Beginner Hand-Building (Adult 4-Week Series)

Experience the satisfaction of creating your own handmade kitchenware in a guided, small-group series designed for beginners. Over four weeks, you’ll learn foundational hand-building techniques while crafting functional pieces for your home (everyday essentials you’ll actually use and love). Along the way, you’ll share the experience with a supportive, like-minded community.

This is hands-on, skill-focused, and intentionally small so you can slow down, learn the craft, and build pieces that belong in your home.

Why You’ll Love This Series

• Learn a new skill from scratch – discover the fundamentals of shaping, forming, and finishing clay.

• Create pieces you’ll treasure – each week you’ll create functional, decorative pottery you made yourself.

• Connect with a small community – work alongside a small group of others in a relaxed, guided environment.

• Unplug and slow down – step away from screens and immerse yourself in a hands-on, creative process.
  

Dates

Choose the cohort that suites you best:

→ Group A: Sundays 10am-12pm

Sept 6, 13, 20, glazing Oct 4

→ Group B: Tuesdays 6-8pm

Sept 8, 15, 22, glazing Oct 6

Week-by-Week Breakdown

Week 1 —

• What you’ll make: Table Trivets

• Skill focus: Fundamentals of slab rolling, coil building, and introduction to seam joining and compression.

• Dates & Times:

  → Group A: Sunday, Sept 6, 10–12pm

  → Group B: Tuesday, Sept 8, 6–8pm

Week 2 —

• What you’ll make: Salt & Pepper Cellars

• Skill focus: Wedging and clay management, in addition to learning the fundamentals of planning and building slab cylinders, simplified lid construction, and seam joining on vertical surfaces.

• Dates & Times:

  → Group A: Sunday, Sept 13, 10–12pm

  → Group B: Tuesday, Sept 15, 6–8pm

Week 3 —

• What you’ll make: Sectioned Serving Dishes

• Skill focus: Fundamentals of template use, functional slab construction, and divider building.

• Dates & Times:

  → Group A: Sunday, Sept 20, 10–12pm

  → Group B: Tuesday, Sept 22, 6–8pm

*No classes for one week while we dry the pieces and bisque fire them.

Week 4 —

• What you’ll do: Glaze All Pieces

• Skill focus: When and how to use  underglaze for clean colour application and learning basic glazing techniques.

• Dates & Times:

  → Group A: Sunday, Oct 4, 10–12pm

  → Group B: Tuesday, Oct 6, 6–8pm
  

Projects are intended as a guide to teach specific skills, and students are welcome to apply those techniques to their own creative ideas during class.

All pieces are yours to take home — functional, decorative, and completely handmade by you.

Details at a Glance

• Cohort size: 10 participants

• Who it’s for: Complete beginners or anyone curious about learning hand-building pottery

• Attendance: Recommended for all 4 sessions to get the full experience

If a session conflicts with your schedule, we’ll do our best to accommodate, but spots are limited and swaps aren’t guaranteed. Please allow a buffer at the end of your scheduled class time in case projects run longer than expected.

Ready to Create Your First Hand-Built Pottery Pieces?

Register below!

Here are a few pieces from our last Beginner Series.

If you've completed our Beginner Series and are ready for the next level, check out our Intermediate Series here.