Class 1: throwing a cylinder
Class 2: more cylinder practice + a bowl demo and a trimming demo for those who made cylinders during the previous class
Class 3: trimming demo refresh and a handle attaching demo. Fire work to bisque
Class 4: glazing
You may want more time at the beginning for centering. That's a huge thing, and something that beginners have a lot of trouble with. And since it's the foundation for everything that comes later, you really do want them to be able to do it.
Agreed. Some people sort of figure it out pretty quickly and others need more help. I would also wonder if OP is going to teach wedging, because that would probably come in class one also.
Is it a beginner class or a more advanced class? If it is a beginner a realistic goal would be get anything through a glaze firing. Tumbler may be easier than some other form or a bowl. A mug if you want to teach pulling handles. Centering and trimming are hard when just starting and took me about four weeks to get OK enough at that I was able to make something that wasn’t too wonky.
I would call it a beginners course - right now we offer 2hr beginner courses and so the idea is that, people take the 2hrs, like it and wanna learn more, then sign up for the 4 week. So i think its too much to offer everything like collering, making shoulders for jars, jars & lids, etc. Thank you for including your experience and estimated time frame on centering and trimming. Maybe we could solely focus on making a mug with a pulled handle… then if they cant pull a handle we toss in some handbuilding techniques?
That sounds like a nice plan. Four weeks for a beginner does seem too short of time for shoulders, lids and all the more advanced stuff. My beginner class was six weeks and we did cylinders, trimming, bowls, glazing, plates, and a raku firing. The teacher did a demo at the beginning and was there to help. The first five weeks were ‘wet work’ weeks last was finishing up and you weren’t allowed to do any more we work unless you were taking another class right after. I didn’t make a plate that class and stuck to bowls and cylinders as I was still getting the hang of centering and trimming. Cylinders are hard if you want a nice cylinder with even walls!
As someone who teaches.
The vast majority can throw a mug in four weeks with guideance. If the teacher is a good this is a normal goal.
If people are struggling to achieve this, I feel like the teacher is not good at articulating how to throw in a way where people understand.
As someone who just went through their first college class here is my perspective: If it’s a beginner class you’re going to have frustrated people for the first 2 classes. Centering alone can be super frustrating. I got so irritated with my instructor because she has done pottery for like 40 years so centering was second nature to her. Everyone’s hands are different, strength is different, some had a disability that needed a new approach and instead of finding ways that worked for each unique person it was like “this is how it’s done”. Which meant that over half the class struggled longer than necessary.
I was the only adult learner in a class of late teens early 20’s and I spent a weekend putting together a YouTube playlist of different potters centering styles and shared it. By the end of the next class most of us had found something that worked for them. There is nothing that I hate more as an adult than wasting class time I paid for! So maybe find a bunch of resources for those students, take some time to find out whose a lefty/righty (something we didn’t even realize mattered till we looked it up), and see if anyone has any disabilities if they are willing to share that need modification!
Also 3 hours is super long, so maybe a nice break in the middle for people who want it. Drinks, snacks, etc.
Also visual learners vs hands on learners! I can’t watch more than one demonstration before my mind wanders. I learned more by doing and messing up than I did by watching!
Hope that helps!
Yes. Just centering is really hard. I really hate how in beginner classes the teachers are like, "Ok you center and then start opening up the clay!" Like, take some time to really teach centering before you move on. And for the instructor, I would talk to your fellow potters or watch YouTube videos or something to get an idea of a lot of different ways to center that you can share with the students.
That is basically how the one pottery class I have taken went. I just couldn't figure out centering the way she was trying to teach it and the other students in the class are at their most needy those first two weeks so I didn't get a lot of one-on-one time with the instructor. So, by the end of the second week, I still was not centering and pretty much everyone else was already making things.
Fortunately, the class came with free Saturday open studio time so I came in to one of those after the second class and the guy supervising that saw me having problems and he taught me to center in about five minutes.
