How to Create Some Deep Grooves by Carving Clay Molly Walter

Carving clay is a really fun way to activate your surfaces. We have showcased a lot of clay carving techniques on Ceramic Arts Network. Most of those have featured fairly shallow carving, but Molly Walter goes deep with her carving! 

In this post, I am sharing an excerpt from Molly's Workshop from Home webinar in which she shows how she uses common pottery tools to make a variety of marks. Also, in an excerpt from the Pottery Making Illustrated archive, Molly walks us through her process for carving clay on a jar form! –Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

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This clip was excerpted from Workshop from Home with Molly Walter, which is available on CLAYflicks.

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Preparing to Carve the Clay

You will begin carving when your piece is leather hard. Carving should be clean and crisp and the clay should not stick to your tools. Rest the piece on a foam pad as you work, and have a container nearby to collect your carving scraps, so stray bits don’t get stuck to the piece. 

You will need to decide how many sections you want to divide your piece into—3, 6, or 8 work nicely. MKM decorating disks make this part easy. Center the disk on the base and use the needle tool to mark the clay at each interval (1). Then, set your lid on top of the disk, and mark it at each interval as well (2). An even number of sections allows you to alternate your pattern in every other section—I use even numbers when doing vertical or structured patterns. Odd numbers are great for flowing repetitive patterns that swirl around a form. 

Feel the thickness of your piece to gauge how deeply you can carve. This is a skill I have developed over many years and after carving through many pieces. Gain courage and confidence in your skills over time by practicing on a simple form or a slab. Where possible, support the inside of the wall you are carving with one hand, by doing this you can usually feel if you are carving too deeply before you actually cut through. This will help you get comfortable carving deeper and deeper. 

Digging In 

Start by carving the beveled foot of your pot. A fluting tool is a good choice for the first cut, as they are easy to control and have limited depth. Turn the base of your jar upside down, line your tool up with a dot, and with a smooth motion pull the tool down and toward you through the clay (3). Repeat this process at every dot. Now, you can start to have a conversation with your piece. 

Choose a new tool, carve a new mark in one section that relates in some way to the first mark (4), rotate the piece, and make the same mark in the next section. Repeating this process in each section. As you practice this, you will notice that each cut feels a certain way in your hand and wrist, and you will develop a rhythm as you move around the piece (5). Carve the entire base by repeating these steps (6, 7). Let the patterns from the base of the jar inform your choices for the lid—use the same tools, same number of sections, etc. (8). 

Use a loop tool to create long, continuous carvings around the pot. This type of mark also helps to create a visual separation between the lid and base (9). 

Additional Carving Tips 

To create a dynamic carving pattern, use a variety of marks—straight, curved, short, long, deep, and shallow. Combine marks to make a motif, and try carving the same motif from different directions to change the way they catch the light. 

For straight cuts, bring the tool into place carefully and start digging in slowly. When you have reached the full depth, you are going for, use a smooth motion to pull the tool toward you out of the clay. For curving marks, dig in precisely at the beginning and use a sweeping motion of the wrist, playing with depth, angle of entry, and angle of exit to create interesting shapes. For short, deep marks, dig in deeply right away and flick the tool out of the clay. Create tapered shapes by carving more delicately at the beginning and end of strokes. 

Follow through is important for clean carving. Avoid the temptation to stop halfway or re-carve mistakes, it usually looks sloppier than the initial mess up. Challenge yourself to try carving with just one or two tools. You may be surprised by the huge variety of marks you can make. 

Finally, use a barely damp sponge to lightly soften any sharp edges (10). 

All photos: Lee Barker. 

Molly Walter lives and works in Weaverville, North Carolina, and is currently a resident artist at Mars Hill University. She has a BA in anthropology from Illinois Wesleyan University, and is a graduate of the Haywood Community College–Professional Crafts program. To see more of her work, visit www.mollywalterpottery.com or follow her on Instagram @Mogrizzles.

**First published in 2023.