Membership, studio access and everything that isn't a course. If you're booked onto a course, Student questions has your answers.
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It's very straightforward to become a member and you can do it through our membership page. You pay for your first month, or block of months, using your debit or credit card or direct debit. You choose your starting date during the checkout and book your induction at the end.
When you come in for your induction you'll sign your contract and induction form. Then you're shown around the studio and given your own shelf. That's it.
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Daily except Mondays, at 2pm or 5.30pm. Inductions are booked when you sign up, and if you missed that step we'll email you to book one.
They cover our fire and health and safety procedures and all aspects of how to use the studio. You'll also get a member handbook with the important information in it.
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We welcome people of all levels of experience. All we ask is that you know how to use the studio safely, without damaging our equipment or anyone else's work, and that you follow our procedures. Having attended a short introductory course at any studio is enough for us.
If you're a complete beginner you can still start as a member, but you'll need a few hours of private tuition from one of our tutors before you set off on your own.
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Turning Earth isn't set up for professional makers. You'd have to work within the 15 hours a week and 30 litres a month that everyone else does, and that isn't enough for production work.
Our Leyton studio, In Production, is the one built for that.
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Members can come in for a maximum of 15 hours a week. Hours don't carry over, because that would make the system less stable and create congestion in the studio.
Studio membership is for part-time potters and the limit is how we make sure we can accommodate everyone. Most people come between three and seven hours a week. The 15 is a maximum, not a recommended dose.
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Bring your own apron and tools. We sell 8-piece tool kits for £5 if you'd rather not buy your own. Clean your apron after every use, and choose a synthetic fabric over cotton or wool, because natural fibres trap clay dust more easily.
Clay, glazes, wheels, kilns and the rest of the equipment are here.
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There are always technicians on hand to answer questions and give advice, so you're not on your own. What they don't do is teach: when they're on duty they need to be available to everyone.
If you want to learn a new process, or have someone sit with you, book private tuition.
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£35 an hour, which is well below the going rate because your membership already covers our overheads. It's only available to members.
The list of available tutors is printed in the studio and you contact them directly. Staff can only teach privately when they're off duty, because on duty they need to be available to everyone in the room.
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Technicians do the work that keeps the studio going: packing and unloading kilns, reclaiming and pugging clay, mixing and developing glazes. They work hard. If you would like to make one a cup of tea, it will probably be appreciated. So do ask.
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For health and safety reasons, it is not possible to bring a guest in at this time.
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No. We keep the price as low as we can for everyone by sharing the costs evenly, and that only works if each membership is one person.
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Studio markets, and a members' party each year in the summer or at Christmas. The Turning Earth Members Facebook page is where members organise things between themselves.
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Breakage can come from many things, from air bubbles to a kiln relay fault. Ceramics is a geological discipline rather than an exact science, so expect a 20 to 25% failure rate overall and factor it in.
Where a piece has damaged our equipment through negligence, a breakage fee applies.
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Allow at least six weeks between accepting a commission and delivering it, and budget for a 20 to 25% failure rate on top. Firings run to a schedule and can't be brought forward for one person's deadline.
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Our clay is sold at discounted prices to our members only, so if you're not a member we can't sell you clay. We recommend Ceramatech, based in Tottenham, which delivers across London.
The questions that don't belong to any of the other pages.
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Turning Earth doesn't currently do drop-ins. This is because ceramics is a multi-stage process. You have to make your piece, dry it for a few days, fire it once (which takes a full day and night), glaze it, and then fire it again. So, to really get into it, we think you need to commit for at least a month, but probably more.
We schedule monthly wheel-throwing taster sessions. Please check our taster workshop page to see when the next one is.
If you want studio time without a monthly membership, the Open-Studio Pass at Leyton is five or ten prepaid sessions to use across four months.
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We fire kilns constantly every day and, unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to rent them out at the moment. We recommend having a look at Kilnshare.
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Turning Earth artists' work can be purchased directly from them. We always credit the maker on our pictures so it should be easy for you to reach them. If you get in contact, please let them know how you found them.
We also hold regular studio sales, where hundreds of Turning Earth artists exhibit their work.
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We buy all of our clay through Potclays, based in Stoke-on-Trent.
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We are a social enterprise structured as a for-profit company. We have a social remit, to expand affordable access to ceramics in London, and this informs everything we do.
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Our office hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10am until 5pm.
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If you have a complaint or a comment, please contact us at feedback@turning.earth. We want to know what is and isn't working for you. It's how we make things better.
Email the studio and a person will answer. We're in Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm.
Contact usLast updated: 12 August 2026