Top 10 Best Clay classes, courses, learnings kits and gifts in the UK

If you would like to learn the basics of pottery or want to refresh your existing knowledge, this course is for you! This course includes four classes over four consecutive weeks. It is aimed at complete beginners or those with some basic knowledge of ceramics. Under the guidance of your experienced tutor, you will focus on throwing on the potter’s wheel, pulling handles, turning, glazing, decorating and firing. All the requisite tools and materials you need are provided for you during each session, and your tutor will be on hand throughout to provide tips and guidance to make sure you're heading in the right direction. By the end of the course, everyone will have created finished pieces to take home with them. Pottery is all about practising, so upon finishing this course you can come back and practise at my studio for a £4 / hour price or alternatively you can rent my portable potter's wheel for £20/week. Please note that our four-week courses start on mutually agreed dates. So, if you can't find a public date, you can also apply by requesting a private class.

The Vase One Day Workshop will guide you through the basics of hand building. If this is your first time working with clay, this is a brilliant way to be introduced to clay as a material. You will begin your session by handling soft clay by rolling out coils to later use to make a pot of your choice. During the second half of the session, your instructor will demonstrate how to use the slab roller compress clay to long sheets that can be cut and shaped to create larger scale work. For those who are more experienced, you are very welcome and we will explore the techniques you find most suited to your aims. We will then help you improve your skills and aim for those forms you wish to pursue. The course allows you to keep 5 pots per student (size-dependent), if you do wish to keep further pots, you can pay £10 per extra vessel directly on the website under the ‘extra pot payment’ tab. This fee is to cover the clay, firings and glazing. We do however encourage students to be as critical of their work as possible and only keep what they know they will use, or is going to sit proudly somewhere to look at, as we want to aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible and clay can only be recycled pre their firings, but not after!

The Two Day Workshop will guide you through the basics of hand building. This 12 hour long course will be split between Saturday and Sunday, from 11:00am to 17:00pm with an hour lunch break 1t 1:30pm on both days. On Saturday, you will be introduced to the material and will begin to build with soft clay cups, bowls or vases form with a selection of techniques that will be demonstrated to you by the instructor. On the second day, once the pieces have had a chance to firm up, you will have a chance to further refine your work and the instructor will introduce you how to apply texture, as well as exploring coloured slips. For those who are more experienced, you are very welcome and we will explore the techniques you find most suited to your aims. We will then help you improve your skills and aim for those forms you wish to pursue. The course allows you to keep 4-8 pots per student (size-dependent), if you do wish to keep further pots, you can pay £10 per extra vessel directly on the website under the ‘extra pot payment’ tab. This fee is to cover the clay, firings and glazing. We do however encourage students to be as critical of their work as possible and only keep what they know they will use, or is going to sit proudly somewhere to look at, as we want to aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible and clay can only be recycled pre their firings, but not after!