Pottery techniques for beginners

About this class

An introduction to the fundamental pottery techniques, perfect for complete beginners or anyone who would like to go back to basics and refresh their skills. In weeks one to three you'll be guided step by step through the main hand-building techniques, working with pinching, coiling, soft and leather hard slabs to create individual pieces. We'll also look at the more unusual Japanese carving technique known as 'Kurinuki'. In week four you will be introduced to throwing on the wheel and how to prepare the clay ready for throwing. We'll focus on securing the clay on the wheel, centering and pulling up the walls of the clay into a short cylinder. In week five, when your thrown pieces are 'leather hard' you'll learn the basics of how to turn your work on the wheel to refine it's shape and base profile. Throughout the six weeks we will look at a range of surface decoration, adding texture, colour and glaze to your work. This course is the perfect stepping stone to join one of our intermediate classes. We keep the classes small so that we can tailor our teaching to your needs. All materials are included in the class fee and there is a small additional charge for firing by weight of finished work at £8.50 per kilo. All you need to bring with you is an apron and a notebook. Reserve your place for this block of six weekly three hour classes with a deposit of £80, the balance of £100 can be paid by card or cash at your first class.