The project finder

Pick your next pottery project

137 projects, every one of them with a guide or a slab mold behind it. Filter by how you want to make it, how far along you are, and what you want to be holding at the end. That is the whole page.

60 of these need real practice first. They are marked. Picking one too early is how a month disappears.

A studio shelf filled with finished student pottery: rows of glazed mugs, nested bowls, slab trays, succulent planters and small animal figurines, with a potter in a clay-stained apron standing behind it
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Showing all 137 projects

  • Easy hand-building projects for beginners: bowls, mugs, trays and small dishes on a table at The Clay Hole

    20 Easy Projects Beginners Can Hand-Build

    Twenty small projects that need no wheel and no experience, each one you can finish in a session. Pick one, make it, pick the next.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • Throwing on the pottery wheel: a potter centering a tall jar in a sunlit studio with a kiln behind

    How to Throw on the Pottery Wheel

    The complete guide. Ten fundamentals, twenty one things that go wrong with the cause of each, and three skill levels with the cutoffs spelled out.

    • First few sessions
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 9: a smooth half-sphere dome, one of a family of six graduated domes, shown rim-down on the gray shelf and hand-numbered 9.
    Slab molds 9 to 14

    Hemisphere Bowl (set of 6)

    One of the two largest domes in this graduated family, and the one that makes the everyday serving bowl - big enough for a shared side dish, small enough to hold in one hand while you eat out of it.

    1 to 3.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Imprinting texture into clay: a real leaf and a piece of lace rolled into a soft slab with a rolling pin

    Imprinting Textures

    Real flowers, leaves, fabric and lace pressed straight into a slab. What leaves a crisp mark, what burns away, and what sticks.

    • First few sessions
    • Surface work
  • Making ceramic tiles that stay flat: two hands holding a freshly carved tile above more drying flat on a board

    Ceramic Tiles That Stay Flat

    The simplest thing to make and the easiest to warp. Almost all of it happens while it dries.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 17: a shallow round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 17

    Everyday Pasta Bowl

    The classic everyday bowl proportion - wide enough to be useful, shallow enough that food sits up where you can see it.

    6 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Forty ways to texture pottery: a worktable covered in stamped, rolled, carved, combed and slip-trailed test tiles

    40 Ways to Add Texture, and When to Apply Each

    One long reference. Forty techniques, from stamps and roulettes to slip trailing, faceting and sandblasting, each with the stage of the clay it actually wants.

    • First few sessions
    • Surface work
  • Making ceramic jewelry: a potter piercing a hole through a small clay pendant among beads and earrings

    Ceramic Jewelry: Earrings, Beads and Pendants

    Small, quick, and the fastest way to learn how much clay shrinks. Holes, findings, and what survives being worn.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 18: a shallow round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 18

    Large Serving Bowl

    A step up into serving territory. The low profile keeps the piece from feeling heavy despite its width, so it works as a salad bowl that lives on the table, a shallow fruit bowl, or a low centerpiece bowl you f

    7 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Kintsugi with epoxy and mica: a potter running a gold line along the mended crack of a broken bowl

    Kintsugi with Epoxy and Mica

    The version you can do at a table in an evening. Two-part epoxy, mica powder, and a mend that is meant to be seen rather than hidden.

    • First few sessions
    • Surface work
  • Making a planter for the plant: a potter shaping a wide planter on the wheel beside potted houseplants

    Making Planters Based on What You Are Planting

    A succulent and a fern want different pots. Drainage, depth, width and wall thickness, decided by what is going to live in it.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 19: a very wide, low round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 19

    Wide Shallow Fruit Bowl

    Almost a platter with a lip. That flat generosity is the point - bread and cheese, a pile of stone fruit, a bowl of limes on a bar cart.

    7.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Making a pinch pot: two pairs of hands pinching the wall of a small round terracotta pot

    How to Make a Pinch Pot

    The oldest way to make a pot and still the fastest way to understand what clay will and will not do.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • Blue glazed ceramic dish used as mold 22A: a small teardrop-shaped dish, turned upside down on the gray shelf beside a matching small bottle.
    Slab molds 22

    Teardrop Spoon Rest (set of 2)

    A found-object mold at the smallest useful scale. The teardrop outline gives a finished piece with a point and a curve, which is exactly the geometry a spoon rest wants - the handle sits in the taper.

