The design is then hand cut using a scalpel knife for a nice clean edge and left to go ‘leather hard’ before sticking the pieces together to create the 3d shape with sludgy clay called slip.
Dottery Pottery explained how to go about making slab (or hand built) pots, “…working from a sketch or template, roll the clay onto a piece of canvas between two flat pieces of wood to ensure even thickness. Now decorate each element; by rollering a stamped design or making marks with a variety of different tools on the clay surface. The design is then hand cut using a scalpel knife for a nice clean edge and left to go ‘leather hard’ before sticking the pieces together to create the 3d shape with sludgy clay called slip. Once completely dry (takes up to a week) they are biscuit fired. Once this is complete paint with the desired glaze and fire again. Then you have the finished piece!”  Something that all the potters pointed out, that I had not considered, is that to be cost effective you need to fill the kiln with items to fire and it can take a month of work to get a kiln full of pots to fire, which highlights the time and patience needed to become a ceramicist. It is not a craft for those in need of immediate gratification!