Pinch and Coil Skillbuilder: Creating a Vase or a Bowl in Ceramics I! (Beginner Level)

This video is a quick review of the technique of pinching and adding coils for height, and shaping a form as you go. I made this video for my Ceramics I students at Mason High School. This is the second exercise (non-graded) that the kids do in clay for their semester Ceramics I class. They are adding to their learning and building skills they will use throughout the semester. The learning goals are to reinforce the technique of pinching, while adding coils for additional height. They will learn how to roll round even coils, and score, slip, and blend them to the pinched forms. They will then learn how to shape the forms, and in some cases, paddle the forms by stretching the clay in the direction they want the form to go. Students begin with a ball for this project, insert a thumb, and pinch between the thumb and fingers of the same hand. I emphasize to them that they should be doing the pinching while holding it in their hand as opposed to setting it on the table and pinching. The reason to avoid setting it on the table is that the pinch forms tend to flatten on the bottom and go really wide- more wide than they want them. I emphasize that they need to watch the thickness of the walls and the base- and they have to keep them the same thickness… to avoid a thick bottom which could potentially explode! I show them how they can use a little rib for some quick preliminary clean up if they have time on the first day. We are using a hunk of clay about the size of their fists, but you can use any size you desire. It fluctuates among each person as to how big they want to make theirs! The key is that you are still able to pinch your index and middle fingers to the thumb in the middle. If you can't reach all the way to the middle, I recommend a tad bit smaller. I describe it as "fist sized" for my students as well... it helps them to create a piece more fitting to their grip. Such as, a football player with big hands will have a bigger ball to pinch than the 5' little freshman girl! Maybe start with a pound ball, and see how that fits your hand. Honestly, many of my students have a very difficult time when I give them measurements in inches or centimeters. They just can't visualize it and things go terribly wrong... that's when I started calling it as "thick as a pinky"= TRANSLATE that to 3/8" - 1/2" in thickness! We are using Standard 225 for this exercise. It is a grogged midfire light brown stoneware which will be bisque fired and glazed. Check out the first video in this series here: https://youtu.be/ptqAPJ6jNZg The second video which shows the surface design: https://youtu.be/k1IetOdc04g The third video in which I show the kids how to glaze their forms here: https://youtu.be/bWuhJ0ookpo For the great tools I used in the video (including the mudtools ribs and needle tools) check out this link to a live Googledoc I continually update with lots of my favorite tools on Amazon using my associate links! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XbYPQjjJnHrQG5xyWGMHZkEcZj5N8VnUAbFZdJRrRmU/edit?usp=sharing Here is a playlist of all the videos for the Ceramics II (slightly more advanced) pinch cups: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj0pNzEmvM_r2nmjBvHwFv-7W9AYfs1LO I am a public high school ceramics teacher at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. (Mason is currently the largest high school in Ohio!) As a potter, I have been working in clay for over 30 years, and I have been teaching for over 28 years, the past 20 have been specifically teaching high school ceramics. I love what I do! I have my own studio in my home basement, where I work on my personal pottery for my Etsy site; https://www.etsy.com/shop/KaransPotsAndGlass