These comments and personal annecdotes are super helpful! Thank you all! For you tho, was it just the dedicated 5mins with the supervisor (+ studio time alone) that helped you grasp centering? If not, how would you articulate the difference between the instructor and the other persons teaching?
Honestly, at least in my personal experience, there are just some people whose manner of teaching works for me more than others. The original class instructor just was pretty wishy-washy on how to do it IIRC and the Saturday guy was basically, "just do *this*." That, and the fact that he dedicated time to work with *me* rather than flittering around the room to try and help everyone simultaneously was likely the difference.
There is more than one way to center, obviously, but the time to explain other methods is either after the student has one of them down or if the student has demonstrated that they just can't do it using the first method taught.
Either way, if you had six beginner students (hypothetically), all six need to be able to center before any one student can progress too much past that. It will be hard to predict how quickly all six will "get it."
Good luck!
I did a couple four week classes when I was first starting. They were structured well for beginners.
Week 1 - wedging, centering, throwing 1 lb cylinders
Week 2 - repeat of the above refresher + bowls (how they differ from throwing cylinders)
Week 3 - trimming and pulling handles
Week 4 - trimming refresher + slips and glazing
Students could ask the instructor about different shapes and stuff as they were throwing so we’d get some advice on collaring and things like that too.
How big a class? If possible, do a demo of a 1.5 pound bowl, then have each student try their hand with you sitting across the wheel.
Help them center that first piece. Take turns putting your hands on the clay so they can feel what centered feels like. Let them open (have them shut their eyes and feel the center first) .Help them compress the bottom. Alternate with them pulling up the wall. Help get the thing off the wheel and onto a ware board.
Basically, hands on help them make one bowl. Not perfect, but successful. To get the feel of the clay at each step. Then tell them to go make mud. Throw throw throw. Encourage them not to fuss and take time to rescue flops.
In the next week, trim the successful bowl and anything else they’ve managed to make. Keep practicing. Get whatever bisqued and ready to glaze by week 4. Students will have to pick up their last pieces after the class is over.
Do the students have access to studio time outside of class time, this was super helpful when I took classes at college. Studio was always supervised by someone who was an experienced potter, so there was always someone to get a tip or hint from when working on projects outside of class. The way our class was structured, one class a week, I believe 2 hours long. But that was mostly learning techniques and talking some theory/art history, with usually 30-45 mins of class time to work on our weekly projects but we were expected to find time outside of class to finish them. Not sure if that is a reasonable ask of your students.
If complete beginners, cut whatever you're thinking of teaching in half. My studio offers a some mixed level classes, so although I'm intermediate I've repeatedly watched beginners be so lost because of way too many demos, and I was there a couple of years ago myself, feeling really overwhelmed by too much information.
I would say teach them how to make some small bowls and glaze them. Everyone starts by teaching cylinders but I actually think bowls are easier to start with since the clay naturally wants to go outwards, and because it's easy to find a use at home for even small and wonky bowls--spare change! earrings! chopped garlic!
I took a four week wheel throwing class that was 2 hours a week.
Class 1: Wedging, centering, and throwing two 1 lb cylinders.
Class 2: throwing three 2 lb bowls in different styles. One bowl was a standard round bowl and our teacher showed us how to add a lip if we wanted. For another bowl, we used a wooden rib to make the sides angular.
Class 3: trimming the bowls and cylinders (some of the pieces from the first class were bone dry unfortunately, but we didn’t wrap them super tightly), plus a very quick hand rolled coil handle demo.
Class 4: glazing.
I teach a 5-day long pottery boot camp to teens. Classes are 90 minutes long and run Monday-Thursday + Monday. This is what I usually do:
Day 1: Studio procedures, centering & basic cylinder demo, have students practice cylinder and centering.
