Pottery: Throwing and Hand Building for Beginners

About this course

The course introduces clay construction through pinching, coiling, slab building and press moulding, alongside surface decoration using slips, Majolica, lustres and oxides. Basic wheel throwing is also taught to learners who have completed one term or more. Teaching combines technique demonstrations with individual practical work. Learners discuss their work individually and in groups, take part in a group critique, and record progress through learning plans and journals. The course also covers glaze types, finishing work and health and safety in a pottery setting.

What you'll learn

• Demonstrate pinching, coiling, slab building and press moulding techniques.
• Apply slip decoration, Majolica, lustres and oxides to ceramic work.
• Translate design ideas into three-dimensional forms using taught construction methods.
• Differentiate between stoneware and earthenware glazes and apply them to finished work.
• Explain relevant health and safety requirements in a pottery.

Is this course right for you?

The course is intended for learners with little or no pottery experience, as well as those with basic experience who want to develop their skills. Learners are expected to follow projects, record information and produce simple notes, diagrams or sketches. Wheel throwing is intended for those who have completed at least one term.

• Includes individual practical activity alongside group discussion and critique.
• Learners are expected to research project information and keep notes and sketches outside class.
• The course includes identifying personal strengths, weaknesses and areas for development.

Before you go

• Learners may find it useful to bring their own drawing materials and paint brushes.
• Some research, note-taking and sketching is expected outside class to support practical projects.
• Support is available for literacy, numeracy, English for speakers of other languages, learning difficulties and disabilities.