    1 to 1.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Green Level
  • Coil building pottery: a potter smoothing the wall of a wide coil-built bowl at a long work table

    How to Coil Build Pottery

    Building height without the walls leaning, and blending the joins so the finished piece does not read as a coil pot at all.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 28A: a flat round disc with a softened edge, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 28A.
    Slab molds 28

    Round Nesting Plate (set of 3)

    A three-piece round nesting set in HDF. Because all three share one profile, pieces made across the set stack and read as a family, which is the whole point of a graduated set - you get a coherent collection in

    1.5 to 8 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making a slab mug: a potter wrapping a flat sheet of clay into a cylinder round a former

    How to Make a Slab Mug

    A mug built from a flat sheet, seam and all, with no wheel anywhere near it.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 29A: a flat oval disc, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 29A.
    Slab molds 29

    Oval Nesting Dish (set of 3)

    A three-piece oval nesting set in HDF. Ovals give a table direction in a way circles never do, and a graduated trio of them arranged together looks composed rather than accidental.

    1.5 to 5.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Sculpting clay for beginners: a small hollow clay animal shaped on a banding wheel with a wooden tool

    A Beginner's Guide to Sculpting

    Where to start when the thing you are making is not a pot. Solid or hollow, how thick, and the point at which it has to be hollowed out.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 30A: a flat round disc with a chamfered edge, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 30A.
    Slab molds 30

    Chamfered Round Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece round set in HDF with a chamfered edge, so every finished piece gets a clean angled rim rather than a soft rolled one.

    2 to 7 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • A cookie cutter pressed through plastic wrap into a clay slab, with cut shapes beside it

    Using Cookie Cutters on Clay Slabs

    The plastic wrap trick that stops shapes sticking and rounds every edge as you cut, plus how to dry flat shapes without curling.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 31A: a rounded rectangular board, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 31A.
    Slab molds 31

    Rounded Rectangle Tray (set of 5)

    A five-piece set of soft-cornered rectangles in HDF. Rectangular ware is the hardest thing to build convincingly by hand, so a graduated set like this is genuinely valuable - straight sides and matching corners

    4.5 to 9 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • A kitchen bowl as a slump mold: a clay slab settling into a plastic-wrapped mixing bowl on a work table

    Using Any Dish or Pan as a Slump Mold

    Your kitchen is full of slab molds you already own. Plastic wrap in between, or you will be explaining to somebody why their salad bowl has a pot in it.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 32A: a flat oval disc, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 32A.
    Slab molds 32

    Egg-Shaped Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece oval set in HDF. Ovals read as more intentional than circles and they fit a rectangular table more efficiently, which is why oval serving pieces keep coming back into fashion.

    2 to 6 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making a pottery stamp and maker's mark: a hand-carved bisque stamp pressed into the foot of a leather hard mug

    Making Your Own Stamps and Maker's Mark

    Carve one, bisque it, and it works forever. The one tool on this list you will still be using in ten years.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard slab mold 33A: a flat oval disc, the largest of a five-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray studio shelf, each piece hand-labeled 33A through 33E.
    Slab molds 33

    Organic Oval Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece oval set in HDF, running smaller than its sibling set - this is the family for small dishes and personal ware rather than serving pieces.

    2 to 6.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making a glaze catcher: a stack of small unglazed catchers beside a mug standing on three pea-sized balls of clay

    Making a Glaze Catcher

    Insurance for a glaze you know is going to run. Thrown catchers, pinch pot catchers, and the glue and clay ball trick on a cookie.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 35A: a square board with softened corners, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 35A.
    Slab molds 35

    Square Tray (set of 3)

    A three-piece square set in HDF. Squares fill a table more efficiently than circles and stack better in a cupboard, and a graduated trio gives you a full place setting in one geometry.

    2.5 to 14 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • A homemade pottery damp box: a lidded plastic tub with a plaster slab in the bottom and leather hard pots inside

    Making Your Own Damp Box

    A tub, a plaster slab and some water. It holds work at leather hard for weeks instead of days, which is most of what stops a project stalling.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 36A: a rectangular board, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 36A.
    Slab molds 36

    Rectangle Tray (set of 3)

    A three-piece rectangular set in HDF, thin enough that pieces come off nearly flat.

    2 to 9 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making glaze test tiles: a potter at a wooden bench brushing glaze onto one of dozens of numbered tiles

    Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles

    Tiles that stand up, take a number and show a glaze the way a pot will, then a log that turns a pile of them into a library. Ours are already fired for choosing; yours are for combinations, coats, texture and your own clay.

    • First few sessions
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 38A: a thick rounded rectangular block, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 38A.
    Slab molds 38

    Deep Rectangle Dish (set of 5)

    A five-piece set of deep, soft-cornered rectangles in HDF. The combination of a rectangular footprint and real depth is rare and hard to build by hand - these give you rectangular vessels rather than rectangula

    1.5 to 10.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • High-density fiberboard mold 39A: a square board with a softly waved edge, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 39A.
    Slab molds 39

    Notched-Corner Tray (set of 5)

    The largest of the wave-edge set, and a rectangle rather than a square - about three to two, which is the proportion most serving boards want.