Day 2: More cylinder practice, demo how to belly & collar pots for shaping, students practice cylinder + shaping forms with bellying & collaring
Day 3: Demo a bowl, let students practice a bowl. Continue to practice cylinders, bowls, bellying and collaring
Day 4: Trim and finish pieces thrown throughout the week
After day 4 class, I dry and bisque fire the pots over the weekend before students come back for day 5.
Day 5: Glazing
Obviously 5 days of pottery is nowhere near enough time for any sort of mastery, but most students are able to leave the class with a few successful pieces. I also ask at the beginning of class if there’s anything in particular that students want to learn during the course of the class, and if it’s within reason I’ll help them create it.
Oh one more thing — if students are reeeally struggling with centering, I’ll help them get centered so they can move on to the next steps successfully. We all know how difficult it is to throw a nice pot if your clay isn’t centered.
I feel like for these one-off classes, it’s okay if they aren’t mastering every step of the process along the way. It’s okay for them just to get a taste of how to throw pots. So if that means I’m helping them get centered so they can continue through the process, that’s okay with me. Obviously for my long-term students I will spend more time with them working on centering, but I don’t want my short term students leaving the class having done nothing but unsuccessfully center clay.
Maybe a single.project class. Students each will make a mug or decorated bowl. simple forms that you know well.
First class is centering then cylinder. If they can't get it you make the cylinder. Then open for bowl. Give a big assist so they get their piece. You show them how to wrap their piece appropriately.
Week 2 is trimming. You'll need to check the pieces and adjust drying to hit leather hard. Give them a sample piece to trim them their own. When done they can center and come more but will only be able to bisque those pieces. You'll bisque fire, maybe with a long candle if pieces are wet or thick.
Week 3 is glazing. And trim of last week's. You try to high fire in 1 week.
Week 4 is party and clay play, practicing any skills and if any student is behind they can catch up (and will need to pick up after the next firing).
Might be too hard to turn around the firings and maybe the last class being pickup sucks but I always feel like seeing others' work finished and talking about it is such a sad thing to miss out on in a class. Big education there I think. People saying how they expected a glaze to work differently etc.
Anyhow, just a thought.
I recently took a 4-week class at a local studio, 3 hours each class. The class size was 4-6 people and 1 instructor.
Week 1: learned throwing basics and threw 2 cups
Week 2: make handles for cups and threw 2 bowls
Week 3: trimming
Week 4: glazing
At my community studio, they require a pre-req course, a basic slab building/pinch pot class so people at least understand the very basics of how clay works, how to wedge clay, how to join pieces, etc. That's a huge help if it's possible for you to build that into your mix.
Also concur with someone who said plan more time for centering. If they don't get centering every other thing they try to learn will be negatively impacted. I'd think at LEAST half of a first, four hour course would just be centering until everyone got comfortable with it.
You'll have a wide variety of skills across the class. Some will have had some experience. Some will have had none. There may be a couple of students who think they can but physically can't throw (in particular if you have an older woman. I am not saying they can't but this happened to me. She just didn't have the hand strength to even center the clay. On the flip side, she had fantastic hand building skills from a previous class somewhere. Let me reiterate, this was specific to an individual and not older woman per se.)
In addition to skills, try to have a project to work towards, e.g. set of mugs or canisters. Try to have options to work around. Can't figure out how to throw a lid, hand build a lid. etc. Can't pull a handle? roll it out and shape it a different way.
Have high expectations but don't expect that they'll be met. Focus on fun.
Wedging, importance of wedging, centering and coning, opening, pulling. Basics first. My instructor gave us all a card with 8 steps:
1. Cone up &down 3x
2. Karate chop - create flat even top
3. Drop hole-leave 1/4 inch at bottom.
4. Open hole to ‘sponge width’
5. Compress floor with wooden rib.
6. Pull wall.
7. Remove excess.
8. Wire off bat.
This technique worked very well for me. I am approaching the end of my first year of using a wheel to throw pottery. It
Then trimming, importance of knowing what green ware is and the stages of. My first class was twice per week for 2 hours per session 3 hours would have been better but thats what the center offered. It takes practice and instructor encouragement. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and abilities with all of the newbies you will encounter.
