It came to our attention earlier it’s World penguin Day!
Penguin Fact:
Did you know there are 17 species of penguin and all of them live in the Southern hemisphere?
Not sure how you’d classify them but here’s a selection of pottery penguins made by our lovely workshop participants.
Enjoy & Happy World Penguin Day!
Hey Clay is back!
On May 17-19 we will again be offering individuals and families the opportunity to make a pot on the potter’s wheel for FREE!
Hey Clay! is an annual, national event designed to increase participation in clay work and all things pottery. It’s organised by The Crafts Council and is part of the BBC’s Get Creative campaign.
We love Hey Clay and have taken part every year since it’s inception in 2015. It’s a brilliantly busy weekend and we get to meet lots of new people, most of which have never touched clay before.
Participants get to take their creations home on the day to dry and paint at home, or for a small fee, they can be left with us to be fired and glazed.
15 min slots are available through-out the three days but pre-booking is essential. Please tel 01531 633886 or email admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk to reserve a place.
We’re closed Friday 19 – Monday 22 April. Back to it on Tuesday 23rd and have sessions starting at 10am, 11.30am, 1.30pm amd 3pm. Booking essential and you can reserve your session by calling 01531 633886 or email admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our lovely customers a Happy Easter and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Pottery soon.
We’re delighted to announce details of our fun, creative and ‘eggstraordinary’ themed family workshop sessions scheduled for the Easter break.
Hard Boiled is the title and families will get the opportunity to fashion an egg cup or egg inspired sculpture using tried and tested clay modeling techniques under the expert tutelage of professional potters.
We’ll show you how to create a hollow form using the ‘pinch pot’ technique and then it’s down to you to let your imagination run wild. Although the theme is Easter based, we’re all in favour of letting people follow their own design process. The hollow form can be shaped and moulded into almost anything…humpty dumpty, dinosaur, fluffy chick or shark – we’ve seen a fair few unicorns of late too.
The fun doesn’t just stop with the hand making. Participants get to decorate their freshly created masterpieces, there and then with a colourful palate of paints and underglazes. All this for just £20 per person.
If hand modeling isn’t your thing then there is plenty of opportunity to try the potter’s wheel instead starting at just £30 per person.
The creations will need to dry out before they can be fired and glazed. This process takes about a month and the Pottery will contact you as soon as they are out of the kiln and ready for collection. Don’t worry if you can’t make it back to Eastnor to collect your ceramic arty-fact, P+P can be arranged at £5 per item.
The Hard Boiled project is available Tuesday 16th April until Saturday 27th April inclusive, although please note the Pottery will be Closed 19-22 April. 1.5 hr sessions commence at 10am, 11.30am and 1.30pm and 3pm. Telephone and email booking essential: Tel: 01531 633886 e: admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk
Once visitors have left the Pottery having had a fabulous time creating their clay masterpieces, they may be interested to know what happens to their ‘makes’ left behind. Aimee is the key person responsible for the aftercare of customers work as it makes it’s journey from clay to ceramic. She describes part of the process below:
“After our customers have made their pots and decorated them, there are a few processes they will go through before customer and pot are re-united.
Clay is left to dry out until it is bone dry and there is no moisture left. This can usually take several days but we use the assistance of radiators and fan heaters during winter and the sun’s rays during summertime to speed up the process a little bit. Whilst clay dries, it shrinks by a small amount of about 5-10% so it’s also important not to expose clay to too much heat too quickly as this can cause it to crack.
Once pots are dry, they are ready to be fired. They have to be fully dry as any moisture still within a pot when being fired will evaporate, potentially creating air bubbles which may cause a pot to ‘explode due to there being nowhere for the air to be released to. This is why clay can’t be made too thick or projects such as pinch pots need an airhole. One way to tell they’re dry is how they look visually. With the grey stoneware and red terracotta clays we use, pots dry a lighter shade compared with when they are freshly thrown off the wheel. Another way is the ‘cheek test’ by placing the base of a pot to your cheek. A dry pot is usually cold and you can’t feel any moisture on you cheek.
All pots go through 2 firings. The first firing is known as a bisque where pots go through the change from clay to hard pottery. At this point, pottery is still quite porous which means it will later absorb glaze easily. A bisque firing reaches a maximum temperature of 960 degrees – very hot! This firing gives a matte, pastel-like effect and can be chalky at this point. 573 degrees is the temperature point in a bisque firing where clay changes its state to hard pottery and becomes irreversible. The term is called Quartz Inversion.
The second firing pottery goes through is a glaze firing. We use a clear glaze which is what makes pots waterproof and functional. Pots are dunked in the glaze and their bases are wiped. The reason for this is so that they don’t become stuck to the kiln shelf. A glaze firing has a maximum temperature of 1080 degrees – even hotter! Between 1000 and 1120 degrees is where the pottery changes state again from bisque to the final product. This final firing produces the final product making your pots functional, dishwasher proof and usable
Fun fact: When packing kilns, pots can touch each other in a bisque but not a glaze. The reason for this is because as the glaze melts, any pots touching will become stuck together during the cooling down process of the firing.”
