Mr. Nacho and I attended our first pottery wheel workshop a few weeks ago and made a few clay pieces. It was one of those things where I wanted to try something different and new, and Mr. Nacho expressed interest in working with clay in the past. It took some googling to find an open workshop near us but we finally found one.
The market is hot for pottery classes. We initially tried signing up for a workshop at a studio in the town where we live but the wait list was up to 75 people. A different studio nearby also had sold out workshops. After additional research we finally found a studio 30 minutes away with availability for workshops, which happened to be more expensive, but still seemed worth it to try it out.
We signed up online for a 2-day pottery workshop and paid per person/wheel (but there are a couple more days involved after the 2 days). The cost of the workshop includes the instructor, use of their tools, clay, wheel time, paint, glazing, and baking. Day 1 is the actual throwing of clay and creation of pieces. Day 2 is “trimming” (removing excess clay, refining and shaping it). There is also an unofficial Day 3 where after the clay is fully dry and ready, you come back to paint your pieces, and then the studio will glaze and fire the pieces in a kiln, and then once ready you go back to pick it up.
What to wear/bring/not bring
I had to do some googling on how to come prepared for the workshop.
- Wear comfortable clothes and shoes you can move in and don’t mind getting clay on and are easy to clean
- Short sleeves are best so you won’t need to constantly pull up your sleeves
- Nothing flowy that can drape onto the clay/where you’re working
- You’ll be sitting for awhile and bending over, and using your arms/shoulders
- Clay can wash out (note: red clay stains), but you still might not want to get clay on them
- Remove rings, bracelets, and watches
- Trim your nails (otherwise you will get nail marks in the clay)
- Bring a hair tie to tie your hair back so it doesn’t get in the way
- Water bottle if you think you’ll get thirsty
- The studio should provide aprons, but an apron is helpful and you might also want to bring a dirty towel (our studio had paper towels from the sink area but you can also bring your own towel)
Pottery Workshop Day 1
The class was small (about 5 people) and was made up of all levels – from people who have never worked with clay before to more experienced potters. Our instructor first told us about the clay and prepped us for what we would be doing for the next 3 hours. She also had us practice getting comfortable with the pottery wheel and the pedal to make it go faster or slower.
She cut us each a bunch of clay to set on the wheel and then we could start creating! The goal for day 1 was to make bowls and plates. If however it doesn’t turn into what you expected it to be (spoiler: it did not for us), it can still be a piece. Maybe a bowl becomes a small ring dish, or a shot glass, or just a modern piece of art. You have to go into the session with no expectations and expect things to go “wrong”. The instructor had a wheel at the front of the class where we could observe what she did. She also would come around and help.
Because Mr. Nacho and I had some trial and error for attempts at bowls and plates, we ended up making 6 total pieces as opposed to just one bowl and one plate. The clay did get messy, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. We put our initials on our pieces so we knew which was ours, left them to dry, and waited until the following week to go back for more.
Pottery Workshop Day 2
The following week Mr. Nacho and I went back to class (another 3-hour session) to polish and trim our pieces. The clay dried just enough to still be soft and malleable, and to continue to be adjusted/molded. This could mean cutting away some extra clay, smoothing out surfaces, trimming the rough edges at the top, and could also mean creating little designs. Mr. Nacho wanted to create little planters, so he added holes to the bottom of the pieces.
This session was less messy, but there was still time spent on the wheel which was used to clean up pieces.
Painting our pieces
The studio called us about a week later to let us know that our pieces were ready to paint. We decided to stop by and paint this past weekend. It helped me to google ideas beforehand on design ideas for pottery to get an idea for colors and designs. We didn’t need a reservation to paint our pieces and there was no instructor. We could walk in to paint as long as the studio was open.
We spent almost 3 hours (the time flew by) as we painted our 6 pieces. When we met with the owner, he recommended that we start by painting the inside of pieces first because oftentimes you get different inspiration after you see the inside painted. He also made sure to let us know to paint at least 2 coats each to get a really solid color, and to start by painting the inside first so you can get inspiration for what to paint on the outside.
More pottery in our future?
The experience was fun, but I definitely felt out of my element. I don’t consider myself to be such a creative person, and during the workshop I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointment that I couldn’t get my pieces to work the way I wanted them to. It’s all a part of the process I know. Mr. Nacho definitely enjoyed it a lot more, and even expressed interest in renting time on the wheel on his own to make more pieces. I’m not sure pottery is for me, but I’d be willing to give another workshop a try.