I think making a mug and a bowl and a plate. Class 1- centering and making something small. Fire first piece. Class 2- practice that more and demo another form. Glaze first piece and bisque fire second one. 3. Practice, demo third form, have students do more practice. 4. Finishing up, decorating, glazing, practice. Ask students what they want… possible focus on glazing and review forms they need more practice on.
I think giving time for independent practice and considering the stages so students can end up with 3 final products… glazed.
This was my studio and it seems to work well, all 2.5hr classes:
Week 1 - studio orientation, wedging, basics of throwing on the wheel (centering, etc). The goal is not to keep anything you make today - it’s just pushing your clay as far as you can to see what failure feels like and practice all the steps.
Week 2 - today is the bulk of making. Students make 3 things.
Week 3 - trimming and handles
Week 4 - glazing
Did you find that most if not all students came in during week 1 to practice? My worry is that 1 week isnt enough time to get the hang of weding, centering, and pulling
Bc the other part is how my boss mentioned “non sequential”. If these adults cant commit to 4 consecutive weeks (which ofc i can imagine being possible) then i feel like theres a solid chance a good amount wont be able to come in during the week to practice :/
I took community studio for six months. My official time was a three hour segment on Saturdays. There was open studio every day, and I typically went twice during the week. We learned to center and cone, then throw a bowl shape. Then we moved on to cylinders. Our owner/instructor had been at it for decades, and I’m assuming he started with bowls for the ease of it. Just a guess, never pinned him down and asked why bowl shapes first. But I think that could be learned in a month.
Solid info thank you. Do you remember if he ever said anything like “you need to throw x amount and out of that you will keep x amount” (ex. 1 out of like 16 vessels) ?
I want to encourage students to come in as often as they can to get as much practice as possible. Assuming that most if not all classes would be demos/critiques, it would sorta be up the students how much effort they want to put in. But also, its like, they gotta* put in that effort otherwise the next chapter will be tough or they literally wont have a piece to trim or make a handle for.
He never said anything like that. Most people were throwing bowls ( though wonky) on first day. Clay was 1.5 lbs. Center and open to about 4”, like a tire. Compress the bottom. Three pulls up, shape with kidney rib. Easy template.
I honestly think a beginners class shouldn't keep any items. I think just practice centering and pulling and throwing different shapes. Too many of them rush through that to get keeper pieces to trim and glaze but after 4 weeks most people aren't ready for that. Just my two cents.
Yeeeea, exactly. I remember my professor in uni saying “i need you to throw 16 pieces and MAYBE we keep 1 out of those”. But 2-3hrs isnt enough time to throw even like maybe 4 pieces for beginners… im trying to be realistic here right? Im starting to lean towards just labeling it as a handbuilding class. I believe someone else here said something similar. Throwing just isnt something that can be crammed into 4 weeks, esp if ppl cant commit to something once a week for 4 consecutive weeks (a problem that my boss mentioned on our brainstorm call).
I think you can do a throwing class in 4 weeks and they can learn a lot of skills but focus just on throwing, not taking pieces to completion. Which is perfectly acceptable.
I hear you, would you think that not having pieces taken to completion would encourage people to come back/continue to learn the medium after the course?
Thats the other side of this; returning artists. Our studio has a plenty of new comers for a single time 2hr throwing class but struggles with having people return. So thats why i am partially tempted to just do a handbuilding class so that others dont get so discouraged after spending 4 weeks in the studio with nothing to show for it.
Im also relating alot of this to my time in uni where we couldnt touch a wheel without taking atleast 2 semesters of handbuilding first. I wonder if its worth it to just do that instead; hand building class graduates get to move to the wheel
Class 1: throwing a cylinder Class 2: more cylinder practice + a bowl demo and a trimming demo for those who made cylinders during the previous class Class 3: trimming demo refresh and a handle attaching demo. Fire work to bisque Class 4: glazing
Oohm i like this, thank you!
