Pottery Course: Intermediate

At the end of this course, you will leave with at least eight beautiful pieces of pottery that are bisque and glaze fired, finished, ready to take home and display proudly.

Our next Pottery Course for Intermediates starts on Thursday morning 10am to 1pm, 9th May and finishes on Thursday, 13th June 2024. After this,

18/7/24 to 22/8/24

3/10/24 to 7/11/24

What you'll take home

• Baking dish with handles 
• Altered cylinder coffee mug (bellied out, square, feet e.g. three or four etc.)
• Plate (textured)
• Planter
  
• Lidded jar with handle
• Three additional items of your choice (mono-print -mix of colours and textures, a creative, one-off)
• A group chat will be had at the commencement of the course to make sure what techniques and articles to be made are suitable to most participants eg. Someone may wish to make a teapot because they have mastered mugs to their liking but not yet tried the complex teapot.  Well, we can do this whilst others are making their more complex mug shapes.  Learning and sharing tips and tricks with other potters is big in the pottery world.  We all learn together.

Week One
During your first week, you'll create a baking dish suitable to go in the oven. The dish will be glazed on the inside and you'll work on designing and texturing the outside. Jude will walk you though how to add handles to the dish for safety when handling hot pots.

Week Two
Your morning cup of coffee is about to be sipped with a smile of pride, because this week we're making an altered cylinder mug. You'll learn how to use darts to create a unique fold in the mug and how these give the mug 'feet' to stand. You can choose whether you want 3 or 4 'feet' on your mug and you'll learn how to paddle the shape into a square mug or even create a 'cupped' foot.  ? what about a square mug?

Week Three
You'll be getting extra creative this week and learning about mono printing.  You'll be making your own bespoke plate using different texture, colour and stencils. You will be designing a larger slab of clay and then making up to three items of your choice in this class.  This is good fun and you will never be able to repeat this design.  Have some thaught in mind as to what you would like to make out of your art slab or let that master piece talk to you.  You don't like so much colour or busyness' well we have other ideas for you.

Week Four
This week you'll be getting on the tools. You'll be learning more from Jude about shear forming, using a banding wheel and an extruder. This week you'll create a gorgeous planter using joined clay shapes and decorate it using different ways of applying coloured slips.

Week Five
We're coming to the end of the course! You'll create a lidded jar with handles and knobs this week. You'll also need to prepare some of your items ready for the kiln, so you'll begin sanding and perfecting some of the items in preparation. We will be working outside for this class, but you will need to bring and wear a mask. Your clay creations will be bisque fired this week in readiness for your glazing next week.

Week Six
Your final week is all about glazing. You'll learn how to clean them, marking where necessary, do the waxing and apply the glazes to your almost finished pots. Placement in the kiln.  You will also be required to bring and wear a mask for this class. Once your pieces are glazed, they're ready for the kiln to work its magic.  Sit tight and in between three to four weeks, your pots will be ready for collection.  Patience can be tested at this time, this is something pottery will really teach you.

If you love this six week course and want to get busy learning more skills and creating more pottery, you can then register for our Advanced Course. 

Class notes 

• Tea, coffee and light snacks are provided (but Fonzie Abbott is right across the road, so feel free to take that up!). BYO is accepted for all evening classes
• Wear old clothes and even bring an apron, you will get wonderfully messy (just like you used to when making mud pies as a child)! 
• Tie long hair back to avoid getting clay in your hair 
• Remove jewellery as you'll be working with your hands... and clay!
• Must wear closed-toe, comfortable shoes
• Your pieces will be dishwasher, microwave, ovenproof and food safe
• For safety, you must be 15 years or over to attend any of our classes unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, except for school holiday workshops.

Things to bring

• A face mask (just in case)
• An apron (or wear old clothes)
• An ice-cream-sized container with a fitted lid to store your clay scraps to wedge.
• A jam jar-sized container with a screw top to store your glue slip
• An old towel
• Optional: a 30 x 30cm or larger board/surface if you wish to take home and complete your creation. By doing this you will get a fantastic insight into how your clay project dries.

*Please note that while we love imperfections (wabi-sabi) we cannot be held responsible for any breakages of your pieces that happen as a result of the kiln firing. This is an organic, creative process and while all and every care is taken, there are no guarantees of a set result/outcome of your pieces.