When was the last time you followed your instincts? Was it when you took a different way home? Was it when you reached out to an old friend you haven’t seen in years? Was it when you decided not to take the job offer? Our lives are filled with tiny choices that lead us on different paths. Animals are designed with instincts. Instincts for survival: what to eat, how to nurture their young, where to build their homes—and in what season. As humans, our ingrained instincts are often clouded by the opinions and judgments of others, reducing these instincts to a choice that sometimes is not fully our own. We forget that we too have a reflexive capacity for how to stay safe, how to survive, and to know what is best. I think about this often as I work through both motherhood and my career, digging deep to hear my own instincts for how to navigate what’s in front of me. I use animals and storytelling to encourage this trust in both me and those who use my work, relying on intuition to guide me as I work through building a piece, rather than planning from start to finish before I’ve begun. I stay in tune with each choice; curiously confident it will lead me to the right piece in the end.
I balance a full-time teaching job as area head of ceramics at the University of Iowa along with my studio work, so I’m used to breaking up my process into steps that can be accomplished throughout the work week. I have found with porcelain that it is also important to let the clay rest between each step, allowing it time to get used to what I’ve asked of it, and not pushing it too far in one sitting.
Process Overview
People often ask me if I plan my designs out first before I begin. My answer is that I prefer to work intuitively throughout the whole process, staying in the moment with the form. If my brain begins to focus too much on the plan, I lose my connection with creativity.
Day One: As I begin working, I throw basic forms for building. For every three base forms, I throw an additional straight-walled cylinder to cut slabs from for handbuilding shapes.
Day Two: Using paper templates, I cut shapes from the straight-walled cylinder (1), making sure there are two shapes for each template—one a mirror of the other. Once they have firmed up slightly, I curve the edges (2) to start to encourage “puffy” shapes (3). I cut the edges at 45-degree angles with a very sharp knife to encourage a good connection with its mirrored partner (4). Next, I score each edge with a serrated rib, add slip, press the two shapes together (5), and run a serrated rib over the seam (see 6). If the shape allows, I blow air into the open end (6). This re-puffs up the shape and reveals any weak seams. I add a small coil over any seam that needs reinforcing. I put these shapes in a wet box overnight, giving the porcelain time to rest. I trim my base forms on this day too, so that they are ready for the shape attachments on day three.
Day Three: I mix and match the shapes with my base forms and do my best not to overthink which forms to match to the shapes (7). Once my choices are made, I slip and score the shapes to the forms, adding a coil at the seam (8) and working the shapes together with the serrated rib. I work through my set of forms, and once I’ve done this to all of them, I smooth out the rib lines with a small, soft, smooth rib (9). I try to avoid adding any water at this point, but sometimes it is necessary to get the rib damp to smooth the porcelain completely.
Day Four: I do a final wipe down of each piece, if needed, and poke a tiny hole in each side of the puffy shapes with a straight pin. This hole is to create airflow so the forms can dry out evenly. At this point, I dry the pots as slowly as time allows.
Future Day Five: Once pots are bone dry and ready for the bisque, using a dust mask, I sand any rough spots that were missed on day four with a green scrubby (10), blowing off the dust with an air compressor.
Creating the Story
In the days the pots are drying, I spend my time experimenting and exploring how to map out the drawings on each pot. I try to think through all the possibilities of what animals can take form on the surface, and how they might tell a story (11).
Following the bisque firing, I sand each pot under water with 400-, 600-, and 800-grit wet/dry sandpaper to smooth the surface.
Images onto the Blank Canvases
Using the story map in my sketchbook as a guide, I draw on the pot with a cheap blue ballpoint pen (12). The blue helps to provide contrast from the black underglaze I will use for slip trailing. I use a pen instead of a pencil to avoid graphite dust mixing with the underglaze, which I find occasionally creates bubbles in the underglaze after firing.
If too much time has passed between drawing on the pot with a pen and applying the underglaze, I re-wet the pot before applying the underglaze so that it is cold to the touch. This tiny bit of hydration helps the pot not be so thirsty for the underglaze, making it easier to lay a solid, steady line.
Using a squeeze bottle, I then trace all the pen lines with black underglaze (13). If I make a mistake, I wait until just after the underglaze dries enough to lose its sheen and carefully scrape away the mistake with a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle, being cautious only to remove the black line and not damage the pot.
Once all the imagery has been outlined, I treat the piece like a coloring book, filling in the blank spaces with colorful designs. I continue to use glaze in squeeze bottles for this step (14).
Once I am satisfied with the design, I bisque the pots again. This vitrifies the design enough to stay put and burns out the pen marks, giving me a chance to see and fix the spots I may have missed. I put a liner glaze on the inside of the pots, leaving the outside free of any top glaze so the textures and details aren’t lost.
Finishing Touches
I do a final firing to cone 6 and then clean up any exposed porcelain with wet/dry sandpaper (15). When sanding, I first sand the bottom of my pots on the wheel with a 240-grit sanding bat, followed by 800-, 1000-, 1200-, 1500-, 2000-, 2500-, and 3000- grit wet/dry sandpaper, under water.
Whether or not you use any of these skills in your own practice, I hope you take the time to exercise listening to your own instincts, especially in the studio. May your studio time be free of others’ expectations of what your work should be, allowing for more space for your unbiased creativity to take center stage.
Heidi McKay Casto (she/her) is a ceramic artist and faculty member at The University of Iowa School of Art, Art History, and Design, where she is the Area Head of Ceramics. She earned her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work has been featured in over sixty group and four solo exhibitions. She was named a 2022 Ceramics Monthly Magazine Emerging Artist.
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Please enjoy this complimentary article for the month.
For unlimited access to Pottery Making Illustrated premium content, please subscribe.
