What Is Slab Built Ceramics

The most common handbuilding techniques are pinch pottery coil building and slab building.

What is slab built ceramics.

Before potters began using pottery wheels simple tools were used to create clay pottery. Liz zlot summerfield is also an excellent resource for slab building techniques. Below are the three most common forms of creating hand built pots. Slab building techniques were used extensively by mesoamerican pre columbian potters with some beautiful results.

Hand built pottery tends to look more rustic and rough around the edges than pottery thrown on a wheel which is part of its charm. Making a pinch pot is the simplest way to begin working. As much of riska s work is large scale some objects reach as high as eight feet the long and meticulous process of creating it would seem painstaking but the artist finds it. Pinchpot coiling and slab techniques.

To make a pinch pot one inserts a thumb into a ball of clay and continually pinches the the clay between the thumb and fingers while rotating to thin. Birdie boone works with super thin slabs to make. More on soft slab pottery. To get you started check out this article by daryl baird on using slump molds with soft slabs.

Other than these potters though slab pots were only minor players in the hand building playing field of other ancient cultures across the globe. Most ancient cultures gravitated to the pottery wheel for. Your own slab building pottery projects can work well for you if you have a construction need and want to save money while at it. Working with slabs by hand also is generally easier to master than using a potter s wheel.

How to slab clay. Handbuilding is working with clay by hand using only simple tools not the pottery wheel. History of slab building. Slabbing clay is a handbuilding pottery technique that has been around for centuries.

But this tutorial for a slab built mug is still for those who have some experience with pottery. If you have caught the slab pottery bug you ve come to the right place for inspiration. Instead of relying on a mould or the force of a wheel coiling as with slab built ceramics requires only the artist s steady hand to shape the vessel s form. Slab building allows you to make pottery including mugs and pitchers with clean lines.

Doing your own slabs could mean reduced labor hiring and expenses since you can also use readily available materials and still get results. Before potters had the wheel they were creating beautiful pots and clay forms using clay their hands and fingers and basic hand tools. Slabbing clay is a technique the includes.