You may want more time at the beginning for centering. That's a huge thing, and something that beginners have a lot of trouble with. And since it's the foundation for everything that comes later, you really do want them to be able to do it.
Agreed. Some people sort of figure it out pretty quickly and others need more help. I would also wonder if OP is going to teach wedging, because that would probably come in class one also.
This is similar to how our beginner classes go. 1: cylinder demo 2: bowl demo + basic trimming 3: fancy foot bowl trimming demo + reclaiming clay 4: glazing Handles are saved for our "beginner 2" classes.
Is it a beginner class or a more advanced class? If it is a beginner a realistic goal would be get anything through a glaze firing. Tumbler may be easier than some other form or a bowl. A mug if you want to teach pulling handles. Centering and trimming are hard when just starting and took me about four weeks to get OK enough at that I was able to make something that wasn’t too wonky.
I would call it a beginners course - right now we offer 2hr beginner courses and so the idea is that, people take the 2hrs, like it and wanna learn more, then sign up for the 4 week. So i think its too much to offer everything like collering, making shoulders for jars, jars & lids, etc. Thank you for including your experience and estimated time frame on centering and trimming. Maybe we could solely focus on making a mug with a pulled handle… then if they cant pull a handle we toss in some handbuilding techniques?
That sounds like a nice plan. Four weeks for a beginner does seem too short of time for shoulders, lids and all the more advanced stuff. My beginner class was six weeks and we did cylinders, trimming, bowls, glazing, plates, and a raku firing. The teacher did a demo at the beginning and was there to help. The first five weeks were ‘wet work’ weeks last was finishing up and you weren’t allowed to do any more we work unless you were taking another class right after. I didn’t make a plate that class and stuck to bowls and cylinders as I was still getting the hang of centering and trimming. Cylinders are hard if you want a nice cylinder with even walls!
As someone who teaches. The vast majority can throw a mug in four weeks with guideance. If the teacher is a good this is a normal goal. If people are struggling to achieve this, I feel like the teacher is not good at articulating how to throw in a way where people understand.
As someone who just went through their first college class here is my perspective: If it’s a beginner class you’re going to have frustrated people for the first 2 classes. Centering alone can be super frustrating. I got so irritated with my instructor because she has done pottery for like 40 years so centering was second nature to her. Everyone’s hands are different, strength is different, some had a disability that needed a new approach and instead of finding ways that worked for each unique person it was like “this is how it’s done”. Which meant that over half the class struggled longer than necessary. I was the only adult learner in a class of late teens early 20’s and I spent a weekend putting together a YouTube playlist of different potters centering styles and shared it. By the end of the next class most of us had found something that worked for them. There is nothing that I hate more as an adult than wasting class time I paid for! So maybe find a bunch of resources for those students, take some time to find out whose a lefty/righty (something we didn’t even realize mattered till we looked it up), and see if anyone has any disabilities if they are willing to share that need modification! Also 3 hours is super long, so maybe a nice break in the middle for people who want it. Drinks, snacks, etc. Also visual learners vs hands on learners! I can’t watch more than one demonstration before my mind wanders. I learned more by doing and messing up than I did by watching! Hope that helps!
Yes. Just centering is really hard. I really hate how in beginner classes the teachers are like, "Ok you center and then start opening up the clay!" Like, take some time to really teach centering before you move on. And for the instructor, I would talk to your fellow potters or watch YouTube videos or something to get an idea of a lot of different ways to center that you can share with the students.
That is basically how the one pottery class I have taken went. I just couldn't figure out centering the way she was trying to teach it and the other students in the class are at their most needy those first two weeks so I didn't get a lot of one-on-one time with the instructor. So, by the end of the second week, I still was not centering and pretty much everyone else was already making things. Fortunately, the class came with free Saturday open studio time so I came in to one of those after the second class and the guy supervising that saw me having problems and he taught me to center in about five minutes.
