Wheel Wedging & Centering Clay on the Pottery Wheel

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. Learn how to throw a hanging flower pot on the pottery wheel in this free ceramics video featuring artist Chris Cook. Cook will demonstrate how to center and wedge clay on the pottery wheel, how to open clay on the pottery wheel, how to shape a clay flower pot on the potter's wheel, how to trim the bottom of a clay flower pot on the pottery wheel, and how to create drainage holes for clay flower pots.

Video Transcript

"Alright, so here we go, we're going to make some hanging flower pots. And these are good to throw from the hump too, because you're going to round the bottom. Because they're not going to be sitting on anything. They're going to be hanging. So you want to start off with the wheel wedge. That's where you take our clay and wedge it up to the top. Just keep bringing it up with the palms of our hands and then bringing it down. Just like that. What that does is eliminate any air bubbles or inconsistencies or anything that might be hiding in this clay. Brings it out to the surface. And give it a nice chop down like that. That should get us nice and centered. Pretty close. There. So we have a nice centered piece of clay we're ready to throw from."