Carving, Sgraffito and Surface Decoration
Photo: Earl Wilcox / Unsplash
Decoration can transform a plain form into something memorable. Carving cuts patterns directly into the leather-hard clay. Sgraffito coats a pot in coloured slip and then scratches a design through it, revealing the clay beneath in fine, drawn lines. Stamps and rollers press in repeating textures.
These techniques demand a confident, unhurried hand, because the clay remembers every mistake. There is no eraser; a slip of the tool stays. The best decorators work almost meditatively, the pattern flowing as the piece turns.
This is where individual makers leave their signature. Two potters can throw the same bowl, but the marks they cut into it will always be unmistakably their own.
