17 May How to Make a Clay Model of a Plant Pot

I hope you were following along with us as we make a clay model of a saucer in our last post. Today’s model is meant to be made along with the saucer, as they are two pieces of a matching set. The clay model of a plant pot that we will be making today is model #12 from the book, A Manual of Clay-Modelling by Unwin. Along with making the saucer, making these two models are the first time that we are creating an object without an original piece to copy. This makes the process more creative and freeing, and you are encouraged to free your imagination.

Materials Needed

• The book, A Manual of Clay Modelling by Hermione Unwin (or free online HERE)
• Modeling Clay (the book suggests red terra cotta clay)
• Clay modeling tools (this kit includes many tools, along with a sponge and wire to cut the clay)
• An modelling board with an armature – hopefully you’ve made this with us already
• A bowl of water
• An apron or paint shirt to protect your clothing
• Newspaper, or plastic covering to protect your table

Happy Handicrafts Video: How to Make a Clay Model of a Plant Pot

In this video, you can see that we start with an approximately 2″ sized ball. As with our last clay modelling project, our goal is to make the ball as smooth as possible. This time, instead of pressing outwards with the thumbs, we are holding the thumbs back to back, pressing them into the middle, while drawing the outside edges upwards with the forefingers, creating the edges of the plant pot. While doing this motion, it is important to keep the walls of the pot straight or with just a slight slant outwards. We found that it’s very easy to end up with a widened top.

We next pinches the sides to be the same thickness and height all around. Then we flattened the bottom with our finger.

Next we made a hole in the bottom of the pot by pushing through with our forefinger, first on the inside, then on the outside.

We finished the clay model plant pot design by matching the saucer and smoothing out the surface.

This may be the first project that we actually keep! This plant pot and saucer could certainly be of use, and it’s quite cute!