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Subscribe to Pottery Making Illustrated
When was the last time you followed your instincts? Was it when you took a different way home? Was it when you reached out to an old friend you haven’t seen in years? Was it when you decided not to take the job offer? Our lives are filled with tiny choices that lead us on different paths. Animals are designed with instincts. Instincts for survival: what to eat, how to nurture their young, where to build their homes—and in what season. As humans, our ingrained instincts are often clouded by the opinions and judgments of others, reducing these instincts to a choice that sometimes is not fully our own. We forget that we too have a reflexive capacity for how to stay safe, how to survive, and to know what is best. I think about this often as I work through both motherhood and my career, digging deep to hear my own instincts for how to navigate what’s in front of me. I use animals and storytelling to encourage this trust in both me and those who use my work, relying on intuition to guide me as I work through building a piece, rather than planning from start to finish before I’ve begun. I stay in tune with each choice; curiously confident it will lead me to the right piece in the end.
I balance a full-time teaching job as area head of ceramics at the University of Iowa along with my studio work, so I’m used to breaking up my process into steps that can be accomplished throughout the work week. I have found with porcelain that it is also important to let the clay rest between each step, allowing it time to get used to what I’ve asked of it, and not pushing it too far in one sitting.
Process Overview
People often ask me if I plan my designs out first before I begin. My answer is that I prefer to work intuitively throughout the whole process, staying in the moment with the form. If my brain begins to focus too much on the plan, I lose my connection with creativity.
Day One: As I begin working, I throw basic forms for building. For every three base forms, I throw an additional straight-walled cylinder to cut slabs from for handbuilding shapes.
Day Two: Using paper templates, I cut shapes from the straight-walled cylinder (1), making sure there are two shapes for each template—one a mirror of the other. Once they have firmed up slightly, I curve the edges (2) to start to encourage “puffy” shapes (3). I cut the edges at 45-degree angles with a very sharp knife to encourage a good connection with its mirrored partner (4). Next, I score each edge with a serrated rib, add slip, press the two shapes together (5), and run a serrated rib over the seam (see 6). If the shape allows, I blow air into the open end (6). This re-puffs up the shape and reveals any weak seams. I add a small coil over any seam that needs reinforcing. I put these shapes in a wet box overnight, giving the porcelain time to rest. I trim my base forms on this day too, so that they are ready for the shape attachments on day three.
Day Three: I mix and match the shapes with my base forms and do my best not to overthink which forms to match to the shapes (7). Once my choices are made, I slip and score the shapes to the forms, adding a coil at the seam (8) and working the shapes together with the serrated rib. I work through my set of forms, and once I’ve done this to all of them, I smooth out the rib lines with a small, soft, smooth rib (9). I try to avoid adding any water at this point, but sometimes it is necessary to get the rib damp to smooth the porcelain completely.
Day Four: I do a final wipe down of each piece, if needed, and poke a tiny hole in each side of the puffy shapes with a straight pin. This hole is to create airflow so the forms can dry out evenly. At this point, I dry the pots as slowly as time allows.
Future Day Five: Once pots are bone dry and ready for the bisque, using a dust mask, I sand any rough spots that were missed on day four with a green scrubby (10), blowing off the dust with an air compressor.
Creating the Story
In the days the pots are drying, I spend my time experimenting and exploring how to map out the drawings on each pot. I try to think through all the possibilities of what animals can take form on the surface, and how they might tell a story (11).
Following the bisque firing, I sand each pot under water with 400-, 600-, and 800-grit wet/dry sandpaper to smooth the surface.
Images onto the Blank Canvases
Using the story map in my sketchbook as a guide, I draw on the pot with a cheap blue ballpoint pen (12). The blue helps to provide contrast from the black underglaze I will use for slip trailing. I use a pen instead of a pencil to avoid graphite dust mixing with the underglaze, which I find occasionally creates bubbles in the underglaze after firing.
If too much time has passed between drawing on the pot with a pen and applying the underglaze, I re-wet the pot before applying the underglaze so that it is cold to the touch. This tiny bit of hydration helps the pot not be so thirsty for the underglaze, making it easier to lay a solid, steady line.
Using a squeeze bottle, I then trace all the pen lines with black underglaze (13). If I make a mistake, I wait until just after the underglaze dries enough to lose its sheen and carefully scrape away the mistake with a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle, being cautious only to remove the black line and not damage the pot.
Once all the imagery has been outlined, I treat the piece like a coloring book, filling in the blank spaces with colorful designs. I continue to use glaze in squeeze bottles for this step (14).
Once I am satisfied with the design, I bisque the pots again. This vitrifies the design enough to stay put and burns out the pen marks, giving me a chance to see and fix the spots I may have missed. I put a liner glaze on the inside of the pots, leaving the outside free of any top glaze so the textures and details aren’t lost.
Finishing Touches
I do a final firing to cone 6 and then clean up any exposed porcelain with wet/dry sandpaper (15). When sanding, I first sand the bottom of my pots on the wheel with a 240-grit sanding bat, followed by 800-, 1000-, 1200-, 1500-, 2000-, 2500-, and 3000- grit wet/dry sandpaper, under water.
Whether or not you use any of these skills in your own practice, I hope you take the time to exercise listening to your own instincts, especially in the studio. May your studio time be free of others’ expectations of what your work should be, allowing for more space for your unbiased creativity to take center stage.
Heidi McKay Casto (she/her) is a ceramic artist and faculty member at The University of Iowa School of Art, Art History, and Design, where she is the Area Head of Ceramics. She earned her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work has been featured in over sixty group and four solo exhibitions. She was named a 2022 Ceramics Monthly Magazine Emerging Artist.
September/October 2026: Table of Contents
Must-Reads from Pottery Making Illustrated
Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
Click the cover image to return to the Table of Contents