The KeraKult Method

Before you touch clay, we get your corner right. I show you the two clays I actually work with — smooth G&S 254 and dark G&S 371 — the short list of tools that earn their place, and what's really happening as a piece dries and goes through its first firing — so nothing later is a mystery.

• Hand-building without a wheel — the whole approach
• Smooth clay for tableware, textured clay for sculptural pieces
• Why your clay's color changes how every glaze reads
• Rolling guides, ribs, knife, sponge and slip — what each is for
• Drying a piece slowly so it doesn't crack — one to four weeks, and what to wrap
• The two firings: bisque first, then glaze at cone 6

Flat is deceptively hard. You'll roll even slabs and shape them into plates with real character — raised, wavy edges, carved texture, and your own mark pressed into the base.

• Rolling an even slab every time, on 6 mm and 8 mm guide rings
• Shaping over plaster and MDF molds — and which to reach for when
• Hand-raised, wavy rims with that organic KeraKult edge
• Carving texture into the surface — sharp and rounded
• Pressing your own maker's mark into the clay
• Drying flat, without warping

Your first vessels, three ways — from a single ball of clay to a clean mug with a handle that survives the kiln. The pinch cup you learn here is the same move behind the vases and sculptures later on.

• The pinch mug: a 500–600 ml vessel from one solid ball of clay
• Slab-built mugs, sized for shrinkage so they come out right
• Building over a plaster mold for a clean, even wall
• Cutting and joining slabs with score and slip you mix from your own clay
• Adding a foot and rounding the base
• A handle that won't crack in the firing

The quiet step most people skip — and the one that separates a clean piece from a rough one. You refine the dry, raw piece before it ever meets the kiln, so the firing and the glaze reward you instead of surprising you.

• Refining dried pieces: rims, edges and bottoms
• Sanding safely — a dust mask is not optional — and which pad for which edge
• Wet-smoothing curves and textured surfaces
• Correcting cracks, sharp edges and uneven walls
• Reading when a piece is truly dry and kiln-ready
• Getting a surface the glaze will actually hold to

Where ceramic craft meets deliberate surface design. Master the precise physics of high-fire glazing (Cone 5–6) — from controlled vertical drips and the "Frozen Pond" effect to multi-layered bubble textures and clean, food-safe finishes without ruined kiln shelves.

• The glazes I trust — Botz and Amaco Brent — and how each behaves in the kiln
• Layering for depth — and keeping glaze off the kiln shelf
• Underglaze painting with Colorobbia: the watercolor effect
• The bubble technique for pattern
• Transparent glazes and celadons over texture
• Firing to cone 6, about 1220 °C, with a 15-minute hold — and reading your results