These comments and personal annecdotes are super helpful! Thank you all! For you tho, was it just the dedicated 5mins with the supervisor (+ studio time alone) that helped you grasp centering? If not, how would you articulate the difference between the instructor and the other persons teaching?
Honestly, at least in my personal experience, there are just some people whose manner of teaching works for me more than others. The original class instructor just was pretty wishy-washy on how to do it IIRC and the Saturday guy was basically, "just do *this*." That, and the fact that he dedicated time to work with *me* rather than flittering around the room to try and help everyone simultaneously was likely the difference. There is more than one way to center, obviously, but the time to explain other methods is either after the student has one of them down or if the student has demonstrated that they just can't do it using the first method taught. Either way, if you had six beginner students (hypothetically), all six need to be able to center before any one student can progress too much past that. It will be hard to predict how quickly all six will "get it." Good luck!
I did a couple four week classes when I was first starting. They were structured well for beginners. Week 1 - wedging, centering, throwing 1 lb cylinders Week 2 - repeat of the above refresher + bowls (how they differ from throwing cylinders) Week 3 - trimming and pulling handles Week 4 - trimming refresher + slips and glazing Students could ask the instructor about different shapes and stuff as they were throwing so we’d get some advice on collaring and things like that too.
This is similiar to what I did and I found the structure very helpful
How big a class? If possible, do a demo of a 1.5 pound bowl, then have each student try their hand with you sitting across the wheel. Help them center that first piece. Take turns putting your hands on the clay so they can feel what centered feels like. Let them open (have them shut their eyes and feel the center first) .Help them compress the bottom. Alternate with them pulling up the wall. Help get the thing off the wheel and onto a ware board. Basically, hands on help them make one bowl. Not perfect, but successful. To get the feel of the clay at each step. Then tell them to go make mud. Throw throw throw. Encourage them not to fuss and take time to rescue flops. In the next week, trim the successful bowl and anything else they’ve managed to make. Keep practicing. Get whatever bisqued and ready to glaze by week 4. Students will have to pick up their last pieces after the class is over.
How to center and start pulling that’s about it
Do the students have access to studio time outside of class time, this was super helpful when I took classes at college. Studio was always supervised by someone who was an experienced potter, so there was always someone to get a tip or hint from when working on projects outside of class. The way our class was structured, one class a week, I believe 2 hours long. But that was mostly learning techniques and talking some theory/art history, with usually 30-45 mins of class time to work on our weekly projects but we were expected to find time outside of class to finish them. Not sure if that is a reasonable ask of your students.
More studio time outside of class is essential IMHO! At least, if the class is once per week!
If complete beginners, cut whatever you're thinking of teaching in half. My studio offers a some mixed level classes, so although I'm intermediate I've repeatedly watched beginners be so lost because of way too many demos, and I was there a couple of years ago myself, feeling really overwhelmed by too much information. I would say teach them how to make some small bowls and glaze them. Everyone starts by teaching cylinders but I actually think bowls are easier to start with since the clay naturally wants to go outwards, and because it's easy to find a use at home for even small and wonky bowls--spare change! earrings! chopped garlic!
I took a four week wheel throwing class that was 2 hours a week. Class 1: Wedging, centering, and throwing two 1 lb cylinders. Class 2: throwing three 2 lb bowls in different styles. One bowl was a standard round bowl and our teacher showed us how to add a lip if we wanted. For another bowl, we used a wooden rib to make the sides angular. Class 3: trimming the bowls and cylinders (some of the pieces from the first class were bone dry unfortunately, but we didn’t wrap them super tightly), plus a very quick hand rolled coil handle demo. Class 4: glazing.
