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Hot Ceramics & Pottery How-Tos

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How To: Throw and facet a clay bowl on a pottery wheel

This video pottery tutorial shows how to throw and facet a clay bowl on a pottery wheel. Demonstrating potter, Simon Leach, shows the entire process for making a low bowl, beginning with kneading the clay on the wheel, to sculpting the bowl by hand, and ending with faceting the edges with a cheese knife. Watch this instructional video and learn how to throw and facet a clay bowl on a pottery wheel.

How To: Decorate raw clay pottery with white slip

In this video pottery-making tutorial, Simon uses a white slip made from half china clay and half stoneware clay. Slip is an alternative to glaze for finishing a potted project. Simon also demonstrates an easy project to make a paint brush holder that will keep tools in place while using them. Watch this video demonstration to pick up a few ways to decorate a raw clay pottery piece with white slip.

How To: Pull tall cylinders

Watch this ceramics tutorial video to learn how to pull tall cylinders out of clay using your pottery wheel. This how-to video is not for beginners, but it features detailed instructions and explanations. You'll be throwing and pulling tall cylinders for vases and other types of pottery in no time after watching this instructional video.

How To: Make lidded boxes

In this tutorial, Simon Leach teaches us how to make lidded boxes. First, grab your pot and dip the top of it into water to get it wet and soft. Now, grab a small amount of clay and set it on your spinning table. After this, get your hands wet and start to craft a lid out of the clay. Make an inner base as you are spinning the clay by carefully placing your finger on the side of the top. When finished spinning, place the top down and see if it's the correct size for the pot, then glaze and fi...

How To: Clean off ceramic pots before firing them

In this video, we learn how to clean off ceramic pots before firing them. First, take a knife to clean off any bits that need to be removed to make the pots completely smooth. After this, dip the top of the pot into glaze and let it dry on a flat surface. For the base, hold with your two fingers on the inside, then dip in the glaze and let dry. Once these are dry, take a knife and scrape the edges where excess glaze may be at. Then, scrape all around the edges and clean the back of the side w...

How To: Make a miniature fortune cookie from polymer clay

Learn how to sculpt a miniature fortune cookie charm out of polymer clay with this free video art lesson. While this tutorial is best suited for those with some familiarity of polymer clay sculpture, novice sculpters should be able to follow along given a little effort. For specifics, including step-by-step instructions, and to get started crafting your own mini polymer clay fortune cookie charms, watch this sculpture tutorial.

How To: Throw a 7 pound flowerpot with Simon Leach

Simon Leach has taught us a lot about ceramics and pottery in his many videos. In this concise one he demonstrates for all you at-home potters out there how to make a 3 kilogram (6 pound 10 ounce) flowerpot on the wheel. As you can see at the end of the video, that is a pretty large pot. If you can throw this, you are well on your way to being an advanced ceramics enthusiast.

How To: Pierce carve a clay pottery bowl

Ingleton Pottery demonstrates how to pierce carve a clay pottery bowl. First, form your bowl on a potter's wheel. Then take a blade to the undried clay bowl and score your design into the bowl using the piercing technique. Gently press out the design so that the clay is removed from the negative space created by the scoring marks. Continue making the design around the bowl. You can make intricate designs around the bowl using the piercing and scoring technique. Be careful not to damage the bo...

How To: Throw a terracotta long tom flower pot

You start out with putting a rater big lump of clay on the potter's wheel (the turn table if you want) and make sure you got water close by. By using your hands and your fingers you then start to shape the clay lump into the size you want it. Keeping both the clay and the hands wet all the time. Once the pot starts to get the size you want it to be, you start to give it a more detailed shape. In this case it is a bit wider in the top than in the bottom. Once your satisfied with the shape, you...

How To: Make a bunny bead out of polymer clay

This art and craft video shows you how to create a bunny head out of polymer clay. You start it by creating a round ball for the bunny head. You can then make it into a bead by using a small screwdriver (if you wish it to be a bead). You then take some additional clay and shape it into flat ears, fold them over to make them look floppy and attach them onto the round ball (head). The presenter then shows you how to add eyes, by pressing beads onto the face of the bunny using a needle. You can ...

