This five week course will teach you the fundamentals of the pottery techniques including throwing, hand-building and glazing. Your time will be balanced between slab, press-moulding, and hand-building, glazing/decorating with coloured slips and throwing.
The throwing element of the course is one to one, progressing from ‘tapas’ dishes through to bowls and mugs/jugs.
You will have the opportunity to be very hands on and make a range of items to your own design in all the techniques such as tableware, jewellery, vessels, sculpture, tiles etc. You are unrestricted in what you make and you are encouraged to find your own personal ceramics style.
The course is designed to be fun and therapeutic as well as sociable – make some beautiful ceramics and some new friends. Courses take place at the beautiful Vallis Farm, a bio dynamic farm and community hub just outside of the vibrant Somerset town of Frome.
*New handbuilding course on Monday mornings.
This class is led by Jo Harling and Focuses on handbuilding, techniques include coiling, slab building, press moulding, sculpting and casting.
This course will explore many different decorative techniques, such as coloured slips, burnishing, glazing and you will also have the opportunity to Raku and smoke fire.
The objects you can create with clay using these processes are only limited by your imagination (and the size of the kiln!) handbuilding encompasses not only functional tableware, mugs and plates for example but all manner of items from lighting, sculptural vessels to mirror frames to tiles.
As well as functional ceramics you have the option to get sculptural; students have previously made animal statues, abstract art forms and garden sculpture. You can also can also work small, jewellery and decorative pieces, you will be encouraged with whatever you wish to create.
DATES AND TIMES
2026
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 15th of January till 12th February 2026
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 26th February till 26th March 2026
5 consecutive Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays starting 20th/22nd/23rd April till 18th/20th/21st May 2026
Morning sessions 10am till 12.30pm
Afternoon sessions 12.15pm till 2.45pm
Evening sessions 6pm till 8.30pm
TUTORS
Kim Birchall
Jo Harling
COURSE PRICE - £150
Materials and firing to be charged at cost.
*Materials cost varies, on average the spend for 4 weeks is £25 - £35, this is for a large selection of pieces such as bowls, cups, dishes, tiles, Raku pieces etc, however if you are making very large sculptures then obviously it will cost more for firing and this can be discussed. Similarly if you are making smaller pieces, such as jewellery or buttons then it will cost considerably less. No profit is made on materials or firing, it is purely to cover costs of the resources of clay, glazes and primarily the energy cost of the kiln.
🌱 The environmental policy of this pottery studio has always been to respect our planets resources as much as possible. The energy used to power kilns (to as high as 1280 degrees sometimes) is great, I have always used a green tariff that buys the units used back from a renewable source. The kilns themselves are ‘eco’ kilns, highly insulated to be as energy efficient as possible. Wherever possible the kilns are fired lower to conserve energy too. All the clay offcuts, scraps, and pots that have gone wrong (it happens) are recycled to be reused, nothing is wasted. With the glazes, as much as possible is made on site from raw materials, therefore cutting down on plastic waste from commercially produced glazes.
This five week course will teach you the fundamentals of the pottery techniques including throwing, hand-building and glazing. Your time will be balanced between slab, press-moulding, and hand-building, glazing/decorating with coloured slips and throwing.
The throwing element of the course is one to one, progressing from ‘tapas’ dishes through to bowls and mugs/jugs.
You will have the opportunity to be very hands on and make a range of items to your own design in all the techniques such as tableware, jewellery, vessels, sculpture, tiles etc. You are unrestricted in what you make and you are encouraged to find your own personal ceramics style.
The course is designed to be fun and therapeutic as well as sociable – make some beautiful ceramics and some new friends. Courses take place at the beautiful Vallis Farm, a bio dynamic farm and community hub just outside of the vibrant Somerset town of Frome.
*New handbuilding course on Monday mornings.
This class is led by Jo Harling and Focuses on handbuilding, techniques include coiling, slab building, press moulding, sculpting and casting.
This course will explore many different decorative techniques, such as coloured slips, burnishing, glazing and you will also have the opportunity to Raku and smoke fire.
The objects you can create with clay using these processes are only limited by your imagination (and the size of the kiln!) handbuilding encompasses not only functional tableware, mugs and plates for example but all manner of items from lighting, sculptural vessels to mirror frames to tiles.
As well as functional ceramics you have the option to get sculptural; students have previously made animal statues, abstract art forms and garden sculpture. You can also can also work small, jewellery and decorative pieces, you will be encouraged with whatever you wish to create.
DATES AND TIMES
2026
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 15th of January till 12th February 2026
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 26th February till 26th March 2026
5 consecutive Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays starting 20th/22nd/23rd April till 18th/20th/21st May 2026
Morning sessions 10am till 12.30pm
Afternoon sessions 12.15pm till 2.45pm
Evening sessions 6pm till 8.30pm
TUTORS
Kim Birchall
Jo Harling
COURSE PRICE - £150
Materials and firing to be charged at cost.
*Materials cost varies, on average the spend for 4 weeks is £25 - £35, this is for a large selection of pieces such as bowls, cups, dishes, tiles, Raku pieces etc, however if you are making very large sculptures then obviously it will cost more for firing and this can be discussed. Similarly if you are making smaller pieces, such as jewellery or buttons then it will cost considerably less. No profit is made on materials or firing, it is purely to cover costs of the resources of clay, glazes and primarily the energy cost of the kiln.
🌱 The environmental policy of this pottery studio has always been to respect our planets resources as much as possible. The energy used to power kilns (to as high as 1280 degrees sometimes) is great, I have always used a green tariff that buys the units used back from a renewable source. The kilns themselves are ‘eco’ kilns, highly insulated to be as energy efficient as possible. Wherever possible the kilns are fired lower to conserve energy too. All the clay offcuts, scraps, and pots that have gone wrong (it happens) are recycled to be reused, nothing is wasted. With the glazes, as much as possible is made on site from raw materials, therefore cutting down on plastic waste from commercially produced glazes.
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