Pinch Pot

Inspiration Photos

Sketches + Reference Photos

1. Octopus

2. Cookie Monster

3. Elephant

Which Project?

I chose the Cookie Monster pinch pot because I wanted to challenge my artistic abilities with the complexity and the intricacies of the fur and design. I loved Sesame Street when I was a kid, and Cookie Monster was my favorite character on the show. I wanted to do something fun, useful, and meaningful to my childhood. The removable head allows the pinch pot to be used for storage, not just decoration!

THE PROCESS

I began this process by creating two pinch pots for the body of Cookie Monster. I scored and slipped the two pinch pots together then created a long coil around the meeting of the two pots. I used a plastic scrapper to blend the coil seamlessly into the pinch pots. I used the same process to make the head. After scoring and slipping the head to the body, I carved out the mouth using wooden modeling tool. Because the body was too tall, I used a paddle to hit the body into a fatter, rounder shape. I used two small balls of clay to form the eyes, which I slipped and scored together and then added to the top of the head. I created the arms of Cookie Monster by creating a large coil, cutting it in half, then flattening it to create some dimension. Before I attached them to the body, I bent the arms at an angle to hold the cookie and used a needle tool to carve out his fingers. To make the cookie, I rolled out a ball of clay with a rolling pin and a piece of canvas. Next, I used a cookie cutter medium sized circle to cut out the cookie and a small circle cookie cutter to cut out the chocolate chips. I scored and slipped the chocolate chips to the cookie and used the medium sized cookie cutter to make a bite mark out of the cookie. Finally, I covered the body in a thick layer of slip and used a needle tool to create a fur-like texture.

CHALLENGES + GROWTH

I was originally going to use only one pinch pot for the head, but I did not get the shape I wanted. So, I had to pivot from my original idea and use two, which turned out so much better. For the fur, I was thinking about carving it out, but that would have taken way too long with the detailing. I ended up using slip for the fur, which I never would have thought to use. I am so happy with the results of it!


I think my skills have developed because I have become more comfortable with different methods of shaping and forming the clay as well as thinking outside the box and being more creative all around.