Mount Vernon’s artist in residence Angie Heuton has been holding art events at local care centers Rehabilitation Center of Lisbon and Hallmark Care Center for the past few months.

On Thursday, May 8, attendees got to work with clay to make their own coil or pinch pots.

Heuton explained that coil pots are one of the oldest forms of pottery, with examples of coil pots being found in locations like those of Pompeii.

“It may look easy to do at first, but it can be hard,” Heuton said. “If you don’t push or blend the walls tightly enough.”

Some of the attendees were having issues with previous injuries keeping them from doing work on the clay. As the group was using quick drying clay, they were also experiencing clay that was beginning to harden after a few minutes of working with it. The entirety of the clay would be dry in the next 24 to 48 hours and not need to be fired in a kiln.

“The thing about working with clay is if it’s a mess, it’s okay, it’s just clay,” Heuton said. “You can easily fold it and try again.”

Heuton said that if rolling the clay into the coils that start the base of a coil pot, participants could instead do a pinch pot, which adds more clay by pinching pieces to an existing pot, like you would in making a pie crust or other baked goods.

“You don’t have to have a perfect coil,” Heuton said. “It not about the end product with this project, it’s more about getting the experience of working with clay and creating something. It may not be the most beautiful project we do.”

As attendees worked, they shared their histories of working with items like clay or their fear of things like snakes, since coils as they’re formed look exactly like snakes at times.

Creatives Connect is holding it’s next event at Iron Leaf Press in Mount Vernon the first Sunday in June from 2 to 4 p.m.