How to Make Sophisticated Pottery Forms Using the Most Basic of Tools Learn how to make a beautiful pot using the pinching technique! Lilly Zuckerman

The pinch pot is the most elemental of pottery forms requiring simply one's hands and a lump of clay. Because of this, it is often the first technique most of us learn when introduced to clay.

A trip to Morocco, where the adobe buildings, cooking pots and geology inspired her forms, left Lilly Zuckerman with the sensation of seesawing between vast open countryside and claustrophobic narrow streets, zooming in and out from one vista to another. The presentation of her pinched vessels on vast farmhouse tables captures something of this sensation. Viewed from afar, as a horizontal panorama, the collection of vessels appears as clustered dwellings across the fields. Close up, they resemble buildings, walls, courtyards and alleyways.

The Process

"Starting with a solid block of clay, I slowly and methodically pinch the form. No clay is added and very little clay is trimmed away‚ encompassing many changes of state, from the uncomplicated lump, heavy with potential, through precarious and fluid chaos, and ending with the form."

My favorite stage is when I’m actually pinching a form. I can make lots of decisions quickly, and this is when I’m most engaged and challenged. I enjoy the give and take of this process; sometimes, I impose my ideas on the form, and other times I really watch what’s happening in front of me and respond accordingly. This takes me to unexpected moments, proving to me that work makes work and that by consciously and unconsciously participating in it, the process teaches me.

Throw out a slab approximately 1½ inches thick. Place the slab on a piece of foam, over a bat and a banding wheel and shape it to the basic footprint of the form (figure 1).

Map out the floor of the piece by pressing down with your fingertips, defining the outer walls and the interior wall that will bisect the form (figure 2).

Once the floor is defined, begin lifting and pinching up the walls to create the transition from floor to the wall (figures 3 and 4). Pinch the clay slowly and evenly, working equally in both clockwise then counterclockwise directions. Continue lifting and pinching the walls evenly and straight up. If any cracks develop, compress them away with a soft rib and wipe the edges with a wet, soft sponge (figure 5).

Further refine the shape of the form by stretching and pinching the walls on the ends into a 45° angle (figure 6). The places where lines meet curves is very compelling to me, so I like to shape the curves into corners on the ends (figure 7). Finish the form by smoothing out any cracks or rough edges in the walls (figure 8).

**First published in 2014