New Glazes

Beginner Wheel Classes

To sign up for a Beginning Pottery Class, Click Here

So you think you may want to throw pots? Here's the test. Answer true or false to the following statements: 

  • I like to keep my clothes neat and clean at all times.

  • I watched the movie "Ghost" and I have visions of throwing pots in my living room surrounded by white carpets and making two foot tall graceful vases while my significant other is overwhelmed by the moment and joins me at the pottery wheel.

  • I expect to be able to make all of my holiday presents from clay, and it is October.

  • I really like my fingernails, and I want to keep them long.

  • I don't have much of a sense of humor about making a fool of myself.

  • I don't deal well with failure.

If you answered true to any of those statements, this may not be the right choice for you. Pottery is dirty. It takes most people about 6 months before they begin to like their own work. Until then, it's mostly practice and paperweights. Pottery is like weightlifting or playing a musical instrument; you will improve with practice and training. Most people are not born with a strong sense of how to play the piano, and the more you practice the better you get. It is not quite like riding a bike*, where you learn the skill and do not need to keep practicing.

You will need to throw twice a week every week for the first month to get any proficiency at all. If you know that in the middle of the month you will be taking a vacation, wait until the next month to start. If you know that you don't have the time to practice, don't take this class. You will be wasting your time. You need to allow yourself the room to succeed, and without that practice time, you are wasting your time, the instructor's time, and the class's time. Imagine going on a diet 2 days a week and you'll get the idea of your possibilities of success.

Beginning classes are $100 for a 4 week (one month) class which includes clay and firing for 1 month. The tool kit is another $17.95 ($19 something after tax). You get to keep the tool kit when you're done!

We take a minimum of two people per class and no more than 4 at a time. Due to time and kiln constraints, we stop adding new people in November and restart classes in January.

Beginner classes take place on Monday evening from 6pm to 8pm, with an hour to finish up afterwards.

 

* I mean riding a bike non-competitively. Obviously everyone can get better at riding if they train. I mean the sightseeing style of riding. Also, I am in no way disparaging bike riding, sightseeing or otherwise. Seriously, if I could wear those shorts out in public I really would.