    4 to 7.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • High-density fiberboard mold 40A: a flat octagonal board, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 40A.
    Slab molds 40

    Hexagon Tray (set of 3)

    A three-piece octagonal set in HDF, and thin, so pieces come off nearly flat.

    2 to 7 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 46: an oval dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 46

    Oval Serving Bowl

    An oval reads as intentional in a way a circle does not - it has a front and a back, so it sets a table with direction.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 48: a round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 48

    Everyday Cereal Bowl

    The workhorse middle size. Eight inches is the diameter of a cereal bowl, a soup bowl, a ramen bowl if you go a little deeper with the rim - which is to say this is the mold you use to make things that get eate

    4.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 49: a small rounded rectangular dome, measuring 5.9 in wide, 4.5 in deep and 2.8 in tall with a trapezoidal profile.
    Slab mold 49

    Butter Dish Dome

    Small, rectangular and soft-cornered - the shape of a butter dish, a soap dish, a business-card tray, a dish for cufflinks or rings.

    2 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 54: a shallow oval dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 54

    Shallow Oval Dish

    A small, low oval - the shape of a soap dish, a butter dish base, a spoon rest, a dish for rings beside the kitchen sink.

    3.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 55: a shallow round drape mold, measuring 9.2 in wide, 9.2 in deep and 2.5 in tall with a soft rounded edge.
    Slab mold 55

    Round Salad Plate

    Nine inches and barely any depth puts this exactly at side-plate and salad-plate size.

    4.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 57: a round dome, near-hemispherical.
    Slab mold 57

    Round Soup Bowl

    A clean, quiet eight-inch bowl with nothing to distract from the surface.

    4 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 59: a round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 59

    Personal Serving Bowl

    Small enough to feel personal, big enough to be useful - this is the individual serving bowl.

    2.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Green Level
  • High-density fiberboard mold 76A: a rounded triangular board, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 76A.
    Slab molds 76

    Square Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece set of soft triangles in HDF, stacked into a stepped pyramid.

    1.5 to 6 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • First few sessions
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making a ceramic mosaic: small colored tile pieces laid into a panel on a table beside bowls of tesserae

    Ceramic Mosaics, from First Cut to Grout

    Making your own tesserae rather than buying them, then cutting, laying and grouting them. The one project where a cracked pot is raw material.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • Miniature pottery: a tiny pot shaped between two fingertips beside a tray of finished miniatures

    Miniature Pottery, Thrown and Built

    Everything gets harder as it gets smaller. Tools, clay choice, and why a tiny pot dries out before you have finished it.

    • A few under your belt
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 2: a smooth half-sphere dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 2

    Deep Round Serving Bowl

    A true hemisphere, and that geometry is what makes it useful - the finished bowl has real depth relative to its width, so it holds soup, cereal, popcorn or a good serving of pasta without anything sliding out.

    7.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Sgraffito on pottery: a potter carving a fine pattern through the deep blue surface of a rounded pot

    Carving and Sgraffito

    Cutting a pattern back through a colored surface to the clay underneath, and the stage the pot has to be at for it to work.

    • A few under your belt
    • Surface work
  • A handmade ceramic wall clock: a delighted potter on a park bench hugging a large clock with hands and numbers

    A Ceramic Wall Clock That Actually Works

    A flat form with a hole in the middle, sized for a movement you have already bought.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • Throwing on a mini pottery wheel: a tiny pot shaped with two fingertips on a palm-sized tabletop wheel

    Throwing on a Mini Wheel

    A small wheel is not just a wheel that costs less. What the torque and the wheel head size actually change about how you throw.

    • A few under your belt
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 3: a round truncated cone, wider at the bottom with a recessed circular top.
    Slab mold 3

    Flared Utility Crock

    The straight flared wall on this one produces a very different silhouette from the round domes - crisp, architectural, more mid-century than farmhouse.

    6 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • A fired ceramic bowl with a pool of melted colored glass in the bottom of it

    Melting Glass Into Pottery

    At our temperature glass is liquid, not soft. How to contain it, why it cracks, and why most guides online do not apply here.

    • A few under your belt
    • Surface work
  • Making a ceramic kitchen strainer: a potter piercing a ring of drainage holes through a domed clay bowl

    How to Make Kitchen Strainers

    Anybody can put holes in a bowl. Getting it back out of the kiln in one piece is the part worth learning.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • Using a pottery chuck: a narrow-necked pot lowered upside down into a clay chuck on the wheel

    Making and Using Chucks

    How to hold a pot that will not sit on its own rim. Making your own, and what each kind is actually for.

    • A few under your belt
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 7: a rounded-square dome, measuring 6.3 in wide, 6.3 in deep and 3 in tall with soft corners, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 7

    Soft Square Bowl

    A square footprint with all the sharpness sanded out of it, which is a surprisingly hard shape to throw on a wheel and an easy one to get from a slab.

