Each class has a ceramics project where the students learn hand building. Handwork or hand building is the earliest and the most individualized and direct forming method. Wares can be constructed by hand from coils of clay, from flat slabs of clay, from solid balls of clay — or some combination of these. Parts of hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid of slip, a runny mixture of clay and water. Hand building is slower and more gradual than wheel-throwing, but it offers the potter a high degree of control over the size and shape of wares. Some artists find hand building more conducive to fully using the imagination to create one-of-a-kind works of art.
