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Premo Coiled Bowl
Scrap clay is the perfect start to a beautiful and functional coil dish. The scraps will give you a lovely pattern of striped coils that is difficult to mimic intentionally.
By Amy Koranek
Clay to use: Premo scraps from a previous project - you’ll need a ball of scrap clay at least 2.5” in diameter.
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A bowl to form the coil dish - I collect Fat Daddio’s hemispherical bowls. They are great for forming bowls, dishes, or even curved pieces for pendants and earrings and they have a frosted surface that will not make shiny marks on oven bake clay. The bowl I used for this project is 4.5” in diameter but any bowl size can be used. The diameter of the bowl will change the depth of the dish. The important thing is that the bowl has a non shiny surface. You can use any bowl you wish for the form, but if it has a shiny surface, the clay coil dish will mimic that shiny surface when baked.
Additional Resources
Getting Started:Do not use unbaked clay on unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Start with clean hands and work surface area. Good work surfaces include wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Knead clay until soft and smooth. For best results, clean your hands in between colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces together firmly. Bake on oven-proof glass or metal surface at 275 degrees F (130 degrees C) for 15 minutes per ¼” (6mm) thickness. For best baking results, use and oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME. Wash hands after use. Baking should be done by an adult.Begin by preheating oven to 275 degrees F (130 degrees C). Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. For best results, condition all clay by running it through the clay dedicated pasta machine several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.
Take a pile of scraps that has coordinating colors in it. The scraps I’m using also have some silver composite leaf already in them, so that will add a cool effect when coiled into the scrap colors.
Ball the scraps up in your hand to warm them. Push the air out by pushing on the ball from all sides but don’t mix the colors.
Roll and twist the ball into a thick rope.
Roll the thick rope into a long coil 3/8” thick. Taper one end and start coiling it up
Wind the coils around the circle and make sure that each coil connects to the last one and that there are no gaps between the loops. Continue until the dish is as large as you want. Trim the coil at an angle following the stripes. Make sure to reserve at least 2” of the twisted rope to make a foot for the bowl later.
Carefully attach the trimmed end to the dish. Carefully place the coil inside the bowl form, gently making the clay coil follow the shape of the baking bowl. Bake the dish in the baking bowl following the Premo baking instructions. Designer’s Note: I make lots of clay dishes - sometimes I form dishes on the outside of the baking bowl and sometimes I form them on the inside of the baking bowl. For the coil style, I place it on the inside of the baking bowl so that if there are any flat spots that occur from pushing the coils too hard onto the form, the flats spots will be on the bottom which is less visible
Trim the leftover 2” piece from Step 6 at an angle on each end. Put the two angled ends together to make a closed circle. Smooth the seam with your fingertips.
When the baked clay dish is completely cool, gently pop it out of the baking bowl. Place the circle from Step 8 onto the bottom of the dish for a foot.
When the clay bowl is completely cool, place the circle foot on the bottom in the center. Stand the clay bowl up on the work surface. Sit the baking form into the clay bowl. Gently press down on the baking bowl so that the foot will be secured onto the clay dish and also so that the foot will have a flattened spot so that it sits level. Bake again with the baking bowl upside down and the clay dish on top.