    2.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Green Level
  • Mason stains for pottery: jars of brightly colored stain powder beside a scale, a sieve and fired test tiles

    Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze

    One jar of powder colors clay, slip, engobe or glaze, and the percentage changes for each. What they are and every way people use them.

    • A few under your belt
    • Surface work
  • A hand-built footed serving bowl: a potter holding up a wide bowl on its foot ring with both hands

    Hand-Built Footed Serving Bowls

    Lifting a wide bowl off the table, and what a foot does to how it dries.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 8: a tall, deep dome, noticeably taller than a half sphere.
    Slab mold 8

    Deep Personal Bowl

    Deeper than a hemisphere, so the wall comes up steeper and the finished piece behaves more like a cup or a deep ramekin than a bowl.

    2 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Green Level
  • Handmade ceramic spoons and ladles: a potter holding up two glazed spoons, more drying on a board

    Ceramic Spoons and Ladles

    A bowl and a handle that have to balance, dry evenly and survive being used. Much harder than it sounds.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 24: an oval platter mold, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 24

    Large Oval Platter

    A classic oval serving platter at the size most tables can actually accommodate.

    7 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Making a chip and dip platter: a wide shallow platter on the wheel with a small bowl attached in the middle

    Chip and Dip Platters That Do Not Crack

    A wide platter with a bowl attached to it, which means two very different thicknesses drying next to each other.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 34A: a rounded triangular board, the largest of a 3-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 34A.
    Slab molds 34

    Triangle Tray (set of 3)

    A three-piece set of soft triangles in HDF, and the thinnest boards in the collection - the finished pieces come off almost flat, more plate than bowl.

    1 to 5.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Building slab lidded boxes: five members round a long table each building a box while an instructor leans in

    Lidded Boxes and Treasure Boxes

    Building it sealed and cutting the lid out afterward, so the two halves always match.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 37A: a thick round disc with a chamfered edge, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 37A.
    Slab molds 37

    Deep Round Dish (set of 5)

    A five-piece round set in HDF, noticeably thicker than the other board sets.

    1.5 to 9 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • A ceramic butter dish with a domed lid: a hand lifting the green lid to reveal the butter inside

    Butter Dishes with a Domed Lid

    Two pieces that have to fit each other after both of them shrink.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 41A: a softly squared organic board, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 41A.
    Slab molds 41

    Wavy Star Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece set of loosely squared organic shapes in HDF - square enough to stack and store, irregular enough that nothing looks machine-made.

    2.5 to 10.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • A handmade ceramic wall vase hanging on a wall with a single stem in it

    Hanging Wall Vases

    Four ways to build a wall pocket, why the flat back bows as it dries, sizing the hole for shrinkage, and hanging it safely.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • High-density fiberboard mold 42A: a scalloped flower-shaped board, the largest of a 5-piece nesting set shown stacked largest to smallest on the gray shelf, hand-labeled 42A.
    Slab molds 42

    Scalloped Petal Plate (set of 5)

    A five-piece scalloped set in HDF, cut in a soft petal outline. It is the most decorative family here, and the shape does the work - a plain white glaze on a scalloped plate looks finished with no other decorat

    1.5 to 8 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 or 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Kurinuki: a potter carving a pot out of a solid faceted block of clay with a loop tool

    Kurinuki: Carving a Pot from a Solid Block

    Start with a solid lump and take everything away that is not the pot. No joins to fail, and a surface no other method gives you.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster mold number 45: a shallow rectangular slab mold, measuring 13.38 in wide, 8.62 in deep and 1.75 in tall with beveled edges, set at an angle.
    Slab mold 45

    Rectangular Serving Tray

    A shallow rectangle with cut edges, which produces a tray with a crisp perimeter rather than a soft one.

    9.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Making a clay figurine: a hand-built character with a large head being given a face with a needle tool

    Making Figurines and Characters

    Faces, hands and the proportions that make a character read. Plus how to build one that survives drying and firing in one piece.

    • A few under your belt
    • By hand
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 47: an asymmetric organic dome, measuring 10.1 in wide, 6.25 in deep and 2 in tall with an irregular, slightly lopsided outline.
    Slab mold 47

    Freeform Organic Dish

    The deliberately imperfect one. The outline wanders, so no two orientations of the finished piece look quite the same and the result reads handmade even before you touch it.

    3 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 50: a rounded trapezoidal dome, measuring 6.62 in wide, 6.62 in deep and 2 in tall with gently sloping sides.
    Slab mold 50

    Tapered Sugar Bowl

    The tapered sides give the finished piece a slight pedestal quality - it sits up rather than sprawling.

