The Power and Pace of Hand-Building

Why Slabs, Coils, and Carving Might Be Your New Favorite Way to Work with Clay

by Josh Herman

Handbuilding has a totally different energy than throwing—especially in the beginning, when you’re learning the techniques. Throwing requires a very fine quality of attention because there’s so much dexterity involved: the position of the fingers, the pressure, the timing. There’s a lot of concentration, and it can take time before your skills are developed enough to make basic shapes.

But with handbuilding, the techniques don’t rely so much on finger dexterity or fine motor coordination. New students can often find success more quickly, because the skills are relatively easy to teach. Of course, it may take time to do the techniques well—but you can begin building right away. It brings a lighter energy into the room.

Discover Three Handbuilding Techniques in Our Intro Course

In our Intro to Hand-building class at Tao of Clay, we give students a taste of three essential approaches to working with clay:

Coiling

We start with a coiling project—one of my personal favorites. A coil is added to the top of a wall, and the shape of the piece can be easily manipulated while the clay is wet. Once it sets up a bit, you can build on top of it. There's no limit to how tall or complex you can go—coiling gives you an unlimited range of forms.

It’s a very organic and meditative process. I love the pacing of it—the way you interact with the material slowly, over time. Things grow gradually. There’s a dynamic rhythm in that slower pace that’s really special.

Slab Building

The second technique we introduce is slab building. We construct using both wet slabs and leather-hard slabs. I think of slab building like a construction project—you’re assembling pieces, like building with Lincoln Logs, Legos, or even wood. It has that same satisfying, piece-by-piece feeling.

You can create all kinds of textures in the slabs, and depending on your desired result, you might use a wet slab or a stiffer, drier one to construct with.

Kurinuki

The third technique is Kurinuki, which is the process of carving into clay by removing material. You might carve a cup, a bottle, or even a sculpture if you have enough clay. It’s the opposite of building up—you're subtracting rather than adding.

Kurinuki is very satisfying. There’s something about slicing through the clay that feels amazing. You get beautiful textures, and many people really love it. When we work with groups who’ve never touched clay before, we often start with a Kurinuki project—because it gives a strong result in a short amount of time, without needing a lot of prior experience.

Curious to explore?

Join our Intro to Hand-building course and get hands-on experience with all three foundational techniques.

Each Technique Has Its Own Flavor

Coiling, slab building, and Kurinuki all offer different rhythms, different relationships to the material. That’s why we teach all three in our intro class—so students can discover what they’re drawn to. From there, they can go deeper into whatever approach resonates most, whether that’s through our sculpture, slab, or advanced coiling classes.

Freedom of Form

One of the things I really love about hand-building is that you’re not starting with “round.” On the wheel, you often begin with a circular form. Of course, you can alter thrown pieces and turn them into sculptures—but with hand-building, there’s no limitation on shape. You’re not constrained by the construct of symmetry. You can make sharp angles, soft curves, wide bowls, abstract shapes. Anything.

Personally, I’ve found hand-building—especially coiling—to be the most natural way for me to engage with the material. It suits my rhythm. It lets the process unfold organically. Even though I throw, and I do slab and Kurinuki work, coiling remains my favorite. It’s exciting and deeply satisfying.

I’ve had many days where I get into the studio, start coiling a sculpture, and suddenly the sun is going down—I haven’t eaten lunch. Time compresses. You’re so absorbed in the rhythm of building, shaping, adjusting. It’s like surfing, in a way—you’re riding something elemental. Except instead of 20 seconds, the ride might last two weeks.

Ready to go deeper?

Join Josh Herman in a 6-week coiling sculpture course focused on organic form and meditative pacing.

Try Hand-building

If you love the throwing class, I always say: try hand-building. You may fall in love with it. It may turn out to be the perfect fit for your way of working—your attention, your creativity, your pace. It’s good to find out sooner rather than later how handbuilding suits you.

Want to try a shorter workshop first?

Check out our one- and two-day intensives in slab-built vases, mugs, and Kurinuki carving.