Introduction to Wheel Throwing Weekend
Weekend-long introduction to making ceramics
Creating pottery and art out of clay is a beautiful and fulfilling experience. For many of our students, taking a pottery class sparks a lifelong passion for this craft. This weekend course will give you an introduction to the basic techniques for making ceramic on the potter’s wheel and an opportunity to put them to practice on a project. It is suitable for complete beginners who are keen to explore wheel throwing pottery but are not ready to commit to a full course.
What will you learn in this course?
- Preparing clay / wedging
- Which tools you need and how to use them
- Throwing pots on the potter’s wheel, including shapes such as a cylinders, bowls and bottles
- Making handles
- Using decorating slips
- Sgraffito decorating
- Trimming pots to refine the shape
- Making foot rings
Course structure
This course consists of 4 sessions. Three lessons over a long weekend (Friday - Sunday), plus an optional lesson on a separate date to glaze your pots. The first three sessions are 7 hours long (including a short lunch break and the cleaning up at the end of the lesson).
Session 1: Kicks off with an introduction to ceramic materials and the processes of making and firing ceramics, as well as Health & Safety in the studio. You will learn how to prepare your clay and start working on your first project.
Sessions 2: Students continue to work on their projects while the teacher introduces more techniques to build on your skills, including complex shapes (such as bottles) and slip decoration.
Session 3: Making handles and trimming.
Session 4: Is dedicated to glazing your pots and takes place at a later date to allow time for your pots to dry and go through their first firing. Your finished pots are usually ready to be collected 2-3 weeks after this final lesson. If you can't attend this class, we will glaze your pieces for you.
Please be sure that you can attend all of the scheduled lesson dates before you sign up. It's particularly important that you attend the first two and the final sessions, otherwise you may struggle to keep up with the rest of the group or end up with unfinished projects at the end of the course. It is not possible to get extra sessions if you do not attend your scheduled lesson.
Things to know
- Courses are non-refundable once in progress or when the course is sold out.
- When your work is ready to be fired, there’ll be a charge of £5 per kg for materials and fuel.
- Our cancellation and missed class policy is available here.
- Our cancellation and missed class policy is available here.
- Our cancellation and missed class policy is available here.
- Our cancellation and missed class policy is available here.
- Gift vouchers for classes are available for purchase on our voucher page.
Frequently asked questions
You’ll need to bring your own apron to the class and make sure it is clean. Dirty aprons are notorious dust spreaders which is a danger to yourself as well as your fellow students. We recommend choosing non-natural fabrics as they tend to trap clay dust more easily.We advise you to wear sensible clothing and shoes as pottery can get quite messy!
Once a place has been booked, the fees are non-refundable. However, if we are still able to sell your place to another student before the course starts, we’ll be happy to swap your place over and refund your fees. We’ll do our best, though you’ll understand we can’t make any promises.
On most courses, you should be able to catch up in your next lesson. The first few and last few lessons are the most crucial lessons as that’s when you’ll learn how to get started and when you’ll finish your projects. It is important not to miss these. It is not possible to catch up on a class or sit in on a lesson on a different course. To make sure that you make the most of your course, it is very important that you make sure that you can make all the class dates before you sign up to a course.
You should wait at least 2 weeks after your last lesson before coming to collect your class pots. Please note that you won’t receive an email from our team when your work will be ready to collect. You’ll have to collect your work within two months of ending your course. Our studios are busy with a continuous stream of new students and we do not have the space to store your pots for any longer than that.
Our full Students FAQ is available here
Our full Students FAQ is available here
Our full Students FAQ is available here
Our full Students FAQ is available here