Claying Around (A Countryside Pottery Workshop)

This monsoon let the soothing sound of rain and the earthy scent of wet clay inspire your imagination! We’re leaving the city just two hours away where you'll immerse yourself in a delightful pottery lesson. Handcraft mugs and bowls in a beautiful studio surrounded by lush farms and a refreshing monsoon breeze all around you.

Check out our 'Claying Around' reel here: https://rb.gy/bb62ij

Meeting Point: 9:00 am | Titwala Railway Station (W)

Drop-off Point: 4:00 pm | Titwala Railway Station (W)

What's In Store:

We meet at Titwala Railway Station and head to our lovely venue where you’ll be greeted with some delicious breakfast to get us through the day.

This introductory half-day workshop will guide you through the fundamentals of working with clay and also help you create your very own masterpiece of either a mug or a bowl.

We start by familiarising ourselves with the different clay types and processes involved and then get our hands dirty. We’re going to learn techniques such as hand-building throwing and also have a guided session on the potter’s wheel. Even though some of these may be a little advanced for beginners like us you will be able to make your own signature creation!

If you like what you create the good folks at Winding Road Studios will bake (bisque fire) and send your masterpiece over to your home!

After a scrumptious lunch we’ll head back to the city not as we arrived but as handicraft artists.

About The Workshop

Introduction to Clay:

Interacting with clay for the first time is like learning a new language. First you listen and then you express yourself. We'll start at the basic physics of clay and learn to tell the difference between soft leather-hard and bone-dry clay and each of their properties. We'll try our hand at the first step of all pottery projects — wedging or preparing the clay by kneading.

Handbuilding:

The art of creating ceramics without any machines but your hands (and a few tools). There are three schools of hand-building. 

1. The first and the simplest is pinching. Instinctively allow your fingertips to shape the clay to your desire with a teacher to guide you to achieve your goal. 
2. The second method is coiling and building pieces by stacking and joining thick ropes of clay together. This helps you build tall pots with even walls on the first try! 
3. The last is slab building. Roll out flat slabs of clay cut shapes out of it and join them together to create cups bells little houses and more!

Throwing:

Once your hands are accustomed to the clay and how it moves try out your new learning on the pottery wheel. Experience throwing on the wheel guided by a potter and what it feels like to make a pot with your own hands.

The world of pottery is endless and full of unexpected answers so when in doubt let your curiosity guide you. Try something out and see how the clay responds. If you have an idea or something you saw on Instagram you'd like to try ask us about it and we can try it together!

What You Get

• Pick-up and drop at Titwala station
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• A half-day introduction to pottery. You will be spending the majority of your time learning hand-building techniques and creating a piece that you can opt to get fired and shipped to you. You will be given a chance to try your hand at the potter’s wheel under supervision and assistance from the team at Winding Road Studios

How To Get There

Public Transport: 

-There are a couple of trains listed below that will get you to Titwala on time. If you miss either of these trains you’ll be really late and will need to reach the pottery studio on your own.

06:56am | Titwala Slow from CSMT | Reaches Titwala at 8:41 am

07:26am | Asangaon Fast from CSMT | Reaches Titwala at 8:47 am

-Goes without saying but you can board these trains from any other station convenient for you

-Exit on Titwala Stn (West) through the foot over bridge on the CSMT (south) end of the platform and meet us at the parking lot

Private Transport: 

-If you are driving down in your own vehicles or taking a taxi (Uber) meet us at this location by 10 am latest: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/19.115947872.8397314/lewis+farms+titwala 

-Please note you will find it very difficult to get a taxi back from this area.

Things You Need To Know

• This half-day workshop is a guided session where we would love for you to create a piece that we can fire up (bisque-fire) and send you. This will be at an additional charge of Rs. 500/- per piece. It will reach you in a maximum of 30 days after the workshop.
• That being said you are under no obligation to make something perfect. This is why we have left the option of firing your piece up to you.
• Please know that this workshop is not just for budding potters but also for curious minds who want to explore this ancient art.
• Even though there are many studios in Bombay we have picked Winding Road Studios because its serene surroundings make for the perfect backdrop to learn an art form that goes back thousands of years.
• This workshop is targeted but not limited to the Vagabond community. If you’ve never been part of a Vagabond experience but have always wanted to show up!
• Please carry a reusable water bottle to fill drinking water at the studio
• No tickets will be sold at the venue. If you’re planning to join us please book your seat in advance.
• Venue rules and regulations will apply at the event.
• Everyone’s invited! Bring your friends partners cousins family members and dragons!

About The Venue

Tucked in between a hill and a lake on a 30-acre working permaculture farm Winding Road Studios is the place to slow down and allow yourself to grow as nature intended. Specialising in glazed stoneware ceramics it is both a production studio that sells mugs bowls tiles and other functional ware as well as a training studio where students can spend a day or a month immersed in clay. Experience the rhythm of a studio be inspired by nature practice amongst experienced potters and explore the limitless world of clay waiting at your fingertips.

Cancellations

• Cancellations made 3 days or more in advance of the event date will incur a 70% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made 72 hrs to the event date will receive no refund.
• Tickets are transferable and you can send someone else in your place. Inform us beforehand.

Terms and Conditions

• All timings and activities are subject to weather group size capabilities of participants etc.
• Vagabond holds the right to cancel the event due to unforeseen circumstances (for eg. unfavorable weather)
• By registering for this experience you agree to have read through and abide by the Vagabond Terms & Conditions mentioned in the footer.

Get In Touch

For further inquiries feel free to Whatsapp/call: 7400054929

PS: We respect and love our personal lives. Please contact us only between 11 am and 7 pm on weekdays or DM us anytime on Instagram @vagabondexperiences

Host or Publisher Vagabond Experiences