Clay Shed

The Fundamentals of Glaze Chemistry will introduce you to the foundational aspects of glaze chemistry and kick start your journey of making and altering glaze recipes. 

What you’ll learn:

• Understand the underlying principles of glaze chemistry and theory;

• Discover the properties of raw materials and their roles in a glaze composition;

• Calculate and adjust glaze recipes;

• Practise weighing and making glazes;

• Understand ceramic additives and their effects;

• Identify glaze flaws and troubleshoot the best adjustments; and

• Practise good health and safety and understand how to protect your kiln.

Outcomes:

You will come away with multiple glaze tests from which you can start a personal glaze library. You’ll also be introduced to a range of online resources which will help you calculate weights and predict the behaviours of your recipes. 

Glaze tests will be fired to 1280℃ (Cone 9) therefore the workshop will focus on the development of stoneware glazes. Due to the ranging activities on the course participants will need to bring along a dust mask and suitable weighing scales. Further details will be provided nearer the course start date. 

Class sizes are limited to 8 - 10 participants to ensure there is enough time for individual guidance and a productive group dynamic.

Tutor
This course is led by Chloe Monks, a contemporary ceramic artist based in Bristol. Chloe studied Ceramics at Cardiff School of Art and Design before completing an MA in Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art in 2020, supported by the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). Her practice is deeply rooted in material experimentation, with a particular focus on the fluidity and movement of glaze.

Chloe has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including as a Fresh exhibitor at the British Ceramics Biennale, at The Design Museum in The Power of Material: From Virtual to Physical, and at Collect at Somerset House. She has undertaken residencies in India, Jingdezhen, and Cill Rialaig, and currently works across education settings - from schools and universities to private studios - sharing her knowledge and passion for experimental ceramics.

Level:This course is suitable for potters and ceramic artists with no previous experience of glaze testing.

Duration: Saturday 3rd October and Saturday 10th October 10.30am - 4.30pm

Includes: Test tiles, glaze materials, firings, tea and coffee (herbal and dairy free alternatives available), afternoon cake.

+Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty+
+ Students will be required to provide their own scales weighing to 0.01gm+

Participants must be aged 18 years and over

Terms and Conditions.

If your pots tend to vary in size no matter how hard you try, or you simply want to throw with more speed, consistency and control - this workshop is for you. Join potter Gareth Bromley for an intensive day dedicated to throwing consistent, repeatable forms - the foundation skill behind any serious studio or production practice.

Rather than aiming for a single finished piece, the day is built around diagnosis and repetition. As a base structure for almost all other pottery shapes, the cylinder is where control, consistency and efficiency are built; once mastered, those skills carry into everything else you throw. By cutting your early attempts in half, you'll see where thickness, shape or technique are letting you down, training a critical eye that will keep improving your work long after the workshop ends.

What you'll learn:

• Setting up your throwing space for efficiency

• Correct posture and using your body weight to avoid strain

• Repeat throwing to specific measurements and forms

• Removing unnecessary steps for maximum efficiency

• Finishing forms off the wheel, without trimming

• Spiral kneading and other ways to prepare larger amounts of clay without injury

• Tap centring, demystified

This is a workshop about process, not output: expect to leave with a stronger, faster, more consistent throwing practice rather than a shelf of finished pots. As the day is focused entirely on skills, work will not be fired.

About Gareth

Originally from Bristol, with a background in History and Social Anthropology, Gareth trained as a potter in Icheon, South Korea and at Clay College Stoke-on-Trent, where he completed the two year, intensive studio ceramics diploma. He is now based in Sheffield, where he runs his workshop and teaching space, Potbank Sheffield.

Find Gareth's work on Instagram @_garethbromley.

Class Size: Limited to 7 students to ensure individual guidance and a focused, supportive learning environment

Suitable for: potters with some prior wheel experience who want to throw with more speed, consistency and control

Duration: 10.30am - 4.30pm

Includes: Materials, use of specialist tools and equipment, tea and coffee (dairy-free and herbal alternatives available), afternoon cake

Tutor: Gareth Bromley

Participants must be aged 18 years and over

Terms and Conditions.

Join us at Clay Shed for a focused two day workshop with studio potter Hamish Jackson, dedicated entirely to one of the wheel's most demanding and rewarding forms: the teapot.

Over two days you'll work through the full anatomy of a teapot - throwing bodies, lids and spouts, pulling handles; and getting to grips with the details that separate a good looking pot from one that pours beautifully. Hamish will demonstrate each stage before guiding you through making your own; sharing the technical know how and considered eye he's developed throughout his apprenticeships, MFA and teaching worldwide.

By the end of the workshop, you'll leave with at least one completed teapot and a much deeper understanding of what makes one work.

What you'll learn:

• Wedging and kneading clay to prepare it for throwing

• Throwing teapot bodies, spouts and lids in a range of sizes and shapes

• Assembling for functionality as well as form

• Pulling and attaching handles

• The key elements of a well-pouring spout

About Hamish

Hamish Jackson swapped a literature degree for a life at the wheel, training first at Winchcombe Pottery before completing a four-year apprenticeship with Mark Hewitt in North Carolina and an MFA at Utah State University. He now exhibits and teaches internationally, working with local materials to make pots that connect the people who use them to the landscapes they came from. Hamish currently teaches at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, alongside his own studio practice at Trencrom Hill, Cornwall. Teapots are, by his own admission, his favourite form to make.

Find Hamish's work at hamishjacksonpottery.com or follow him on Instagram @hamish.jackson.pottery. Images Kenjo Shimizu

Class Size: Limited to 7 students to ensure individual guidance and a focused, supportive learning environment

Suitable for: Potters with some prior wheel experience who want to deepen their practice

Duration: 10.30am - 4.30pm each day

Includes: Materials, bisque firing, use of specialist tools and equipment, tea and coffee (dairy-free and herbal alternatives available), afternoon cake

Tutor: Hamish Jackson.

Participants must be aged 18 years and over

Terms and Conditions.