Project #14

Saturday April 9, 2011
ARTS ALIVE -11AM-1PM
Ages 3-23 (any age group)


Objective: “Learning To Throw A Bowl On The Potters Wheel”

Supplies: potters wheel, towel, bucket, needle tool, straight/curved rib, wire tool, sponge, wood knife, wear board, and 1Lb ball of clay


Procedure:  (steps)

1. Smack clay ball down in the center of your  wheel .and seal to the wheel head by warping  your hands around the ball and pushing down.

2. Now that it is sealed to the wheel head wrap your hands back around it and squeeze it into a cone. By doing this it condenses the clay removing possible air pockets.

3. Bring your cone down by wrapping your left hand around your cone with your thumb up ,then place your right hand on top of your thumb and press down.  As you are pressing down your right arm should be locked into your side, and the clay should from into a donut without the whole (this is called centering).

4. The next step is opening  and you start by getting your wet sponge and pressing in the center which  opens the form into a donut ( but do not go all the way down to the wheel head) . Now we check our thickness of our bottom with the our  needle tool (around 1/4 inch thick), after checking thickness make sure your donut is on center by wrapping your wet sponge around your donut side.  When this is completed  we move on to pulling.

5.  When starting to pull the sides , have your right hand on the outside with your left hand slightly above your right but on the inside,  we don’t want to go to fast of a speed .  You should do 2 to 3 pulls maybe more if needed ,because your goal is to have an even wall thickness.  Now that you have the sides of your bowl you want to compress your lip (top of your bowl) with  your wet sponge . Getting rid of all sharp edges.

6.  Refining your form to create a better bowl. You do this by using your curved side of the rib and you gently  place it in the bowl pushing along the sides, creating a nice curved in your bowl You now have a bowl and finish it by compressing the lip.

7.   Taking your bowl of the wheel head. First use your wood knife tool to cut of excess clay around the bottom of your bowl. Now your ready for your wire tool which you use to run in between the wheel head and your bowl. Put your bowl on your wear board to take with you.

I really enjoyed teaching and participating in Arts Alive in down town Mobile Alabama. The kids and older participants where awesome as they were excited and ready to learn.