Throwing Experiences
Two Day Pottery Workshop
Kirkdale
Join Iona at her Studio in Nawton (YO627RQ) for a fantastic two day ceramics workshop, we will cover coil building techniques, throwing on the potter's wheel and decorating techniques.
This course takes inspiration from Kirkdale with the Anglo-Saxon Church, St Gregory's Minster, and the history packed cave. We will be making coil built karaffe, some little thrown drinking vessels which will be decorated with the inspiration from our walk down into Kirkdale hearing the stories about the caves and taking patterns from the church.
Enquire on the contact page
The Pots and Prosecco Experience
Fancy learning a new skill? Or just need an afternoon away from the outside world, well join me for an afternoon of fun!
The Experience Overview
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On arrival you will be welcomed into the space, with prosecco and nibbles (to be enjoyed at your leisure) We will talk through ideas of what objects you would like to make. You will get the most out of this experience if you come with a making goal, this can be anything from a snack bowl to a narrow necked bud vase.
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I will then provide a demonstration. This demonstration includes all the basics of throwing on the potter's wheel with a tailored demonstration to your intended vessel.
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We will then go through some finishing touches such as spouts and smartening up the vessels, and taking the excess clay from around the base of the vessel.
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Once you are sitting comfortably at the wheel we will create your first ever vessel!
For the first vessel I will go through it with you step by step providing personal one to one tuition and will tailor hand positions to suit individual needs -
You will independently throw your second vessel, I will be there for guidance, but you will be more than confident and knowledgeable to create perfection. The aim of this session is to give you an experience but also teach you the skills to take home.
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After throwing your two pieces we will then go through which glaze colours you want, usually a choice of three glaze colours which have been mixed up from scratch using a variety of different minerals and oxides.
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You will then have the opportunity to sit and have a chat on the decking while finishing off your drinks, nibbling on the snacks provided and taking selfies (of course photos can be taken throughout the whole process as well) with the amazing vessels you created from just a ball of clay!
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The Best Bits After completing this experience you will have an understanding of how to throw and will be able to take this with you to further lessons or as a fun party trick! This is a great opportunity for you to get together and learn new skills and make awesome memories with your loved ones. You will have your two objects to use and look at everyday, reminding you of the experience.
Included in The Price
You get two pre prepared stoneware clay balls, access to my studio and all the equipment and tools you will need for making the vessels. Personal 1 to 1 tuition for the whole time you are throwing on the wheel, with tailored demonstrations.
Once you are home I clean up and fire your pieces in a kiln (a specialised piece of equipment that can reach temperatures of 1290 degree Celsius) then I glaze the pieces for you using my own recipes that have been mixed up from scratch. The pieces are then put back into the kiln for their glaze firing, the firing takes about 3 to 4 days each to reach temperature.
Finally the bottoms of the pieces are sanded to make sure they won't scratch any surfaces before being wrapped in recycled paper and are ready to be collected.
Price
Sessions start at either 10am or 1pm and usually last an hour and a half to two hours
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Pots and Prosecco for Two People- £95
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Pots and Coffee for Two People- £85
Just Pots for Two People- £70
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Pots and Prosecco for Three People- £129
Pots and Coffee for Three People- £115
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Gift Voucher for a friend?
The Gift voucher have a 3 month acknowledgement period to book or extend the voucher for a further 9 months,
Buying for Yourself? You can buy a Gift Voucher by clicking the buy now button add your date and time from the available dates below in a message at check out.
Available Dates in 2023
Please note, if non of these date suit just give me an email and we can arrange a date.
Sessions run at 10am, 1pm or 6pm (summer time)
October,
Thur 10am, Mon 9th, Tues 10th, Mon 16th, Tues 24th
November,
Tues 7th, Mon 13th, Tues 14th, Mon 20th, Tues 28th
December
Mon 4th, Fri 8th
THE FUll DAY EXPERIENCE
This is the most fantastic session for those who are wanting to learn how to throw, trying something different or looking for a refresher as a hobbyist potter. This session is for you.
It covers all the fundamental skills that you will need to learn to continue making and decorating pots.
THE MORNING SESSION 10-12noon
Throwing
During the morning session we will cover clay preparation. This includes how to wedge the clay in two different ways talking about the importance of this to remove air bubbles and align the structure of the clay.
We then go onto weighing the clay and preparing it to start throwing, moving onto the wheel. I provide a demonstration of all the skills, techniques and tools needed to throw a vessel, tailoring this demonstration to the end goal you have in mind for example a jug, mug, bowl, vase. . .
You will then move onto the wheel and I will talk you through the throwing process problem solving as we go so that you have the best chance of success.
You can throw as many vessels as you like in this session, maybe exploring different shapes. At the end of the throwing session we will pick the vessels to bring into the next stage of the day, either handles and turning or decoration. We will also discuss clay recycling at this stage, two pieces are included in the price, any further vessels are £2 per 100 grams of clay.
THE AFTERNOON SESSION 1-3pm
Decorating
If you have chosen to decorate your pots rather than turning we will start the afternoon session with a damp sponge preparing the vessel and flattening off any undesirable edges.
I will then go through all the different colours available and the oxides which create these colours. I will then provide a quick demonstration painting and the sgraffito technique using a needle tool to scratch through to the raw clay underneath the slip. You can also use tools to take clay away engraving into the surface of the vessels. You can decorate the pieces with whatever design you would like, there will be inspiration around the studio mainly in the form of trees or my own porcelain vessels.
The Price
(You can add in the paypal notes which afternoon session you want, you can also decide this on the day)
The Full Day Experience as a 1 to 1 tailored experience £140
The Full Day Experience as an intermate 2 to 1 tailored experience £210
For larger groups please give me a message via the contact page with the session name and number of people wanting to attend.
This is just the introduction to throwing and generally starting out, there are many more things we can cover going forwards, such as glazing, kilns, firings, different shapes, plates, narrow opening vases, lids, spouts attached and manipulated, throwing off the hump, decorating, texturising and so so much more
