First after school Art and Pottery Classes @Hags Pottery

I thought I would share the results of my first three weeks of classes in my Garden studio.

Children began by learning how to prepare or ‘wedge’ the clay, and made simple pinch pots, formed into the shape of their choice.

We then experimented with pressing found, natural and man made objects into the clay to create texture. Then used this clay to make new forms.

We learned how to ‘slip and score’ the joins to hand build objects.

In our second session we drew our small creations and began to think about how we would decorate them.

Now the clay was slightly firmer we were able to tidy up the edges, carve detail into the surface and smooth any rough areas.

We then learned to roll out and compress a slab of clay and, using an old lace pillowcase, made an imprint.

Cutting the slab into pieces we draped it over a curved surface and learned how to make and attach a foot ring.

Our pieces were then fired for the first time – the ‘bis firing’. In the third session they were ready to decorate.

We used coloured underglazes with a layer of transparent glaze over the top

After the final firing in the kiln they came out looking like this!

And now the cycle starts again.