Ceramics is wonderful for your soul and spirit, yet it can be a strain for your neck and back. It is easy to hurt your back while hunching over the potter’s wheel or bent over a table decorating your pot. Sometimes picking up a heavy bag of clay can put a strain on your body and cause soreness in the back and neck. To make sure everyone stays fit and healthy at the studio here are some general recommendations for warming up and stretching your body before you start your work

What is greenware? Greenware is unfired clay pottery referring to a stage of production when the clay is mostly dry (leather hard) but has not yet been fired in a kiln. Greenware may be in any of the stages of drying: wet, damp, soft leather-hard, leather-hard, stiff leather-hard, dry, and bone dry. At this stage, it is still possible to work the object by adding more clay, or wetting it so it softens and then reshaping it. Don’t confuse greenware as a stage of production wit

The expression "Islamic art" is a term used to describe visual arts, created by Muslim and non-Muslim artists after the 7th century, who lived in the regions occupied by Muslims and cultures of Islam. Examples of Islamic art can be seen in forms such as architecture, architectural decoration, ceramic art, lusterware, faience mosaics, relief sculpture, wood and ivory carving, friezes, drawing, painting, calligraphy, book-gilding, manuscript illumination, lacquer-painted bookbi

As more and more people come into the studio, we start to see more creativity and get a lot of inspiration. One of the best ways that our members show off their creative talents is in how they decorate their ceramics. There is a lot of anticipation and patience when making the shape and form of a ceramic object, but decorating the object, is perhaps, the most rewarding aspects of working with clay. Paper resist is one of the most basic decoration techniques, but can give you

Whether you are pinching a cup or throwing a bowl, thinking about the addition of a foot will add character and elevate your piece. Feet are not a necessity, and don’t impact the functionality of the object you are making. However, the addition of a foot to a bowl can change the entire perception of your object. There are many way to add a foot to your piece, both for handbuilding or wheel throwing practice. There are different ways to add a foot to a hand-built objects. The

Spring is here and soon the summer heat will be upon us. Does reaching for a hot cup of tea in the heat seem like a crazy idea? The short answer is No; you will feel cooler as your body starts to sweat more and that sweat must be able to evaporate for you to feel that cooling effect. Good news for us, its means making more teapots. Making a teapot can be a challenge. A few of the challenges that you may come across could be where to place the handle and spout. Also deciding t

Currently we teach 2 sculpture classes a week, and we get asked a lot whether sculpture and handbuilding are two different things. There are many debates on this subject from artists and academics, we like to take the practical approach. Hand building is the method and technique to make an object, sculpture is just one of the many possible outcomes of handbuilding. When teaching sculpture, we focus on the method of handbuilding that can involve making coils, cutting slabs or

Lidded ceramic containers come in different shapes and sizes. Most lidded objects are functional in nature varying from jewellery boxes, jars, covered pots and bowls. The lids serve a function of preservation and decoration at the same time. Making a lid for your pot or container need not be a complicated process. With a little advance planning, you can easily transform a simple cylinder into a cookie jar. There are different types of lids and ways of making them. Hand built

To keep the cost down when working at the studio we are always exploring ways to create unique and personal objects of expression from basic forms and simple shapes. Surface decoration is similar to glazes, as in it can change a ceramic object from boring to brilliant. We are talking about texture as a decoration technique different from texture as a quality of the clay body. The texture of a clay body is a feature of the clay itself describing what the clay is made of and th

Pottery is a uniquely powerful artistic avenue that can serve as a deeply beneficial therapeutic activity. Pottery is therapeutic and relaxing. While spinning clay or sculpting, your mind and body are in natural synergy, focused on your creative ambitions and goals. This thoughtful artistic activity can engage the mind and relieve you of outside worries. Creative expression can give you a new language for dealing with emotional issues. The process of pottery creation can be d