Creating a Pinch Cup with a Handle and Footring Ceramics II, Day 1

This video is a newly remade version of my old pinch cup video. I found the students needed to add height when watching the old video, so I remade this to make the process a little smoother for them. We are using Standard 153 stoneware in our class for this project. The only reason we are using stoneware is because I like the glazes we have in the classroom better for this project.

Students begin with a ball for this project, insert a thumb, and pinch between the thumb and fingers of the same hand. I emphasize to them that they should be doing the pinching while holding it in their hand as opposed to setting it on the table and pinching. The reason to avoid setting it on the table is that the pinch forms tend to flatten on the bottom and go really wide- more wide than they want them. I emphasize that they need to watch the thickness of the walls and the base- and they have to keep them the same thickness… to avoid a thick bottom which could potentially explode! I show how to roll and add a coil by slipping and scoring. Lastly, I show how to create a footring- although I won’t attach it until the following day after I clean the cup a bit.

I know I said "orange" size, but you can use any size you desire. It fluctuates among each person as to how big they want to make their individual mug! The key is that you are still able to pinch your index and middle fingers to the thumb in the middle. If you can't reach all the way to the middle, I recommend a tad bit smaller. I sometimes describe it as "fist sized" for my students as well... it helps them to create a piece more fitting to their grip. Such as, a football player with big hands will have a bigger ball to pinch than the 5' little freshman girl! Maybe start with a pound ball, and see how that fits your hand. Honestly, many of my students have a very difficult time when I give them measurements in inches or centimeters. They just can't visualize it and things go terribly wrong... that's when I started calling it as "thick as a pinky"= TRANSLATE that to 3/8" - 1/2" in thickness!

Here is a link to the pinch cup playlist where you can find the successive videos in this exercise:
   • Pinch Cups with Handles  

The Kemper Tilting Turntable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Amaco Turntable (one I use in most of the videos)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

For the great tools I used in the video (including the mudtools ribs and needle tools) check out this link to a live Googledoc I continually update with lots of my favorite tools on Amazon using my associate links! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X...

I made this video for my Ceramics II students at Mason High School. This is the first exercise (non-graded) that the kids do in clay for their Ceramics II class. They are building on skills they developed in level I, with the added complexity of added height, footring, and handle.

I am a public high school ceramics teacher at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. (Mason is currently the largest high school in Ohio!) As a potter, I have been working in clay for over 30 years, and I have been teaching for over 28 years, the past 20 have been specifically teaching high school ceramics. I love what I do! I have my own studio in my home basement, where I work on my personal pottery for my Etsy site; https://www.etsy.com/shop/KaransPotsA...