Making a Modern Art Clay Bowl

Making a modern art clay bowl is incredibly easy. Impress your friends and your parents with your abstract creation.

The technique used to make a Modern Art, or abstract clay bowl is to use an existing form. The project also utilizes a basic slab pottery technique. The form in this case is any plastic bowl that can be found in the kitchen cabinet.

Materials Needed

newspaper
clay
rolling pin
a plastic bowl
a plastic knife
a piece of cloth that fits in the bowl
patience

Making a a Modern Art Clay Bowl

Place a large newspaper or piece of cloth down on a table or working surface. Take a large piece of clay and work in your palms until it is soft. Be sure to squeeze and pinch out any hard spots.

Work the clay in you hands, so it is soft. Form a loose ball. If the ball is too big to handle, remove a piece and work with a smaller piece of clay. Do not pack the ball too tightly, as it is just a starting point for the next step.

When you have a ball, place it on the work surface. Use the rolling pin to flatten it out. Try to keep the thickness of the clay even. The goal is to create a slab that is about 1/4 inch thick or thicker.

Any advanced potters or those using clay that will be fired, like a porcelain, can go for an even thinner clay, which will result in a more delicate final product.

With the clay flattened out, gently place the plastic bowl upside down on top of the slab. The reason to do this is to see how well it will fit into the bowl. It can also be used to cut the clay into a circle.

Using a plastic knife (or a needle tool for advanced and adult potters), cut the edges of the clay into a circle. You can use the top of the bowl as a guide.

Another option is to simply poke holes in the clay using the bowl as a guide. Remove the bowl and use the plastic knife to cut a more interesting circle shape, with wavy lines, or other creative edges.

Use a scrap piece of cloth to line the plastic bowl. It's better if the cloth actually hands over the sides of the bowl, which will make removal of the clay bowl easier when it is dry.