ADULTS &
STUDENTS
Earlier episodes of “The Great Pottery Throwdown” can be downloaded from All4 (catch up TV).
Hosting the
Westcountry Potters Association Social
Firing Day
For beginners and
students already with some experience, the first term started
with learning and refreshing technical skills with:
-
Thumb pots
-
Coiling
-
Slabs
-
Wheel work
-
Glazing
...... always using one's own
ideas, or those chosen from a project sheet.
After which, all students
followed their own programme, according to knowledge and ability,
both technical and artistic, using own ideas and imagination. This
could be
gleaned in the studio (talking to others), seen elsewhere by
observing nature, going to exhibitions, the media, machinery,
buildings, sculptures ... and 101 other subjects/ideas. This may
have been
a one-off project, or become a theme for a term, or even a year. No
two people were likely to be doing the same thing.
Professional Tuition
was given by a
fully qualified ceramics teacher
Clay (3 different
types)
Coloured Slips &
Oxides
Glazes (Earthenware &
Stoneware)
Use of all Tools
Use of all the Wheels
(2 Electric & 1 Kick Wheel)
Firings (normally 2
per pot in Electric Kiln or by Smoke Firing)
Cup of Coffee or Tea
One just had to bring
oneself and
an old shirt or apron.
A missed
lesson could be made up at another time within the
term by prior arrangement
For
those who were new to pottery, the mere nature of clay work meant that
one could not
take work home immediately. The object, once made, had to dry, be fired, glazed and
fired again!
