After the ghastliness of the last week, I was really keen to get to my porcelain hand-building class this morning.

As I mentioned here I’ve been eager to do some sort of ceramics for years and years and kept getting in my own way. No more!

The class was in a really wonderful studio space in a light industrial area relatively nearby. Also sharing the space were other creatives and a couple of bands. So our hand-building was accompanied by a Metal band rehearsing – they were both earnest and adorable.

The class was really small and the teacher an utter delight. It was such a nice vibe, I had a brilliant time.

We made three pieces with three different techniques. Of course, my technique was exceptionally rusty, having not touched clay for like 35 years, and I had to manage my own expectations a bit. But given all that, I was pretty pleased with my pieces.

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First piece: Pinch pot

Second piece: coil pot
(full disclosure: this is really another pinch pot with a single coil around the rim)

spot the fingernail marks

Third piece: Slab platter thingy

I didn’t get a decent shot. But I rolled the clay out over crumpled muslin and got a kind of textured fabric effect – and just cut out a simple circle shape.

xxx

The pieces will be dried and fired and clear-glazed and fired again – and if they don’t explode in the kiln, I’ll get them back in about a month.

Next up – intro to Japanese ceramics in a couple of weeks! Different teacher, different location.

If I’m still super-keen after that one, I’ll definitely sign up for something more in-depth.