Ceramics: six week evening 'follow on' course

Our studio is based in Leith; a creative bustling area with lots of great local amenities. Public transport is good, with buses running along the street and the tram a short walk away. We are on the ground floor in our self contained studio.

Each class will run on Thursday evening from 6 til 8.30. Run by both Fiona and Chris, you will be able to benefit from their varied approach and expertise. This course is designed for those who have previously attended a course either with us or elsewhere, and want to refine their skills further. Most of the practical demos will be shown in the first 4 weeks, and we will go into more detail in these. Most sessions will include a couple of different things so you can switch between pieces and processes as appropriate.

There are less places on this course than our usual evening sessions, to allow for more input. It will be fairly project based, with an emphasis on individual development, and planning what you want to make. You will be able to make test pieces at the start which will feed into your finished pieces.

Different approaches to handbuilding will be covered, as well as wheelthrowing and surface decoration. During the first session we will chat over what you have done previously, and what you would like to focus on most.

The course will include intermediate level coil building. Fiona will show you to how to have more control over constructing forms, and we can look at the interaction with the surface decoration, building thinner pieces and making more complex shapes for example.

Slab building will be included too; we can experiment with constructing forms after making textured slabs, or again making more complex pieces as appropriate.

Other techniques will be covered as required, and potentially combining techniques.

Chris will work with you on the wheel for those who want to learn more about throwing. This can include: throwing repeated forms, making composite pieces, looking at specific forms and just generally improving your confidence with throwing.

The surface will be a feature too: slip decoration, stencilling, monoprinting, incising and other experimental approaches.

Host or Publisher Cyan Clayworks