Pottery at Home
Pottery at Home – with ArtMoment
What works without a kiln, what doesn’t, and how to try the slab technique at home.
What you can make at home – and what you can’t without a kiln
Without a ceramic kiln you can make items from air-dry clay at home: trinket dishes, candle holders, ornaments, decorative plates. What you can’t make is real fired ceramics: a mug you can drink from and wash needs a bisque firing (~900 °C), glaze and a final firing (~1,050–1,200 °C). Air-dry clay is neither waterproof nor food-safe – you can’t use it to make tableware for food.
How to make a ceramic mugThe slab technique at home – step by step
- Clay – air-dry clay for decorations; for real ceramics, throwing clay (about 1 kg for a mug and a plate), which you then have fired at a pottery studio.
- Roll out a slab – with a rolling pin between two guide strips to 5–6 mm; an even thickness is the most important thing.
- Cut out the pieces – using a paper template – base, body, handle.
- Score and join – score the edges with a fork, brush them with slip (clay mixed with water) and press together; smooth out the joins.
- Decorating – on raw clay with engobes (coloured clays) or by carving; paint air-dry clay with acrylics and varnish once dry.
- Drying – slowly, covered, for several days; never next to a radiator – it will crack.
- Firing and glaze – have real ceramics bisque-fired, glazed and fired at a studio, or come to a class where firing is included in the price. pottery class →
The most common mistakes with pottery at home
- An uneven slab – thin spots crack.
- Joins that weren’t scored and slipped – the handle falls off.
- Air bubbles in the clay – they burst in the kiln.
- Drying too fast next to a radiator or in the sun – cracks.
- Expecting air-dry clay to survive water and the dishwasher – it won’t.
When a one-day class with firing is the better choice
When you want a mug and a plate you can actually eat and drink from: at the ArtCeramics workshop you make a mug and a plate with the slab technique in 3 hours with an instructor, decorate them with engobes, and we take care of drying, bisque firing, glazing and the final firing – you pick up the finished set in 5–6 weeks. Welcome drink and all materials included, 2 490 Kč. Dates: Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pilsen, Olomouc and more.
One-day pottery class
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – POTTERY AT HOME
Decorations, yes – from air-dry clay. Real fired ceramics (tableware) need a bisque firing and a firing in a kiln at 900–1,200 °C; you can shape them at home, but they have to be fired at a studio or at a class.
No – it’s neither waterproof nor food-safe. It’s good for trinket dishes, candle holders and ornaments.
The slab technique – without a wheel it gives you a straight, usable shape on the first try. We use the same technique to make a mug and a plate at the ArtCeramics workshop.
Drying takes 3–7 days, then comes the bisque firing, glazing and final firing – several weeks in total. After the workshop you pick up your finished set in 5–6 weeks.
2 490 Kč per person: 3 hours with an instructor, a mug and a plate, engobes, glaze, both firings and a welcome drink. It can be given as a gift with a voucher.
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