Saturday Throwing Taster

The pottery wheel throwing tasters are small so your tutor is able to offer you full support and access to the studio facilities. We recommend classes to be booked in advance; each class is run in a group of a maximum of 8 people.

In the first 20 minutes of the class you will be introduced through demonstration and thought step-by-step by your tutor the fundamental technique of throwing. You will have the pottery wheel for yourself for approx 1,5 hours, plenty of time to explore, play and create various shapes. Expect to make 2 - 5 pieces. Many hours of practice and lots of patience are required to improve and master your skills. Persistence is the key to success.

You are going to use a plastic, smooth Pale Buff stoneware clay. This clay body recipe is a blend of selected low iron clays providing an ideal background for a decorative approach to stoneware ceramics. Silica sand makes it excellent for throwing on the pottery wheel too. This clay firing range is 1120°C - 1280°C.

You will work with clay so it will get messy; please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. We also advise you not to wear jewellery like rings, bracelets or watches during this taster class as the clay may get into bits where it cannot be easily removed or they may get scratched.

This pottery taster class is all about Practice, Practice, Practice! However, we understand that you may want to keep some of the pots you make. In this case, you need to understand that making ceramics is a long process and each step is more important than the previous step as more time and money are invested.

Making an object on the pottery wheel is just the first step to start with. A second step will be to remove the excess clay from the object you made and give shape by trimming it. Trimming can be done only at the leather hard stage of the clay.

The third stage will be to bisque fire your artwork which means a lower temperature firing to prepare your object for a glaze session. If you decided to have your artwork bisque fired, then you must sign up for a glaze session.

Kindly note that the glaze session is not included in this taster class, however, you can book this separately at the cost of £35 for up to 5 pots. 

And the fourth stage of the process is to glaze your artwork and re-firing it at a higher temperature. The fourth stage is the last stage of this long process when all the magic happens and your artwork becomes ceramics.

Please note that it may take up to 3 - 4 weeks until you can actually collect your artwork. When your artwork will be ready for collection you will be notified by email. Kindly note we will only keep hold of your artwork made at the studio for 14 days after artwork collection email confirmation. You must claim and collect your artwork within this time frame, otherwise, it will be donated to our local charity.

If you feel confident, want to learn more and refine your pottery throwing techniques, we suggest signing up for our One Day Pottery Wheel Throwing Class or our Six Weeks Beginners to Intermediates Wheel Throwing Class.