Introduction to Pottery Weekend - Beginners Pottery.

Thursday 16 January 2025 17:00
Sunday 19 January 2025 14:00

Coombe Farm Studios (map)

Google Calendar ICS

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This beginners pottery course has been designed for anyone that is interested in working in clay for the first time.

The weekend will be an introduction to clay, experimenting with different ways of making with clay from slabs to coils, moulds to throwing on the wheel. It is a chance to have a go and see if its something you enjoy, an opportunity to have some fun and to relax and pay attention to the glorious world of pottery in a professional and dedicated pottery studio with an experienced tutor. If you’ve been watching the Pottery Throwdown and thought I’d love to do that, or walk past a pottery studio and wonder if you might join a regular evening class, this is a great opportunity to get away either by yourself or with a friend and see begin the journey and see what aspect of working with clay you like most.

The course will focus on making, you can also have a go at using slips to decorate or colour your pots. A weekend doesn’t give enough time to dry, bisque fire and glaze your work (those processes all take a longer period of time) so you will decide which glazes you like from our in-house range and we will dry and fire your work for you after the course. It can then either be collected or posted back to you.

“I love dreaming up ideas, thinking about design and how those ideas could be turned into things. The making too of course, experimenting and learning, handbuilding and throwing, and the excitement of seeing how each piece turns out as it emerges pinging from the kiln. I enjoy taking my creations out into the countryside too, letting them find their place and sharing the results on Instagram. But most of all I love helping others to follow their imagination and to develop their practice. Magical things happen when people lose themselves in clay, and it’s a joy to be present when they do.”

— Verran Townsend - course tutor

**EXPERIENCE LEVEL**: This course is designed for beginners or anyone that wants to have a go at pottery for the first time, a kind of taster course where you can just try it out and have a play.

**OUTLINE SCHEDULE:**Thursday // 5-7pm Residents arrive // 7.00pm non-residents arrive followed by welcome drinks and dinner // Friday-Saturday // 8.30am Breakfast for residents // 9.30am Tuition starts // 1.00-2.00pm Lunch // 2.00-5.00pm Tuition resumes. Friday // 8.30am Breakfast for residents // 9.30am-1.00pm final tuition session // 1.00-2.00pm final lunch.
**ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS:** Residential and non-residential spaces available. NB residents are not required to share bedrooms, see accommodation for more info.

**COST**: £600 + VAT for residential which covers all your tuition, accommodation and food from arrival on Thursday through to departure after lunch on Sunday. Non-residential fees are £422 + VAT include all tuition, welcome drinks on Thursday and lunch from Friday-Sunday.

**MATERIALS LIST:** All materials will be provided but please bring a notebook and an apron/clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, with you.
**HOW TO GET HERE:** Our address is TQ6 0JA [What3words: What3words: fulfilled.exploring.branching] and we have plenty of free onsite parking. Trains > nearest station is Totnes then we can arrange lift shares or send taxi details. We are about 20 minutes from the station.
**HOW MANY PEOPLE ON THE COURSE?** Min 5 max 10.
**FOOD & DRINK:** Food is a key part of an immersive course at Coombe. Meals are taken at a long shared table with the other participants either inside in the cooler months or outside in our courtyard when the weather is warmer. Our onsite chef caters for you including all/any dietary requirements. We grow our own vegetables and keep chickens for fresh eggs daily. For those that enjoy wine, we have a fantastic wine merchant who supply us with a small range available to buy onsite.

SEASON: A winter course at Coombe is characterised by eating dinner by the open fire in the accommodation and getting away from the short days and duller weather by being cosy in the pottery, learning new skills with your hands, away from the screen, with good company, music and great food.