Staff from the School of Biological Sciences, Bristol University descended on the Pottery in August, (all 18 of them) for a spot of pottery team building.
Participants built a collaborative jug, took turns on eight potter’s wheels and made some intricate pottery models before enjoying a buffet lunch in The Potting Tent Marquee.
If you would like to reward your staff or our planning a unique works away day for your colleagues, please take a look at our page dedicated to team-building.
It’s always an extremely productive day for participants on our one day potter’s wheel workshops. Everybody makes loads and loads of work.
At the day comes to a close, we encourage participants to choose their favourite pieces to be fired and glazed.
The rejected ones are plucked from their boards and piled high in a collaborative tower before being wedged into a soft lump ready to be made into pots again and again and again! :)
#recycledclay #tomorrowspots
We loved working with these newly weds who apart from making some super pots, introduced us to the concept of the Mini-moon.
After all the extravagance and cost of the big day, more and more couples are opting for a shorter honeymoon break.
This couple worked with us on the Tuesday and then went foraging with Wild Food UK on Wednesday before heading back to Harrow later in the week.
If you and your partner have something to celebrate and fancy getting creative with clay then please take a look at our pottery projects specially designed for couples.
Contemporary Ceramics is a prestigious gallery in Central London specialising in studio ceramics. For the last 6 months Eastnor Pottery co-director Sarah Monk has been developing a new a collection for exhibition at the gallery.
The work features new colours, new clay, new techniques, new slips and new glazes. The work is on show until the end of October 2018.
Here’s an extract from the article she composed for the Gallery blog.
“Creating the collection has been a winter-evening pursuit, when our busy Studio is closed to customers. By day we offer Pottery Experiences, and have been doing so for the last 24 years. Having just a few hours at the end of a busy day really focuses the creative process for me!
I am a designer-maker specializing in functional ceramics to fit comfortably in the home, particularly the kitchen (my favorite room in our house).
Breakfast has been my starting point; berry bowls and spoons, toast racks and knife rests, egg cups with decorative storage boxes and bowls of all shapes and sizes. The whole range is mix and match.
Growing up, my Mum collected Watcombe Pottery. Over the years she managed to collect more than 400 pieces and they over-flowed from two dining-room dressers in our kitchen. I remember showing it to my school friends and enjoyed reading all the sgraffito sayings and looking at the vibrant slip-trailed patterns. My plan this year has been to fill a dresser at Eastnor Pottery with my own slipware designs, reveling in the easy-going feel of a country potter. In fact, I have already filled this dresser…..maybe I need to get a second one too!
When making my own work, my approach is relaxed and playful, and I hope this translates through to the finished pieces. I love our studio workshop and make full-use of our facilities; from the electric potter’s wheels to the table spaces for hand-building and modeling – whatever takes my fancy! Slips are brushed on, sgraffito designs drawn into the surface and spriggs applied, making the pieces tactile, a deliberate consideration. I restrict my pallet to blue and white slip on terracotta clay; it links everything together and has a country cottage appeal. All of my making happens at the wet clay stage. After a biscuit firing I don’t add anything else to the surface except for a simple lead-free glaze.”
More work can been seen on Sarah’s Instagram.
Children’s Pottery sessions in half term. Wed 30 May 2018We are delighted to announce details of our fun and creative children’s workshop sessions scheduled for the approaching half term holiday.
Superhero is the exciting and inspirational theme.
It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be encouraging the children to make Marvel Comic inspired characters (although who can fail to be impressed by the powers of Ironman or The Hulk!) We’ll also be encouraging the young clay enthusiasts to consider Superheros closer to home. We’re thinking mums, dads, grandparents, teachers or some other figure they admire or look up to.
Once the children have modelled their superheros using a range of pottery making techniques, they will have the opportunity to paint their creations, there and then with coloured slips and underglazes.
The resulting work will need to dry thoroughly before it can be fired in the kiln. We allow approximately one month for this process and details of collection times will be issued on the day of the workshop.
1.5 hr sessions commence at 11.30am and 2pm and are tailored for two age groups: 4-8yrs in the morning and 9-12yrs in the afternoon. Although, these age ranges are not strictly adhered to as younger and older siblings are always welcome to participate on either session.
Places cost £15 per head with a 10% discount for x3 or more places booked. Telephone and email booking essential: Tel: 01531 633886 e: admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk
