all different sizes and shapes, so this process was long and challenging for me but it was fun to learn and was worth the final product. As I cut each moon or star out I attached them to my sphere. After my stars and moons were all attached I smoothed out my sphere again, but this time with my fingers. Then I left it out to dry and then it was bisque fired. After my sphere was bisque fired, I wiped it down with a damp sponge and picked my glazes. I chose a bright yellow for my stars and moons and then chose the midnight blue, almost black, glaze that I used on my bowl for the sphere itself. I started by glazing the moons and the stars first, which I realized quickly was a mistake because it made glazing the sphere harder because I had to be careful not to get any of the midnight blue glaze on my star and moon decorations. I did three even coats on each and I think that my glazing job was better than my first and was a lot less sloppy. Looking back, I would have glazed my sphere first and then my stars and moons, but now I know for the next project. Overall, I was extremely happy with the way my sphere turned out because I learned new skills, like drawing and then cutting the designs out of clay, and I was also happy with my glaze color choices because they stand out against one another.

For our third and final project using the pinch technique, our assignment was the multiple pinch pot project. For this project, we were instructed to make a sculpture using at least 3 pinch pots. I decided to make a cat because when I was in third grade I made a cat sculpture and I wanted to re-create it. First I drew out my design for my cat and how I would construct it using multiple pinch pots. I decided to create my cat's head using two pinch pots to create a sphere like we did previously. For the body, I used the same idea as the head, but made my pinch pots bigger and shaped them into a cylinder. This process of building my cat actually went smoothly. I attached the head to the body, and then focused on the little details. First I made the legs, which I made out of two rolled out coils of clay, and curved them at the paw. I then attached both legs to the cat's body. Next, I made the ears using the pinch technique, shaping them into petal-shaped triangles. I attached the ears to the cat's head and finally made the nose, eyes, mouth, and drew on the whiskers with a needle tool. I rolled its eyes out of tiny balls of clay and made the sockets by pressing gently with the end of the needle tool into the cat's head. I attached the eyes and then moved onto the nose. I shaped the nose out of another ball of clay but then, continued to shape it until it was a triangle like shape and stuck it on my cat's head. Finally, I rolled out two thing coils for my mouth and attached them, and then drew 4 whiskers on each side of the nose. I smoothed it out and left it to dry without realizing my fatal mistake. I forgot to poke a hole in my cat's head and when it was bisque fired the air was trapped and my cat blew up in the kiln. However, I got lucky, my cat wasn't reduced to clay ashes it had just broken into a few pieces. I glazed each piece separately. For almost the entirety of my cat, I glazed it black to match the cat I created in third grade, save for the inside of the ear which I glazed a light pink and the eyes which I painted green. When I get back to school after 2-week quarantine, and my cat is glaze fired I will super glue it back together. Overall, I was proud of how my cat turned out, but I learned my lesson of making sure to poke air holes in my work before it drys so I don't blow anything else up.