    2 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster mold number 52: a shallow round plate mold, with a distinct raised rim ledge around a flat center.
    Slab mold 52

    Rimmed Dinner Plate

    That stepped rim is the whole reason this mold exists. It gives the finished plate a defined edge - a place for a thumb, a border for a glaze to break over, and a visual frame around whatever is on it.

    5.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 58: a softly squared dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 58

    Soft Square Serving Bowl

    A rounded square with a bit of height to it, so the finished piece has corners you can see but edges you can still run a thumb along.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 60: a pointed oval leaf-shaped dome, tapering to points at both ends.
    Slab mold 60

    Leaf Dish

    The points at each end are what make this one special - the finished piece reads as a leaf or a boat rather than a generic dish.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • White plaster slump mold number 65: a small elongated tray mold, measuring 10.88 in wide, 5.5 in deep and 1.62 in tall with shallow walls, lying concave side up at an angle on the gray shelf, hand-numbered 65 on both ends.
    Slab mold 65

    Slim Spoon Tray

    A narrow press-mold trough at a friendlier scale than its big sibling.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • White plaster mold number 66: a shallow square tray mold, sitting at an angle on the gray shelf with a recessed square well.
    Slab mold 66

    Square Sushi Tray

    A square with a shallow recessed well, which gives the finished piece a defined interior and a clean flat border.

    11 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • White stone bowl used as mold number 74: a small marble or stone bowl, sitting upright on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 74

    Stone-Slump Bowl

    A stone bowl used as a slump mold. Stone gives a harder, more precise interior curve than wood or plaster, so the finished piece comes out crisp and symmetrical - closer to a wheel-thrown profile than most slab

    2.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • A few under your belt
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Making a ceramic chain: a potter building interlocking clay links at a table beside a finished draped chain

    Ceramic Chains with Links That Move

    Links built closed around each other, so they can never be assembled later. Making them, joining them, and firing them without a single break.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • Throwing a planter with an attached drip tray: a wide planter on the wheel with its tray formed at the base

    Planters with an Attached Drip Tray

    One piece instead of two, which sounds easier and is the opposite.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 1: a broad, shallow round dome, sitting rim-down on the gray studio shelf with a hand-written 1 on the front.
    Slab mold 1

    XXL Serving Bowl

    This is the anchor of the collection and the mold most people reach for when they want one big, generous piece.

    12 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Mishima slip inlay: dark slip worked into fine carved lines on a pale leather hard vessel

    Mishima, Slip Inlaid into Carved Lines

    Carve the line, flood it with slip, then scrape the surface back until only the line is left. A drawn mark that sits flush with the clay instead of on top of it.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Surface work
  • Making a clay ocarina: a potter piercing finger holes into a dark ocarina beside a drum, a flute and a whistle

    Ocarinas, Whistles, Flutes and Drums

    Ocarinas, whistles and drums. The pitch is decided by the volume of air inside, which shrinks with everything else.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • A lidded jar with a gallery: two potters lowering a lid onto a large terracotta jar to check the fit

    Lidded Jars with a Gallery

    Cutting a seat for the lid to sit in, and measuring it so it still fits after the kiln.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 4: a small rounded-triangular dome, the smallest of a trio shown together on the gray shelf.
    Slab molds 4, 5, 6

    Petal Dish (set of 3)

    The smallest of a trio of elongated petal dishes - twice as deep as it is wide, so the finished piece is a long narrow dish rather than a round one.

    2.5 to 3.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Relief carving on clay: a raised floral design cut into a thick leather hard tile with a loop tool

    Relief Carving

    Cutting the background away so the design stands proud. The opposite of sgraffito, and it wants a much thicker wall.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Surface work
  • A handmade ceramic chess set: thirty-two thrown stoneware pieces in two glazes on a tiled ceramic board

    Creating a Ceramic Chess Set

    Thirty two pieces that have to match each other and a board they have to sit on. The longest project on this page, and worth it.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • A pitcher that pours cleanly: water poured from a green carved pitcher into a bowl to test the spout

    Pitchers and Ewers That Actually Pour

    A spout that cuts the flow cleanly instead of dribbling down the front.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 15: a tall round truncated cone, flaring out toward the bottom with an open recess at the top.
    Slab mold 15

    Tall Flared Crock

    One of the tallest forms in the plaster collection, and the proportions do the heavy lifting - a 9 inch base rising to 6 inches gives you a genuinely upright vessel rather than a bowl.

