Jacqui Atkin - Pinch Your Pottery: The Art & Craft of Making Pinch Pots - 35 Beautiful Projects to Hand-form from Clay

THE ART & CRAFT OF MAKING PINCH POTS

35 BEAUTIFUL PROJECTS
TO HAND-FORM FROM CLAY

Jacqui Atkin

My sincere hope in producing this book is to dispel any misconceptions about pinching and demonstrate its versatility as a method for making practical and imaginative forms, whether small or large, using mostly your hands, just a few tools, and an electric kiln.

Pinching is the most basic and direct method there is for interacting with clay; its malleable quality instantly makes the handler want to shape it and, in fact, if you give a child a lump of clay without telling them what it is, they will naturally pinch it into something like a bowl or an animal. Do you remember your own first encounter with clay at school? Those lumpen attempts that made your mother so proud. I still have my own childrens early clay artworks, which I treasure for their naivety and the wonderful way they were created without the constraints of technical know-howthey contain much of the character of the child.

In historical terms, pinch pots dating back over 17,000 years have been discovered in China. Their original use was no doubt purely practical, to hold food and water, but at some point their making evolved to produce ornate vessels for wider domestic use and as decorative art forms. This was a technique that laid the foundations for forming clay in other ways and coiling was quickly discovered as a way of extending the size of vessels, but millennia passed before the introduction of the pottery wheel in around 4000 bce, so the pinching technique served humans well for a considerably long time.

In contemporary terms, pinching seems to be a making method thats less well-regarded than others. Maybe this is because of its association with early learning, or possibly that it is seen as a rudimentary technique from which you graduate to other, more technical methods with outcomes of greater sophistication. However, in my experience as a teacher, I have found that many people struggle with the complexities of pinching; they assume it is the simplest method but soon find it has challenges like any other. What I usually say is that mastering pinching will teach the best tactile sensitivity of all the making methods. It is a methodical way of working that allows the individual to make adjustments but gives the best control over the clay. Of course, it takes practice to make something of refinement, but once mastered it is possible to make wonderful, innovative forms for practical or decorative use that rival anything made by other methods, even those on the wheel.

Of course, the process does not end with the making; there is always surface decoration to contend with, an element of ceramics that many find daunting, but again, using just a few basic techniques this book will show there is great scope for individual creativity, including using ready-to-use products for those who dont have the time or space to prepare their own.

Happy Potting.

Any clay can be used to make pinched forms with practice but some are much easier to work with than others. Traditionally, there are three main categories of clay: earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain, which are differentiated by their fired density and strength. However, more broadly, there are also clays available with wide firing ranges that fall between categories. This alone can complicate the choice, but in addition within each group there are also variables of colours and textures to exacerbate the dilemma. For pinching, the most important factor to consider is the plasticity of the clay, as this will directly influence its handling ability.