Playing with clay: Explore the magical world of pottery making

Around 30 participants attend clay workshop at PACC

KARACHI: When working with clay, all you need is a small space and few tools. You just have to let your imagination run wild, said pottery artist Jabeen Irfan. "Clay is magic."

More than 30 participants attended Irfan's clay workshop held at the Lincoln Corner of Pak-American Cultural Center, near Cantt Station, on Tuesday.

"How creative you get with clay depends on you," she remarked while encouraging the participants to tap their creative potential when working with clay. You also need to have finesse in your pottery-making technique, she told them.

She also said that it is better to rely on hand-building technique rather than machines such as clay cutter for perfection.

"Clay is so much like a piece of fabric or a canvas. You can shape it whichever way you want when it's wet and make finer products with it," she explained. The three basic techniques to make pottery are pinch method, coil method and slab construction technique, she added.

Some of the young female participants made candle stands with the clay but the most appealing creation was of Ahsan Ali Siddiqui, who made a water dragon.



Therapeutic qualities

Speaking about the benefits of pottery, Irfan said that clay has strong therapeutic qualities. "It calms your nerves when you are trying to create something with it," she said.

Forming objects with clay is fun, soothing, relaxing and engrossing, she mentioned. "It can be used to teach young children to channelise their negative energy into positive one."

All over the world, clay is used to treat people suffering from behavioural or muscular problems, she claimed.

Irfan is also currently teaching children as young as 12 to 18 years old at Deaf and Reach School located in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. "Special children are more responsive when it comes to creating objects with clay," she said, adding that her students have stunned her by creating lanterns, bird-feeders, bells and wall-decoration pieces from clay.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2016.