How to Make Slab Built Mugs 

thanks Mary Jean, I'm glad it helped :)

Thanks Aldeir :)

Glad it was helpful!

Hi Wendy, thanks, I'm glad it's helpful :)

It really depends on how firm your pieces are when joining. The timing and consistency of your clay dictates your technique really. For instance, say you were working with a reasonably large production of mugs, then these techniques would be too timeconsuming and for me personally, too fiddly. I used to have a studio and am watching lots of videos to learn how to possibly teach courses, besides for my curiousity how others work. I personally learned alot more about workflow and form from working with professional potters than I did at my full time art college ceramics course back in the day. I see alot of potters on yt doing extremely tidy, painstakingly slow work I do admire but don't have the patience for. Even people with perfect nails (mystifying). You can slab build using more hybridized techniques I'd describe as a combo of sculpting, slabwork and pinching/ coiling. Making it very fast, but much trickier if using delicate texturizing in the beginning, better then to carve or use rollers after the basic form is all done. (Also any real height like vases and big pots require leaving a bottom section to firm up naturally). The handle- making using the "milking method" (she refers to it as "carrot") can be done off the hump as well, if you're producing a set of several mugs, ie a larger sc hump of clay on a low table, pulled out at an angle, making a set of six or sixty one after another simple. I'd make mug shapes several at a time, let them firm up, then make and attach handles one by one and I never used alot of scoring and slipping, but attatched the handles more or less straight away, so the clay is soft and adheres. A little scruffing with an old worn toothbrush on the point of attatchment on the mug if you want to be super sure is enough. I'd attach the top end, curve it out and down, then attach the bottom end and stand the whole mug upsidedown if going for this ear shaped handle she's using, bc gravity will support that shape with those curves upside down alot better. It saves ALOT of time and fiddling. But my muggs often had a larger attatchment area to the top part (which is the stress point) of the handle, with a pressed thumb indentation or a stamp decoration. Her method involves two very small flat cut and perfectly angled surfaces to hold the whole handle and weight. If you look at various handmade muggs I think you'll see the differences I mean. For throwers it's a common look and technique the way I do this, it sortof keeps the work flow going, and insures also that matching larger vessel with same type handle (like a pitcher or teapot) can withstand alot of wear and all the extra weight. But these are different aesthetic considerations too. I like pieces that convey movement in the curves, and mostly threw muggs or thew and altered, built and carved with some speed expressed. I wanted that fluid quality visible to the finished piece. Ie the softness of the raw clay. Her work is more angular, clean cut, and still in expression. I think it's a question of personal temperament, and whether you do production of matching pieces and need to economize with your time and labour to make your technique viable. If you work with softer slabs you don't need to join them with slip, scoring and a little water will do, if you run your finger round the seams. But if you want visible seams, overlapping ones even, a whole third aesthetic, you want firmer slabs and slip bc there's no blending at all on the visible bits, if this makes any sense? I think this video is an awesome, detailed tutorial for beginners, and beginners don't have all these considerations, it would just confuse the goal of making a single, sound, pretty and proportionate piece of table wear to enjoy for a long time. It's also so interesting to me, as it breaks down how I did things differently, which isn't something I thought about much on my own, it's just how my routine evolved,"the knowing of hands" . That's the beauty of good teachers, they can explain every step, how to and why. To me, ceramics is so physical. Imagine you where to explain how to skateboard, bicycle or swim in detail from afar. It's not that easy to explain what it is you do. It's a valuable talent!

Scarva Earthstone ES10 extra smooth :)

So. Much. Extra. Work!

Hello Maha, I definitely wedge the clay if I'm reusing it, but if it's straight out of the bag and seems like it's in good shape, I often don't. Slab can crack at the edge because the clay is being stretched so much when it's being rolled. If my clay gets very dry, I wrap it in a damp piece of cloth and put it back in the bag overnight. That usually moistens it up enough.

I have the same problem with the cracks 😢

Do you mean that the mug stops being round when it dries? That happens to me sometimes too. I just try to make sure that once it's formed, the rim is round when the drying starts. It starts drying wonky then it will stay wonky. Slightly thinner slabs seems to help too.

@@ThePotteryWheel Yes. Thank you so much.

Sure, they are stamps by Relyef hope that helps :)

Sorry for slow reply Heidi, the dimensions of the tankard mug are Top edge 4 inches, bottom edge 3.5 inches, and height is 5 inches. Hope that helps :)

@@ThePotteryWheel thank you and no worries

sorry ran out of time yesterday, I just added a link in the description to how I make the templates.

Hi Patricia, you can check out where I bought them here...thepotterywheel.com/letter-stamps-for-clay/

sim, eles precisam ser queimados em um forno

Gracias

only locally :)

sorry ran out of time yesterday, I just added a link in the description to how I make the templates.