    9 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Faceted and geometrically carved pottery: a pot with evenly cut flat planes beside a vase carved in a repeating pattern

    Geometric Carving and Faceting

    Repeating patterns that have to meet themselves on the far side of a round pot. Dividing the wall is the hard part, not the cutting.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Surface work
  • Handmade ceramic smokeware and a water vessel on a studio bench

    Making Smokeware and Water Vessels

    Why the bowl stays unglazed, building an airway that survives shrinkage, venting hollow chambers, and designing something you can clean.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • Thrown oil bottles and cruets: a bench lined with tall narrow-necked bottles in blue and brown glazes

    Throwing Oil Bottles and Cruets

    A narrow neck that pours a controlled stream, and a base that does not tip.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 16: a tall narrow cone, standing point-up on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 16

    Tall Cone Form

    The most sculptural mold here. Wrapped in a slab it gives you a tall tapered cone - a bud vase for a single stem, a hanging planter, a lantern with the pattern pierced through, or a set of three at graduated he

    3 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Burnishing pottery with a stone: a potter polishing the side of a dark rounded pot to a shine

    Burnishing and Terra Sigillata

    A shine you get from polishing rather than from glaze. The surface underneath pit firing, naked raku and horsehair work.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Surface work
  • Making a plaster slump mold: plaster poured from a bucket into a lined mixing bowl on a garage bench

    Making Your Own Plaster Slump Mold

    Cast a permanent plaster version of a dish you already like. Done at home, never here, because plaster and a shared clay studio do not mix.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • Stopperless salt and pepper shakers: one cut open to show the internal cone that fills from below

    Stopperless Salt Shakers That Fill from Below

    Fills from the bottom and does not pour out when you turn it back over. Air pressure does the work, and the hole sizes are the whole trick.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Glazed ceramic baking dish used as mold number 20: a long rectangular dish, glazed gray-blue with a band of white chrysanthemum relief around the outside walls, sitting right side up and open on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 20

    Rectangular Baker

    A found-object mold that works in either direction, though a slump is the natural way to use it - press clay down into the open dish and you get a deep rectangular vessel with square-ish corners that would be g

    13.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Traditional kintsugi with urushi and gold: a potter brushing gold along the repaired seams of a dark bowl

    Traditional Kintsugi with Urushi and Gold

    The real one. Urushi lacquer and powdered precious metal, cured over months rather than an evening, and food safe at the end of it.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Surface work
  • Nerikomi patterned clay: a potter slicing into a loaf of layered colored clay to reveal the pattern

    Nerikomi, Patterned Colored Clay

    Building a patterned loaf out of stained clays and slicing it, so every cut face carries the design. Thrown on the wheel it is called neriage.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • By hand
  • A handmade ceramic lamp base: a speckled stoneware base with its shade lit on a studio bench

    Ceramic Lamp Bases, Holes and Wiring Included

    Built around hardware you have to buy first, with a cord hole and enough weight to stay put.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Glazed ceramic four-well mini loaf pan used as mold number 21: a rectangular pan, glazed gray-blue with white chrysanthemum relief around the outside, sitting right side up on the gray shelf with four loaf-shaped wells in a row.
    Slab mold 21

    Four-Well Loaf Tray

    Four loaf-shaped wells in a row, and slumping is the natural way to use it - press clay down into the wells and you come away with a tray divided into four bays, or four small loaf dishes if you cut them apart.

    13.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a tagine: a potter throwing the tall cone of the lid on the wheel beside its shallow base

    Throwing a Tagine

    A shallow base and a tall cone that have to seal against each other, after both of them shrink.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 23: a large pointed-oval platter mold, tapering to a point at each end.
    Slab mold 23

    XL Leaf Platter

    A big leaf or eye shape with real presence. Draped, it gives you a generous serving platter with tapered ends that direct the eye - the piece you build a cheese board around, or fill with roasted vegetables, or

    10.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Making a pottery teapot: two hands shaping a dark teapot body on the wheel, spout and lid waiting beside it

    Building a Teapot, Spout and All

    Body, lid, spout, strainer holes and handle, all shrinking together. The capstone project.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Flat white plaster oval slab mold number 25: a nearly flat oval, measuring 14.62 in wide, 10.38 in deep and 1 in tall and an inch thick, lying on the gray shelf with a hand-written 25 on the surface.
    Slab mold 25

    Oval Plate Blank

    Almost completely flat, which makes this a shaping template as much as a mold - lay the slab over it and you get a clean oval blank with a whisper of curve.

    8 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a plate on the wheel: a potter pressing down across the wide flat floor to compress it

    Throwing Plates

    No wall to hold it up and nothing but floor. Compression, drying flat, and why a plate warps weeks after you thought it was safe.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Large flat white plaster oval slab mold number 26: a nearly flat oval, lying on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 26

    Large Oval Plate Blank

    The bigger flat oval. Same idea as its smaller sibling - minimal curve, maximum surface - but at a scale that makes real serving pieces.

    13 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a large serving bowl: a potter reaching into a very wide terracotta bowl with both hands

    Throwing Large Serving Bowls

    Width is harder than height. Where the clay has to be left, and the point in the flare where a bowl decides to give up.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 27: a rounded rectangular block, set at an angle on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 27

    XL Rectangular Tray

    A big soft-cornered rectangle - the footprint of a serving tray, a baking dish, or a deep rectangular platter.

