Coil Building

• This technique allows you to create small and large works without a pottery wheel. Coils are rolled by hand or extruded into lengths on a table. Take care to keep the table dry to prevent the clay from sticking as it is rolled. If making a pot, arrange the coils like a spiral to create the floor of the vessel. It's also possible to use a hand-formed base or foot as your starting point. The clay lengths are continuously coiled on top of each other to create the walls of a cylinder. For items that should be watertight, score and slip the connecting areas together.
  
  

Slab Work

• You can create many items using this method, including plates, cups, lids and vases. You can do this either with a slab roller or by hand with a rolling pin. A slab roller is adjustable and can effortlessly roll out large sheets of clay of any thickness. These slabs are then cut to size, scored and slipped with liquid clay to glue connections together. Care has to be take to handle large slabs. Timing is critical to prevent slabs from collapsing or cracking, depending on how wet or dry they are.
  
  

Sculpting

• You can sulpt clay without tools. It is the most basic way of forming clay by hand. The level of detail you require will determine the type and number of tools you will need. There are certain things that tools can do that fingers cannot, such as creating fine edges or markings. The other factor is how dry the clay is when it is being sculpted. Knives, forks and specialized pottery forming tools are all helpful items when creating detail. The biggest concern with sculptures is their thickness. The thicker the clay item, the better the chance of its blowing up in the kiln during firing.
  
  

Wheel Work

• A pottery wheel is a table with a spinning wheel in the center. This allows you to spin clay into a form using the energy of the powered disc or wheel. The centrifugal force is balanced by your hands to keep the clay from flying off the wheel. By using your fingers, you can compress and form the clay by applying pressure in the right areas at the right times. It takes years to completely master a pottery wheel, but it enables you to make many functional items, such as cups, plates, vases and bowls.