Hand Building School - Revelations from the Classroom!
Gaye’s Six Week Handbuilding School
Have you ever had that hankering to get your hands on clay but never got around to it, worried you might not be able to do it, curious about what handbuilding with clay actually involved?
Well we wanted to help dismiss all those doubts and open up the world of handbuilding to more budding potters. So we developed our six week Handbuilding School.
““It exceeded anything I could have hoped for, a safe, enjoyable environment to play with clay and grow in confidence over a relatively short period of time. definitely the best therapy””
Applying decorating Slip
The aim of the school was to teach and share techniques for handbuilding foundation skills which includes pinch pots, slab builds and coiling. These skills are exciting in their own right with so many possibilities, offering opportunities to make functional, decorative and sculptural work.
“I can only look back at my growth over that 6 week course and think if I have a year at it I can’t even begin to imagine how I would feel.
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Our first set of students on the course have been amazing. It can be very daunting the first time you go to work with clay but once you touch that piece of clay in front of you everything changes, it becomes an exciting challenge, you get lost in time, all those other life tasks and concerns that you were thinking about disappear when you are absorbed into creating with clay.
It was great to watch how the students all had a different vision for their projects. This is one of the most exciting things about handbuilding, everything created is so individual and uniquely handmade. With support and guidance they planned their own projects based around individual handbuilding techniques and explored decoration; introducing texture, colour and glazes into their pieces.
““Gaye is an amazing teacher, patient, gives great demonstration, is an excellent communicator and very inspiring””
It’s been exciting watching the students gain confidence in both their own skills and their understanding of clay. They have made some amazing work which was exhibited at our Christmas Exhibition and it has inspired them to go on to continue making.
I’m really looking forward to working with the next group of students who are interested in learning handbuilding skills here at the studio, I just love sharing the wonders of clay.