    13.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a moon jar: a potter steadying a large pale round jar on the wheel with both hands

    Throwing Moon Jars

    Two thrown hemispheres joined at the belly. The classic test of whether you can make a seam disappear.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 43: a round truncated cone, measuring 9.9 in wide, 9.9 in deep and 4.3 in tall with an open recessed top.
    Slab mold 43

    Flared Mixing Bowl

    A flared bowl with a flat bottom and a straight, honest wall - the profile of a classic mixing bowl or a diner-style serving bowl.

    7 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a donut vase: a ring-shaped vessel taking shape on the wheel beside two finished green ones

    Throwing a Donut Vase

    A sealed hollow ring with two openings cut into it. It teaches closed forms, collaring and joining all at once, and it looks impossible.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Unfinished light pine mold number 44: a solid wooden truncated pyramid, measuring 6.25 in wide, 6.3 in deep and 3.25 in tall with flat angled faces, hand-numbered 44 on the front face.
    Slab mold 44

    Faceted Wedge Form

    Flat faces and hard edges - the opposite of every dome in this collection.

    4 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Throwing a gooseneck bottle: both hands drawing the tall narrow neck upward on the wheel

    Gooseneck and Skinny Neck Pots

    Collaring is the move everything hangs on. A quarter inch of diameter per pass, why a thin wall will not collar, and three routes to the same shape.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 51: a long stadium-shaped oval dome, set at a slight angle on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 51

    Catch-All Dish

    Long and low, which is a shape with one obvious job: serving things in a row.

    5.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a sphere on the wheel: two hands cradling a large pale clay ball under a tall studio window

    Open and Closed Spheres

    What actually reads as round: a narrow base, the widest point a touch above center, and one decision in the last minute that changes everything after.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster mold number 53: a rectangular loaf-shaped plaster block, measuring 9.9 in wide, 5.1 in deep and 3.5 in tall with rounded top edges.
    Slab mold 53

    Loaf Pan Form

    A loaf-pan silhouette, which opens up a whole category most slab molds cannot reach: bread pans, planters for a windowsill herb row, a utensil box, a deep rectangular server.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Throwing an enclosed form: a potter smoothing the domed top of a sealed round pot closed on the wheel

    Throwing Enclosed Forms

    The air does half the work. Why a sealed pot carries a belly that would fold an open one, and the pinhole that has to go in before it ever sees a kiln.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 56: a round dome, rim-down on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 56

    Large Mixing Bowl

    The proportion here is the sweet spot between the shallow serving bowls and the deep hemispheres - wide enough to serve from, deep enough to hold a real quantity without spilling.

    5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Throwing a double-walled pot: both hands working the divided rim of a wide terracotta form on the wheel

    Double-Walled Pots

    A sealed pocket inside the pot's own wall. Two methods, ten steps, and the vent hole you drill at leather hard.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Large white plaster slump mold number 61: an elongated rectangular tray mold, measuring 22 in wide, 9.75 in deep and 2 in tall with shallow upturned walls, lying concave side up on the gray shelf, hand-numbered 61 at both ends.
    Slab mold 61

    XL Baguette Tray

    The longest mold in the collection, and unlike most of these it is used the other way round - clay is pressed down into the cavity rather than draped over the top.

    14.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing pottery in sections: a potter steadying a very tall gray sectional pot standing high above the wheel

    Throwing Pottery in Sections

    Throwing in pieces and joining them, which is how anything taller than your arm actually gets made.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Turned wooden bowl used as mold number 62: a medium wooden bowl, measuring 12.2 in wide, 12.2 in deep and 5.3 in tall with a white painted interior, sitting upright on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 62

    Painted Wood Bowl Form

    A wooden bowl pressed into service as a slump mold - clay goes inside and takes the bowl's interior curve.

    10 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Making a ceramic urn with a lid: a potter lowering a carved lid onto a tall carved urn at a workbench

    How to Make a Ceramic Urn with a Lid

    The one-cubic-inch-per-pound capacity rule, lid galleries that seal for good, and full wheel and hand-built paths. A serious project, treated seriously.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Wooden bowl used as mold number 63: a bowl, measuring 11.4 in wide, 11.4 in deep and 5.2 in tall with two cut-out handle openings in the rim, sitting upright on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 63

    Handled Bowl Form - Medium

    The cut-out handles are the interesting part - press clay inside and the openings give you a natural place to carve matching handles into the finished rim, turning a plain bowl into something with a grip and a

    9.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Throwing a giant sectional pot: lowering a freshly thrown ring onto a pot already taller than the wheel