How To: Work with paperclay & molds

Terri Sproul shows you how to Work with Paperclay and Molds. Make a ball of paperclay and push it firmly into the center of the home-made or ready-made Mold. Make the surface of the Paperclay level with the surface of the Mold, adding more Paperclay if necessary, and removing any excess with your fingers. The molding putty that the Mold is made from is flexible, so hold the edges of the mold with your fingers and gently push the center of the Mold with your thumbs, this will push the molded P...

How To: Make an incense burner out of clay

Ilysa and Kira with Polymer Clay TV demonstrate how to make an incense burner out of clay. An incense burner is a great way to use up a lot of your scrap clay. You can also use molds, embellishments and pigments to create your incense burner. You can roll up your clay in a swirl to create the incense burner or use any other desired shape. You can also do pinch pot type shapes. To make an incense burner, you'll need a ball of scrap clay, a blade, and a rod. Use the rod to flatten pieces of a c...

How To: Make a clay planter

Clay pottery is a fun and creative art form that can be done with slabs of clay and not only on a spinning wheel. This free video clip series will show you several tips on how to construct a slab planter and open a world of design ideas for you.

How To: Throw a double walled vase

Follow this example to throw a double walled ceramic vase. This is a decorative motif in ceramics, and a tricky process to complete. After the pice dries a little, make sure to cut some holes in the top layer of clay, to prevent an explosion in the kiln. As shown, you can also carve decorative designs in the outer pot.

How To: Make an oval pie dish with Simon Leach

Watch this instructional ceramics video to learn how to make an oval pie dish with expert Simon Leach. Begin by throwing a clay pot with a wide base, as if throwing a plate. Then stop the wheel and lift the walls of the wet clay to bring the walls in, and seal the seems. The pot then has to stiffen before one can finish sealing and trimming of the excess clay from the round base.

How To: Dip tea bowls in glaze with Simon Leach

Watch skilled potter, Simon Leach, give his expert instructions on how to glaze a set of tea bowls. He also suggests some household supplies which can be used to embellish your ceramics when the clay is still soft, such as a bolt or a comb. This glaze is a combination of Scotland Hills red mud, feldspar and wood ash. He also uses white clay slip on some of the pots. This is a process wear one glazes the tea bowls while the clay is still semi-soft.

How To: Trim using chuck

Watch this ceramics tutorial video to learn how to trim your pottery using chuck. This technique and the tips on how to do it are best for intermediate potters with some experience. This instructional video will have you trimming you pottery using a chuck in no time.

How To: Make faceted pottery

Watch this ceramics tutorial video to learn how to make faceted pottery using some common faceting methods such as wire cut faceting. The detailed instructions in this helpful how-to video are geared toward intermediate potters and will allow you to make pretty faceted pottery.

How To: Throw a vase neck

Watch this ceramics tutorial video to learn how to throw a vase neck using clay and a pottery wheel. This how-to video is not for beginners as it assumes a certain degree of skill. You'll be throwing vase necks like a pro using the tips offered in this instructional video.

How To: Mix your own clay at home

This video tutorial shows how to mix your own clay body. Covered are the basic types of clay, fluxes, and fillers. When testing clay body mixtures, make 1000 gram batches dry, then add water to that. This way a percentage recipe can be taken and just by moving the decimal point can convert it to grams (25% = 25 grams or 250 grams, etc). Here is a clay-body recipe is as follows for those of who might care. Also, much of the mixture of a clay body is designed to match the glazes. It needs to me...

How To: Join two pieces of soft clay

Check out this video to learn a technique for attaching soft clay to soft clay. No scoring or slip is needed. By just applying firm pressure to get a good strong joint. The small clay coil is used to reinforce the joints, and the blending is to make sure both parts are joint securely. Finally give a little pull to the new piece of clay that was attached, to test how good the joints are. If it comes loose than you are not applying enough pressure in joining the two pieces together. Finally, if...