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.
DATES AND TIMES
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 13th of November till 11th December 2025
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 15th of January till 12th February 2026
Morning session 10am till 12.30pm
Evening session 6pm till 8.30pm
TUTOR
Kim Birchall plus guest teachers
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.
Session:
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.
DATES AND TIMES
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 13th of November till 11th December 2025
5 consecutive Thursdays starting 15th of January till 12th February 2026
Morning session 10am till 12.30pm
Evening session 6pm till 8.30pm
TUTOR
Kim Birchall plus guest teachers
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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