£480

**The teaching will finish at 4pm, however the studio will stay open until 6pm so you can stay back to practice and make as much as you like. This Open Access facility is included as part of the cost.

INTERMEDIATE THROWING SKILLS - 4 Day Course with CHRIS TAYLOR

With a focus on production throwing, consistency of form and repetition.

You will learn -

• skills to enable efficiency and speed

• techniques to achieve balance of form and shape

• good practise with clay preparation, weights and measurements & use of tools.

Chris will introduce methods & techniques using demonstrations and explanations. Support and guidance will be offered through the duration of the course.

DAY 1:

The course will begin with making introductions and familiarising everyone with the studio, equipment, tools and materials.

The first activity will be preparing balls of clay. Chris will teach you how to be efficient when ‘weighing and balling up’ in preparation for the wheel.

The main focus of this first day will be throwing bowls with a focus on techniques to achieve speed and consistency of size & form.

DAY 2:

Chris will teach you efficient methods of turning your bowls (thrown on day 1). Turning bowls takes longer that actually throwing them and it a ket stage in the making process. You will be practising easy ways to get your bowls centred on the wheel, before trimming off the excess clay and carving your foot ring. Again there will be a focus on consistency of design/shape/form as well as speed.

Chris will show you tricks he has learned over his many years as a production potter, to be able to make the shapes you want and repeat .

DAY 3:

Practising cylinders will be the focus at this stage. Making a cylinder is a different process to that of bowls. You will be looking at compressing the base (to avoid future cracks), and using tools to get crisp corners on the inside. The ‘lift’ is often tricky- especially with narrow cylindrical forms - so Chris will show you methods to perfect this stage. You will be shown techniques for repeating the same cylinder shape multiple times.

Day 4:

On this final day Chris will teach you how to refine (turn) your cylinders, with the focus being balance of form as well as efficient practises. Chris will offer various ways to make and join handles. This is your chance to learn how to ‘pull and handle’ in the traditional way - with reference to scale, shape, curve etc…

If there is anything specific you’d like to learn - Chris will be very happy to work with you on that.

To get the most out of this course you will need to be relatively confident with centring, producing the basic shapes (cylinders & bowls) and turning.

The cost includes all materials and equipment including 4 glazed & fired pieces which we will fire and glaze. You will have an option of 4 different glazes to choose from. Any pieces which you would like to keep over and above what’s included will be charged at £5 per piece.

If the work needs to be posted this will be an additional cost of around £25 - £35 for P&P depending on the size and weight of the box. Also we pay extra for a ‘Fragile’ service to do the best we can to ensure no breakages.

**LUNCH: £30 - (book as a seperate add on)

12:30pm resuming at 1:30 pm.

We can provide a delicious lunch of fresh crusty bread, cheeses, cold meats & salad.

**WE CANNOT CATER FOR ALLERGIES

This is more than just a Pottery Course, we are offering an experience. This is an opportunity to visit the stunning region of Dumfries and Galloway and enjoy the many great things it has to offer.

ACCOMMODATION:

Holiday Inn Dumfries

The Holiday Inn is ideally located within the beautiful Crichton Estate, a 5 minute stroll through stunning gardens to Clay Works Studios. This has been regularly booked by previous attendees of the Intensive Courses and the feedback has been positive.

THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY:

If you are bringing your family or friends along with you to make a holiday of the experience, here are some useful links.

GALLOWAY OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE

MOUNTAIN BIKING

WALKING

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

RESTAURANTS & FOOD: Home, Gather, Loch Arthur Farm Shop, The Boathouse Cafe

If you’d like any further information please do contact us by email or phone: 07903937741

We look forward to welcoming you!