The Potter’s Beginnings

Clay. Form. Technique. Colour. Beauty. Utility.

 A series of workshops across the year for beginner potters to work towards consistency and proficiency.

Positions on this course have been filled and we are now recruiting for the Young Person’s Bursary place on the course.

Clay. Form. Technique. Colour. Beauty. Utility.  

The Potter’s Beginnings strives to nurture a small group of beginner potters to learn how to throw within the ethos established by Bernard Leach. In addition, potters will encounter broader skills such as basic glaze application and surface decoration.  

The Leach Pottery has been a place for potters to learn over the last 100 years. Founded by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, the pottery has hosted potters ranging from Michael Cardew and William Marshall to Warren MacKenzie and Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie. Informed by the founding principles of the Leach Pottery, the potters forged their practices, styles and approaches all rooted in sound technique, form and sensitivity to utility and beauty. 

This is the first time the Leach Pottery have offered a year-long course. For details of the year long course we offer for intermediate throwers (with more contact time) please see here.

The Potter’s Beginnings offers the opportunity for potters to:   

· Achieve consistency of thrown repeat forms through undertaking production pottery workshops and thrown form challenges both on the electric and kick wheels.   

· Consolidate thrown technique, throwing with economy and letting the clay lead.   

· Gather confidence in ability, making pots guided by a sense of utility and beauty.

· Introductory understanding of making glazes and glaze application.  

Should a participant wish to use the studio for self-led kick wheel practice they are welcome to book onto a time slot with the Learning team. These are scheduled times at weekends and there is a £5 payment per pug of clay requested, which goes towards the cost of clay preparation. Outcomes are not fireable.

All of the Leach Pottery courses take a learning focused approach. The process of making is primary to all courses and fireable outcomes are secondary. We are sensitive to the realities of learning, and how not all creations are ready or right to fire. We therefore encourage a mindful approach to firing, only firing a select few pieces. This cultivates a critical and unsentimental relationship with the pots participants create, to ensure you are never fearful to cut through your pots and analyse the outcome. This helps you and your tutor monitor your progression. This also asserts that the Learning programme is not contributing disproportionately to the Leach Pottery’s carbon emissions. Extra pots will not be fired for an additional payment.

Core teaching hours:10am – 4pm (Hour long lunch break) or 6pm – 8.30pm.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Spring Term 2025

• Thursday 16 January. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 30 January. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 6 February. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 13 February. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 13 March. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 27 March. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 3 April. 10-4pm 

• This term participants will encounter: 

  ·       Clay preparation: wedging techniques, centering clay on the wheel and throwing basic cylinders 

  ·       Different forms: bowls, mugs etc. 
  practicing preferred form, turning and finishing, pulling and attaching handles. 

  ·       Participants can submit 4 pieces for gas firing at the Leach Pottery.

  A tour of the Leach Pottery and meeting with the Leach Pottery director, Libby Buckley

Summer Term 2025

• Thursday 24 April. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 8 May. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 22 May. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 5 June. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 19 June. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 3 July. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 17 July. 6-8.30pm 

This term participants will: 

• continue to develop their throwing skills through the introduction of throwing to specific measurements and repeat throwing

• prepare a small collection of pots to be pit fired as a team. The date of this particular activity will be confirmed at the end of the Spring term and take place on one of the full Thursday workshops currently listed. This aspect of the course will take place in Gweek, close to Falmouth. 

• Participants will submit 3 pieces for the wood firing

Participants can submit 4 pieces for gas firing at the Leach Pottery.

Autumn Term 2025

• Thursday 4 September. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 18 September. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 2 October. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 16 October. 6-8.30pm 

• Thursday 6 November. 10-4pm 

• Thursday 20 November. 6-8.30pm

  Participants will:

  · continue to consolidate their throwing skills through the introduction of form-led focuses; jugs and bottles.

  · be introduced to surface decoration including faceting, slip decoration and simple modification of thrown forms.

  · Basic glaze application and an introduction to glaze making for electric firing

  Participants can submit 8 pieces for firing at the Leach Pottery (4 electric and 4 gas). 
  

Course fee: £2,100

A percentage of the course fee (£900) is paid up front. This is fully refundable until Monday 11 November 2024. On receipt of this payment the Leach Pottery will arrange a phone call with you to make sure you are suitable for the course. This is not an interview, just an opportunity to talk through your expectations of the course to ensure the course is the right fit for you and your current skill level.

The remaining cost of the course can be paid either in one payment or spread across 2 additional payments. The full payment must be received by Wednesday 18 December.

In the event of failure to make this payment in full we will then contact a waiting list and the deposit will not be refunded.

Please contact ellen.love@leachpottery.com should you wish to receive a notification email once the course is published. The Potter’s Beginnings is now Sold Out, if you would like to be added to the waiting list please email charmaine.orkamfat@leachpottery.com