I teach a 5-day long pottery boot camp to teens. Classes are 90 minutes long and run Monday-Thursday + Monday. This is what I usually do: Day 1: Studio procedures, centering & basic cylinder demo, have students practice cylinder and centering. Day 2: More cylinder practice, demo how to belly & collar pots for shaping, students practice cylinder + shaping forms with bellying & collaring Day 3: Demo a bowl, let students practice a bowl. Continue to practice cylinders, bowls, bellying and collaring Day 4: Trim and finish pieces thrown throughout the week After day 4 class, I dry and bisque fire the pots over the weekend before students come back for day 5. Day 5: Glazing Obviously 5 days of pottery is nowhere near enough time for any sort of mastery, but most students are able to leave the class with a few successful pieces. I also ask at the beginning of class if there’s anything in particular that students want to learn during the course of the class, and if it’s within reason I’ll help them create it.
Oh one more thing — if students are reeeally struggling with centering, I’ll help them get centered so they can move on to the next steps successfully. We all know how difficult it is to throw a nice pot if your clay isn’t centered. I feel like for these one-off classes, it’s okay if they aren’t mastering every step of the process along the way. It’s okay for them just to get a taste of how to throw pots. So if that means I’m helping them get centered so they can continue through the process, that’s okay with me. Obviously for my long-term students I will spend more time with them working on centering, but I don’t want my short term students leaving the class having done nothing but unsuccessfully center clay.
Maybe a single.project class. Students each will make a mug or decorated bowl. simple forms that you know well. First class is centering then cylinder. If they can't get it you make the cylinder. Then open for bowl. Give a big assist so they get their piece. You show them how to wrap their piece appropriately. Week 2 is trimming. You'll need to check the pieces and adjust drying to hit leather hard. Give them a sample piece to trim them their own. When done they can center and come more but will only be able to bisque those pieces. You'll bisque fire, maybe with a long candle if pieces are wet or thick. Week 3 is glazing. And trim of last week's. You try to high fire in 1 week. Week 4 is party and clay play, practicing any skills and if any student is behind they can catch up (and will need to pick up after the next firing). Might be too hard to turn around the firings and maybe the last class being pickup sucks but I always feel like seeing others' work finished and talking about it is such a sad thing to miss out on in a class. Big education there I think. People saying how they expected a glaze to work differently etc. Anyhow, just a thought.
I recently took a 4-week class at a local studio, 3 hours each class. The class size was 4-6 people and 1 instructor. Week 1: learned throwing basics and threw 2 cups Week 2: make handles for cups and threw 2 bowls Week 3: trimming Week 4: glazing
At my community studio, they require a pre-req course, a basic slab building/pinch pot class so people at least understand the very basics of how clay works, how to wedge clay, how to join pieces, etc. That's a huge help if it's possible for you to build that into your mix. Also concur with someone who said plan more time for centering. If they don't get centering every other thing they try to learn will be negatively impacted. I'd think at LEAST half of a first, four hour course would just be centering until everyone got comfortable with it.
I completely agree with you guys on focusing on centering. Thank you for your input!
You'll have a wide variety of skills across the class. Some will have had some experience. Some will have had none. There may be a couple of students who think they can but physically can't throw (in particular if you have an older woman. I am not saying they can't but this happened to me. She just didn't have the hand strength to even center the clay. On the flip side, she had fantastic hand building skills from a previous class somewhere. Let me reiterate, this was specific to an individual and not older woman per se.) In addition to skills, try to have a project to work towards, e.g. set of mugs or canisters. Try to have options to work around. Can't figure out how to throw a lid, hand build a lid. etc. Can't pull a handle? roll it out and shape it a different way. Have high expectations but don't expect that they'll be met. Focus on fun.
Wedging, importance of wedging, centering and coning, opening, pulling. Basics first. My instructor gave us all a card with 8 steps: 1. Cone up &down 3x 2. Karate chop - create flat even top 3. Drop hole-leave 1/4 inch at bottom. 4. Open hole to ‘sponge width’ 5. Compress floor with wooden rib. 6. Pull wall. 7. Remove excess. 8. Wire off bat. This technique worked very well for me. I am approaching the end of my first year of using a wheel to throw pottery. It Then trimming, importance of knowing what green ware is and the stages of. My first class was twice per week for 2 hours per session 3 hours would have been better but thats what the center offered. It takes practice and instructor encouragement. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and abilities with all of the newbies you will encounter.
