Water Bowl & Candlestick Holder Clay Prep

Series Summary

Ceramics are art works made out of clay bodies that harden with the application of heat. Originating in Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Roman, and Mayan cultures, ceramics have a long history that dates back to the third millennium BC. Pottery was used to create food and water jars, decorative bowls, sacred urns, and religious idols. Potters most traditionally use their hands, but several tools have been developed to aid in the ceramic making process, including the potter's wheel. Ceramics range from functional vessels to decorative sculptures, and remain both a long loved craft as well as a fine art. Create a unique piece of art by combining different ceramic elements. In this free ceramics video series, a master potter will demonstrate how to make a water bowl and candlestick holder combination piece that incorporates water and fire. Learn how to prepare your clay, center it on the potter's wheel, and throw each piece off of a single mound of clay. Find out how to assemble each element into a cohesive pottery piece that will add personality to any living room. Get creative by mixing and matching your clay projects.

Video Transcript

"Alright. Now I'm going to make a, bowl. It's got a nice flat bottom, but then it's going to have our candlesticks inside of the bowl. So you can fill the bowl full of water, put a little flower in there, whatever you want to put in there, but it's just a nice little feature to have. Something about having water and having fire in the same thing just brings a good element to your living room. It makes a great present, an even better thing to sell. So, what I'm doing is getting my wad of clay prepared because I'm going to make my candlesticks first and I'm going to make them off the hump. And I'm going to show you what that is. And what I had done is I reserved about this much clay for making the candlesticks and then the rest of this is going to go towards my bowl. So, now that I got this ready, go ahead and make sure that the bottom of your, the bottom of your wedging spiral is facing up and this is going to be on our wheel head. There we go. I'm going to get ready."