How It’s Made
The Pinch Pot: The Oldest Technique of All
No wheel, no tools — just a ball of clay, two hands, and thousands of years of human history.
Stories & Craft
The Ceramic London Journal
How handmade ceramics are made — and the people whose lives are changed by making them.
How It’s Made
Coil Building: Pots Made Rope by Rope
Long ropes of clay, stacked and smoothed, can build forms far larger than any wheel allows.
How It’s Made
Slab Building: Working with Sheets of Clay
Flat sheets of clay, cut and joined like a tailor cuts cloth, become crisp, architectural forms.
How It’s Made
Trimming and Turning: Refining the Form
A freshly thrown pot is only half-finished. Trimming is where it gains its foot, its lightness and its grace.
How It’s Made
Pulling Handles by Hand
The handle is the part of a mug you touch most — and the hardest detail to get right.
How It’s Made
Drying: The Patience of Greenware
Before it ever sees a kiln, a finished pot must dry — slowly, evenly, and without being hurried.
How It’s Made
The First Firing: Bisque
The first trip through the kiln transforms fragile clay into something solid, porous and ready to be glazed.
How It’s Made
Glazing: Dipping, Pouring and Brushing
Glaze is the skin of a pot — its colour, its shine, and the sealed surface that makes it usable.
How It’s Made
A Little Glaze Chemistry
Why does grey mud turn glossy blue? The answer is a quiet kind of magic, governed by minerals and heat.
How It’s Made
The Glaze Firing: Into the Fire
The second firing reaches white-hot temperatures and turns dull glaze into colour, gloss and a sealed, lasting surface.
How It’s Made
Wood Firing and the Marks of Flame
The oldest way to fire a kiln is also the most unpredictable — and it leaves marks no factory can copy.
How It’s Made
Raku: Fire, Smoke and Surprise
A fast, fiery, dramatic technique that pulls glowing pots straight from the kiln to create crackled, smoky surfaces.