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.
Frequently asked questions
The main objective of our courses is to teach you how to make ceramics well and help you practise and develop your technique, rather than to make as many pots as possible. We do rather see our students take home a few pieces they’re really proud of and that show off their development in skills, than producing as much as possible.
How many finished pieces you can expect to take home depends entirely on the individual’s skills and artistic vision. While some students enjoy the process and speed that can be achieved with throwing on the wheel, others enjoy the meditative process of making detailed and sculptural work.
Our 12-week courses are our most popular courses as they offer a great balance between learning technique and getting your practice in. Our shorter courses (with exception of our Intensive Courses) are condensed and you’ll have less time to get practising and making than you’ll have on a full 12-week course.
You can not bring your own clay, glazes or other ceramic materials to our classes. If you are keen to experiment with other clays or glazes, we recommend joining our studios as a member which will give you the opportunity to experiment more. Note that it is not possible to use Terracotta or other Earthenware in any of our studios.
Yes, we offer dedicated "Wheel Throwing Only" courses! For our standard introduction and 12-week courses, however, class time is shared between the wheel and hand-building. This ensures every student gets a well-rounded foundation in both essential pottery techniques.
To keep upfront costs low and encourage eco-friendly making, clay and firing are charged separately based only on what you choose to keep. Here is exactly how materials work and what you should pack for studio days:
- Firing Costs: Firing is charged at £5 per kg of finished, fired pottery (an average mug costs about £2).
- Glazes: All studio glazes are completely included in your firing fee.
- Pottery Tools: You can bring your own, or purchase a basic 8-piece starter toolkit from us at the studio for £5.
- A Clean Apron: You will need to bring your own apron, and it must be washed regularly! Dirty aprons spread clay dust, which is a health hazard for everyone. We highly recommend non-natural fabrics, as they trap dust more easily.
- Sensible Clothing: Pottery gets quite messy, so please wear comfortable clothes and shoes that you don't mind getting dirty.
Our intermediate throwing course is aimed at potters who are confident at all the basic throwing techniques such as wedging, centering, making cylinders, making bowls and trimming as these techniques will not be covered in the course. The course focuses on advanced techniques such as throwing larger pieces, lidded jars, teapots, throwing off the hump etc.
Gifting a pottery class is a simple way to share the experience of working with clay. Our digital vouchers are available to purchase through our gift vouchers page and can be redeemed for any course at our Hoxton, Leyton, or Highgate studios. Once purchased, the voucher is sent via email and the recipient can use it to book the timing that suits them best.
We accept all major credit and debit cards. We also offer flexible payment options through Klarna.
With Klarna, you can:
Pay Now: Complete your purchase immediately using your card or bank account.
Pay Later: Try before you buy and pay up to 30 days later.
Pay Over Time: Split your purchase into manageable interest-free installments.*
*Payment options through Klarna are subject to eligibility. Learn more about Klarna here.
Completing a 12-week course or a week-long intensive gives you the technical and safety grounding needed to join us as an independent member. To help with that transition, we offer an Accelerated Learning Package (ALP), which is a one-time £100 discount off your first month of membership (or any upfront subscription longer than three months).
The essential rules for the ALP:
- Qualifying Courses: You must be currently enrolled in an 8-week, 12-week, or intensive course. (Taster and introductory classes are not eligible).
- Eligible Studios: This offer is valid at our Leyton and Hoxton studios only; it is not available for Highgate.
- Timing: Your membership must start within one month of your course ending.
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 2 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.
All our courses, with the exception of those advertised as ‘intermediate’, are suitable for students of all levels. You don’t need any previous experience of ceramics to join the course and get stuck in. We do get many students who do our courses more than once - while they have the basic skills, they use the course to refine their technique and get some more practice under the guidance of a teacher. And of course there is the social aspect of being part of a group and learning together.