12-week Saturday Morning Pottery Course with Libby Gillies | 11am-1:30pm, 23rd September – 9th December
£360.00
A comprehensive 12-week pottery course that will guide you through every step involved in making a finished ceramic piece – from preparing clay to applying glazes. We will cover some fundamental theory and focus on practicing different techniques for both throwing on the wheel and handbuilding. You will get the chance to explore making a variety of shapes such as plant pots, cups, handled mugs and jugs, plates, bowls, and many others:
Week 1: Clay preparation + handbuilding with slabs
Week 2: Making marbled plates with moulds
Week 3 & 4: Throwing on the wheel
Week 5: Trimming on the wheel
Week 6-11: Practice + working on more complex projects
Week 12: Glazing
The course takes place in our studio in the Jewellery Quarter and is suitable for adults who are starting out on their clay journey as well as intermediate makers who would like to improve their skills. Group numbers are capped at 8 people to ensure that every student receives enough one-to-one tuition and to allow a comfortable working environment.
If you would like to get your pieces fired there is an extra charge of £5 per kilogram of clay (for example, a regular sized mug is £2.50). Working with clay is a messy business, remember to bring an apron and trim long nails as they can get in the way of your creative expression. Please bear in mind that it could take up to a month after the end of the course for pots to go through the final glaze kiln before you can collect them.
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Teacher Profile:
Libby Gillies is a practicing multi-media artist and designer, specialising in both mould making and hand building using glass and clay in both sculptural and functional work. Her playful and often humorous work evokes contemplation on the power and place we each hold in society.
She regularly exhibits in and around UK museums, galleries and virtual exhibitions. Working alongside contemporary curators to develop relationships with communities and connection to heritage and feminist practice.
Her work is influenced and inspired by experiences had whilst raising a family of 8 children as they travelled Europe and Asia, observing the lives and roles of women.
Her classes aim to offer participants an opportunity to build skill in wheel work, hand-building, mould making, slip casting and surface decoration, along with developing creative potential and relationship to material.