Coil Technique

Artist Statement: 

For the first part of this project, we made a practice coil pot cup using the coil technique.

For this project, I began with a solid slab of clay, and then started rolling out long, snake-like coils of clay and stacking them on top of each other to build up a vessel or sculpture, making sure each coil ended in a different spot so no cracks or weak spots form when fired. The coiling method allows for the creation of more organic shapes and is often used to form larger pieces. As I added the coils, I used my smoothing tool to smooth them together. The technique allows for a lot of creative freedom, as the coils can be shaped in various ways.

 For my cup, I painted only the leaves and strip with gold and green glaze. If I could go back and change it, I would have also glazed the white parts with white glaze, however, I do like the glossy look of the leaves in contrast to the matte background of the mug. 

Artist Statement:

For the first part of this project, we made a practice coil pot cup using the coil technique. For the second part of this project, we had to explore the Historical Coil Project website and find a historical pot that inspired us. The chosen pot had to be at least 1,000 years old. After identifying a pot that resonated with us we created stencil cut outs to guide our work. Much like the "coil and carve" project, involved creating a vase using coil-building techniques, adding our own contemporary glazes and carvings/designs to it. 

For this project, I used the same method as the cup, rolling long coils and stacking them. For this vase, I used a light purple glaze.  

One challenge/process I faced making this was figuring out how to build the pot outward. It began smaller at the bottom, and as I added coils, I had to carefully shape and curve them to build the pot outward without making it too heavy or unbalanced, and use my fingers to push the clay outward from the inside to achieve the shape I wanted.  I also had to pay attention to the thickness of the coils to ensure they were consistent and could be easily smoothed together.

Unfortunately, my project dried over Christmas break, and I was unable to finish fully smoothing out my pot. It was not sculpted evenly on both sides, and the edges were not as smooth as I liked. However, I do like how the glaze came out, and will definitely use it for potting plants.