    How Dan Throws Giant Sectional Pots

    The 25-pound-bag math of scale, the ten-to-fifteen-section stacking loop, and the heavy-grog clay spec behind the studio giants. Yours can start at two sections.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • Large wooden bowl used as mold number 64: a bowl, measuring 15 in wide, 15 in deep and 6.6 in tall with two cut-out handle openings, sitting upright on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 64

    Handled Bowl Form - Large

    The largest of the wooden bowls and a serious slump mold. Fifteen inches across with real depth gives you a statement serving bowl - the one that holds a whole salad for a dinner party, or lives on a counter fu

    15.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Neriage with colored clay: a marbled gray and white bowl on the wheel, the pattern running through the wall

    Neriage, Throwing with Colored Clay

    Marbling, done properly. Stained clays wedged together and thrown, so the pattern runs right through the wall rather than sitting on it. Its hand-built sibling is nerikomi, over in Hand Building.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 67: a very large shallow dome, filling most of the frame on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 67

    The Behemoth

    This is one of the biggest molds in the collection and it makes a piece that stops a room.

    21 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Black Level
  • Korean onggi fermentation jars: large dark paddled jars standing together with the light on their walls

    Onggi: Korea's Giant Fermentation Jars

    The chest-high jars that breathe, the coil-and-paddle method masters use to raise them in a session, and what your own big pots can steal from the tradition.

    • Ready for a challenge
    • On the wheel
  • White plaster slump mold number 68: a rounded rectangular open box, embossed Hydro-Bat on the side, sitting cavity-up on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 68

    Deep Square Baker

    A deep, soft-cornered box mold - press clay into the cavity and you get a genuinely deep rectangular vessel, which is hard to achieve any other way with slabs.

    14 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Large white plaster tray mold number 69: a rectangular tray, measuring 17 in wide, 12.88 in deep and 1.62 in tall with a broad flat floor and low walls, sitting cavity-up on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 69

    XL Rectangular Platter

    A big shallow rectangle, pressed rather than draped. The result is a substantial flat tray with a low retaining wall - a serving tray for drinks, a large rectangular platter, a shallow baking dish, or a decorat

    15.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • White pottery plaster hump mold number 70: a very large, low lens-shaped oval dome, sitting close to the front of the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 70

    Baby Behemoth

    Enormous and barely curved, which produces a wide shallow platter rather than a bowl.

    16.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Black Level
  • White pottery plaster mold number 71: a large oval plate mold, with a raised inner ring defining a flat well inside a broad rim.
    Slab mold 71

    Big Bertha Bowl

    The inner ring turns this from a generic oval into a proper platter with structure - a defined well for the food and a wide rim to hold onto.

    12 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Black Level
  • Elongated wooden dough bowl used as mold number 72, measuring 16.9 in wide, 8 in deep and 2.75 in tall with a hand-hewn surface, sitting upright on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 72

    Dough Bowl Trough

    A long carved dough bowl, used as a slump mold so the clay picks up its trough shape and its slightly uneven hand-hewn interior.

    6.5 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Clear plastic egg tray used as mold number 73: a rectangular tray, measuring 14.38 in wide, 6.3 in deep and 2.8 in tall with rows of rounded egg-shaped wells, sitting on the gray shelf.
    Slab mold 73

    Dimpled Egg Tray

    A found plastic egg holder, and one of the more inventive molds in the collection.

    10 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
  • Galvanised metal cone mold 75A: a smooth conical form, standing point-up on the gray shelf among a group of six graduated cones.
    Slab molds 75

    Cone Tree (set of 6)

    The tallest cone in a set of six galvanised metal forms. Wrapped in a slab it gives a slender, elegant cone - a bud vase for a single tall stem, a hanging planter, or a pierced lantern.

    1.5 to 3 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/3 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Yellow Level
  • Wooden serving board used as mold number 78: a long rectangular board, measuring 25.88 in wide, 9.9 in deep and 0.5 in tall with a rounded ring handle at one end, lying on the gray shelf with a pink sticker and the number 78.
    Slab mold 78

    Handled Serving Board

    A charcuterie board with a ring handle, used flat as a shaping surface and a template.

    13 lbs of clay to start, rolled 1/2 in thick

    • Ready for a challenge
    • Slab mold
    • Purple Level
Already on the calendar

Making something for a season

These come around every year and the pages stay up all year. Start earlier than feels necessary. Drying and two firings are not fast.

If none of it grabs you

Then chase the skill instead of the object

Plenty of people go looking for a project and find out they were really looking for a technique. Learn to pull a wall that does not thin out at the top, and suddenly half this page is available to you. The object follows the skill.

The Clay Hole University runs 204 free lessons, from centering a lump of clay to throwing a moon jar. The Mold Room holds all 248 slab molds with what each one makes and how much clay to start with.

The Clay Hole University The Mold Room