You’ll see the entire process: preparing the clay, making the slabs, shaping the form, joining the pieces, building the neck and handle, creating the textured surface, and finally, the finished vase after firing.
This piece is made from red earthenware clay and fired once at 980°C (1796°F). After firing, the clay develops its natural warm brick-red terracotta color.
CERAMIC TEXTURE RECIPE
For the textured area around the neck of the vase, I first apply a colored engobe.
Engobe base mixture: • 70% white ceramic clay • 30% matte transfer glaze • + 3%-15% black stain added to the base mixture
After applying the engobe, I add my dry texture mixture.
Texture powder mixture: • 30% white transfer powder • 30% matte white transfer powder • 20% white ceramic clay • 20% baking soda
Once the powder mixture has been applied, I carefully add vinegar over the textured area. The vinegar reacts with the surface mixture and helps create the unusual texture you see on the finished vase.
IMPORTANT TIP
Make sure the vinegar reaches every area covered by the white powder mixture.
In my experience with this piece, if part of the white powder is left without vinegar, that area can become flaky after firing and may separate from the ceramic surface instead of bonding properly.
At the same time, don’t use more vinegar than necessary. Apply it carefully and gradually.
Ceramic materials, clay bodies, application thicknesses and firing conditions can behave differently, so I strongly recommend making a small test piece before using this recipe on an important work.
The final piece shown in this video was fired once at 980°C / 1796°F.
If you enjoy handbuilding pottery, ceramic experiments, pottery textures and learning new ways to work with clay, subscribe for more.
And if you try the vinegar and baking soda texture, I’d love to hear about your results in the comments.
AI Generated·May contain errors
Video Summary
AI Generated
This video provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide on how to create a ceramic vase by hand without using a pottery wheel. The process covers everything from preparing the red clay and shaping slabs using molds to assembling the body with coils and applying a unique chemical texture using engobe and vinegar.
If you think making a ceramic vase without a pottery wheel is difficult,
this video is for you. Today I'm going to show you the entire process, step by step,
from a simple piece of clay to the finished vase. So let's get started!
First, choose the right clay for your project. For this piece I'm using red clay.
After firing, this clay develops a beautiful, warm, brick red color.
We're going to start by making a slab. Wedge your clay really well first and then begin
flattening and rolling it out, just as you can see me doing here. While I'm making the slab,
I like to gently compress and tap the clay. This helps me make sure there aren't any air
pockets trapped inside. If you do notice an air bubble, don't worry. You can simply open that
area, remove the trapped air and compress the clay again, just like I'm doing here.
Once you're happy with your slab, clean and smooth the surface.
Now we need two molds that are exactly the same size.
Place your first mold over the slab and cut the clay to match the opening of the mold.
Then, place the second mold on top of the first one.
Then, using a piece of fabric, gently press the slab down into the mold.
The fabric helps you shape the clay without leaving too many marks or damaging the surface.
Take your time and let the clay gradually take the shape of the mold.
Then repeat exactly the same process for your second slab.
Now we're going to leave both pieces aside until the clay reaches a leather hard stage.
While we're waiting, we can prepare a coil.
Try to make your coil as even and clean as possible,
because we're going to use it to join the two halves of our vase together.
Once the slabs are firm enough, carefully remove the first one from its mold.
As you can see, it now has a beautiful bowl-like shape.
I placed the first slab on top of the second one,
Place it inside a slightly smaller bowl while I'm working.
This gives the clay some support and prevents it from collapsing
or losing its shape while I'm joining the pieces.
Now we can start attaching our coil around the edge.
Work slowly and make sure the connection is strong, smooth and even all the way around.
This is an important part of the process, so don't rush it.
Next, take the second half and cut out the opening for the neck of the vase.
Then, carefully place it over the first half and begin joining the two pieces together.
Just follow the process you can see here and take your time with the connection.
Here's a little tip.
You'll notice that I'm gently tapping the clay with a spoon.
These soft, controlled taps help compress the clay around the joint,
remove any small air pockets that may still be trapped there and create a cleaner, stronger form.
Once the main body is finished, we can move on to the neck and the handle.
I build both of these using coils as well
and then carefully blend and attach them to the body of the vase.
And once everything is finished, it's time to be patient.
I leave the piece to firm up very slowly.
This can take several days and that's completely fine.
I don't move on to the next stage until the vase is much firmer
almost dry and strong enough to work on without changing its shape.
After a few days, we can start working on the surface.
And this is where things get really interesting.
For the neck of my vase, I start with a layer of colored engobe.
Then, I add the mixture that I used to create this textured surface.
I'll leave the exact ingredients and proportions I used for this texture
in the video description, so you can try it yourself if you'd like.
So, once the engobe and the mixture are applied, I use vinegar to create this reaction
and develop the texture you can see on the surface.
One important tip here, don't use too much vinegar.
Adding too much can cause the clay or the surface layer to crack,
so start with a small amount and gradually add more if you need it.
There are, of course, other ways to create similar ceramic textures,
but this is the technique I used for this particular piece.
Once everything is finished, I let the vase dry completely before firing it.
And that's it!
A ceramic vase made completely by hand without using a pottery wheel.
I hope you enjoyed watching the process,
and I hope it inspires you to try making your own.
If you enjoyed the video, please give it a hype,
share it with someone who loves pottery,
and let me know what you think of the finished piece in the comments.
Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one!
