Beginner 6 Week Course: Wheel Throwing & Hand Building Skills

During our 6 weeks together we will learn something new every single class. As a class we will learn hand building and pottery wheel throwing skills, including but not limited to learning how to wedge, center on the wheel, slab rolling, and coil making. In our last class, you will be able to add color and designs to your pieces using any of the following, underglaze, glaze, and underglaze transfers. Everyone's pieces are ready for pick up about 2 weeks after the last class.

6 Week Course Plan

• Week One:

-Ice Breaker game/exercise- What could it be game: Teacher throws a piece and demonstrates on the potters wheel. Once finished demonstrating, smush it. Have each student take a turn in adding or taking something away from the piece to create it into a sculpture like piece. After everyone has a turn we will go around in a circle sharing what we think it remind us of.

-Learn how to wedge our clay. Importance of wedging.

-Make/ learn pinch pot and coil hand building techniques.

•  Week Two:

-Learning how to center on the wheel. (Wheel sharing)

-Start working on lifting the walls to our clay forms on the potter wheel. (Wheel sharing)

-Finish W.I.P. (works in progress) from last week.

•  Week Three:

-Learning how to slab roll out our clay, and making plate forms.

-Practicing wheel throwing skills.

-Free studio. Students can use their journals to come up with project ideas to create during free studio time. Teacher will help and assist students in accomplishing their free studio time projects. All projects will need to be finished by the fifth week.

• Week Four:

-Learn different wheel throwing forms. Focusing on making mugs forms.

-Introducing how to use different texture tools and techniques to elevate simple forms.

-Free studio.

• Week Five:

-Throwing demonstrations of class choice. Class chooses between bowls, mug form, vase form, ring holder, throwing taller forms

-Learn how to make handles for our mug forms from last week.

-Finish free studio projects.

-Clean up greenware pieces for proper firing. We will smooth edges and make sure all pieces are signed before bisque kiln firing.

• Week Six:

-Glazing Day! Adding color and designs to all our pieces.

-Student Wheel Throwing Contest! (Winner gets a prize!)

Included in course:

-Potters Journal

-Pottery Starter Kit

-Aprons

-All clay, glazing, firing and materials included.