A short, fun, and informative workshop led by Sarah Muir-Smith, ‘Making a Mark’ was a session open to the public to create pinch pots that were subsequently fired within the Testing Oven.
Each participant made several pieces such as small bowls, plates, ramekins and decorated them with slips, fireclay, and wrapped with various food scrap matter from the Queen Victoria Market. The pieces were planned to undergo a process of saggar firing - an enclosed environment that creates an atmosphere wherein the materials depart various textures and colours. To prepare pieces for a saggar firing, certain measures were made, such as the preparation of clay body.
The clay body used is highly grogged – mixed with matter that will not shrink within the process of firing, in this case sand, adding strength to the clay body, in order to withstand the experimental environment of the Testing Oven which involved some temperature shock.
For the pots themselves, pinch pots begin with a ball of clay, and is one of the simplest ways to create pottery - simply use a finger to plunge a hole into the clay, and begin to shape.
