Coiling technique

 

Coiling Technique

 

 

As part of the course we were taught some ceramics techniques, one of which being the coiling technique. Coiling has been around for thousands of years, ranging from Africa, Greece, China and New Mexico. Coiling is a traditional pottery technique that is used to create pottery ceramics by building layers of clay. During the course we had the option to create a second portrait sculpture or to create a bowl.  I chose to create a small bowl because I wanted experience in using coiling techniques. Jackie came over and gave me a tutorial and demonstration on how to make a small pot/bowl.  When watching Jackie, I thought the process seemed quite quick and easy but when putting it into practice myself, I found it was more difficult than it seemed. I started off with a straight forward pot with no curves to it, but once I had managed to get the technique right, I made two other pots that ranged in shape and size. To create a coiled pot, you simply make a small circular slab of clay (depending on how big you want your pot to be), you use this slab of clay as a base which you then apply layers of coils to. Coils are long thin rolls of clay which you can make slightly bigger or smaller with each layer to change and alter the shape of your pot. Jackie taught me that when applying the coils on top of each other, never to start them off at the same point around the circle, otherwise you will find that one side of the pot will dip more than the other, and by starting each coil at a different point, it will even out the shape of the pot.

 

 

 

These photos show the three coiled pots that I made during the last day, I thought that making the pots would be the easier part of the course but I actually found it hard to create the shapes and sizes I had in mind, with the time allocated.