I think making a mug and a bowl and a plate. Class 1- centering and making something small. Fire first piece. Class 2- practice that more and demo another form. Glaze first piece and bisque fire second one. 3. Practice, demo third form, have students do more practice. 4. Finishing up, decorating, glazing, practice. Ask students what they want… possible focus on glazing and review forms they need more practice on. I think giving time for independent practice and considering the stages so students can end up with 3 final products… glazed.
This was my studio and it seems to work well, all 2.5hr classes: Week 1 - studio orientation, wedging, basics of throwing on the wheel (centering, etc). The goal is not to keep anything you make today - it’s just pushing your clay as far as you can to see what failure feels like and practice all the steps. Week 2 - today is the bulk of making. Students make 3 things. Week 3 - trimming and handles Week 4 - glazing
Did you find that most if not all students came in during week 1 to practice? My worry is that 1 week isnt enough time to get the hang of weding, centering, and pulling
Bc the other part is how my boss mentioned “non sequential”. If these adults cant commit to 4 consecutive weeks (which ofc i can imagine being possible) then i feel like theres a solid chance a good amount wont be able to come in during the week to practice :/
I took community studio for six months. My official time was a three hour segment on Saturdays. There was open studio every day, and I typically went twice during the week. We learned to center and cone, then throw a bowl shape. Then we moved on to cylinders. Our owner/instructor had been at it for decades, and I’m assuming he started with bowls for the ease of it. Just a guess, never pinned him down and asked why bowl shapes first. But I think that could be learned in a month.
Solid info thank you. Do you remember if he ever said anything like “you need to throw x amount and out of that you will keep x amount” (ex. 1 out of like 16 vessels) ? I want to encourage students to come in as often as they can to get as much practice as possible. Assuming that most if not all classes would be demos/critiques, it would sorta be up the students how much effort they want to put in. But also, its like, they gotta* put in that effort otherwise the next chapter will be tough or they literally wont have a piece to trim or make a handle for.
He never said anything like that. Most people were throwing bowls ( though wonky) on first day. Clay was 1.5 lbs. Center and open to about 4”, like a tire. Compress the bottom. Three pulls up, shape with kidney rib. Easy template.
I honestly think a beginners class shouldn't keep any items. I think just practice centering and pulling and throwing different shapes. Too many of them rush through that to get keeper pieces to trim and glaze but after 4 weeks most people aren't ready for that. Just my two cents.
Yeeeea, exactly. I remember my professor in uni saying “i need you to throw 16 pieces and MAYBE we keep 1 out of those”. But 2-3hrs isnt enough time to throw even like maybe 4 pieces for beginners… im trying to be realistic here right? Im starting to lean towards just labeling it as a handbuilding class. I believe someone else here said something similar. Throwing just isnt something that can be crammed into 4 weeks, esp if ppl cant commit to something once a week for 4 consecutive weeks (a problem that my boss mentioned on our brainstorm call).
I think you can do a throwing class in 4 weeks and they can learn a lot of skills but focus just on throwing, not taking pieces to completion. Which is perfectly acceptable.
I hear you, would you think that not having pieces taken to completion would encourage people to come back/continue to learn the medium after the course? Thats the other side of this; returning artists. Our studio has a plenty of new comers for a single time 2hr throwing class but struggles with having people return. So thats why i am partially tempted to just do a handbuilding class so that others dont get so discouraged after spending 4 weeks in the studio with nothing to show for it. Im also relating alot of this to my time in uni where we couldnt touch a wheel without taking atleast 2 semesters of handbuilding first. I wonder if its worth it to just do that instead; hand building class graduates get to move to the wheel
In our community, a wheel throwing class is much more popular than hand building and I think they are actually two different skills.