A few months ago I showed the results of my first-ever pottery class. The finished pieces weren’t stellar, but they were SO MUCH FUN to make!
I’ve been looking for an activity that the girls and I can do together. Not me on the sidelines or in the crowd cheering – but an actual activity that we could all take part in and have in common and talk about afterwards.
I hoped learning pottery would be it.
I signed us up (as well as the girls’ Papa) for a learning pottery class. Techniques covered included pinch pots, coil building, throwing on the wheel and even slab pottery.
Above you see Madison and Georgia working on their coil pottery. Below you see the middle stage of our pinch pot projects;
This isn’t just a ball of clay – it’s completely hollow on the inside and Georgia made it by creating two pinch pot bowls and then putting them together. (No easy task!)
Maddie did the same, but she decided to make a horse from her pinch pots. Look at the detailed mane! That’s my girl.
Not to be left out of the action, I tried to make a fish dish:
These pieces still have to be fired and glazed, but I think you can see that learning pottery was a lot of fun and a total hit with the kids.
Papa won’t admit it, but I think he’s having a bit of fun too – and it’s really nice to have these shared moments between my parents and my kids.
Our wheel projects are set out to dry right now so I can’t show you the kids work (although they all agreed that the potter’s wheel was their favourite class so far) – instead I’ll show off my berry bowls from the wheel class I just finished last month.
I made each a different colour and changed up the hole pattern to see which I liked best. Purple is my favourite glaze, but I like the hole pattern in the pale green berry bowl below.
The blue glaze broke beautifully on this one,
and the simplicity of my little white berry bowl is perfect.
I actually made all of these to give as gifts – some are very belated Mother’s Day presents and others are for upcoming birthdays.
If you are thinking of learning pottery – which I can’t recommend highly enough – try a parent-child class and create lasting memories of a shared activity.
You’ll have the tangible results of your finished projects to hold on to for years and – in the case of these berry bowls – it will bring a smile each and every time you use them.
Thank you to Karen and Hannah at the London Potter’s Guild – you are wonderful teachers and amazing artists!
P.S. I noticed that if I put out berries like this – freshly washed in one of our berry bowls – the kids will DEVOUR them over sweets and treats. All of this was gone minutes after I finished photographing. Who knew learning pottery would lead to healthy eating choices?! lol
Have a great one!
Linked to:
- Between Naps on the Porch
