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HANDBUILDING 101

LESSON 3: Slab Building

When working with stiff slabs, it is usually best to decorate your slabs before cutting them to shape. After they're cut, set your pieces aside to dry for a while before putting them together. It is often helpful to cut slabs to shape using a template made of stiff paper, cardboard or other more permanent material. This is especially useful if you are making a box or other form with identical pieces.

Soft slabs are more like working with fabric or with construction paper. Where stiff slabs give you hard edges, soft slabs give you rounded edges, and slumping forms. A soft slab can be manipulated, poked and pushed to give an interesting surface.

Soft slabs can be wrapped around forms, shaped freeform, draped over and into molds. By wrapping the slab around a form you can make vases, cups, planters, or pencil holders. By draping a soft slab over or into a mold, you can make platters, plates, bowls, masks, or wall hangings.

Your soft slab forms can be supported with balls of newspaper, plastic wrap, sand bags, foam, or elastic bandages. Anything which will allow the clay to stiffen without marring the surface of your piece will do the trick. Allow your piece to dry slowly to leather hard before putting any finishing touches on it.

Stiff slabs, on the other hand, should be leather hard when you assemble them. Once the slabs have reached the point where they can support themselves, you can begin to piece them together. Slip and score the joints and press your edges together tightly. Roll a small coil and work it into the joint for additional support. Do this to all of your joints and allow the piece to sit for 10 to 15 minutes for the joints to set up some.

Finishing touches to slab pieces can be anything from cutting the lid for a box to adding a handle to a mug. These touches should be added when the piece is leather hard so that you don't distort your piece. When adding anything, always remember to slip and score generously. It is always easier to clean up extra slip than it is to repair a crack.

Now that you have had a brief introduction to slab pots, please take some time to browse the web and find five web sites with pictures of things that other artists have built from slabs. Write the URLs down in your notebook.

Sketch ideas for 4 objects which you could make with slabs.