To make pottery accessible to all

That is the mission statement of Cardiff Pottery Workshops.

I am one of their many students who experienced wheel thrown pottery for the first time.

My teacher was Kelly, one of the directors of Cardiff Pottery Workshops.

Learning outcomes

During my 6 week wheel throwing course, I learned a lot under her guidance, including but not limited to how to…

• store, parepare and wedge clay
• throw a cylindrical pot, a bowl and a lidded pot
• trim a pot
• attach a handle to a leatherhard pot
• glaze a pot
• clean up after your mess 😉

A foundation to build upon

The six week beginner’s course was packed full of useful information and gave me a foundation, skills and resources that enabled me to start investigating pottery on my own.

After becoming a member I refined what I had learned and continued acquiring more knowledge and experience, for example skills for…

• throwing off the hump
• throwing large pieces
• throwing thinly or deliberately thickly
• throwing many cups with the same width and height
• making tools (wooden throwing ribs, chucks, etc)
• reclaiming clay

Help was always at hand when needed.

Kelly’s wisdom

Of all the things she taught us, one that had the biggest influence on me was:

Don’t get too attached to the objects you create. Focus on learning to perform each process correctly.

Initially I did not quite get the first bit.

When learning to throw as a complete beginner, it was very easy for me to build up unnecessary tensions or frustrations not only physically but mentally (often without realising).

I felt frustrated for making mistakes and for not being able to produce pots like the next person.

Eventually I understood what she was saying. I realised that what I created after each throwing attempt did not matter that much at this early stage of learning. What mattered was to learn each step well.

Mistakes

Mistakes often come with a feeling of inadequacy but pottery has taught me to treat them as opportunities for improvement - each mistake has its cause and by investigating and fixing it you get better at something.

Thanks to Cardiff Pottery Workshops for making me wiser. 👍

What wisdom did your pottery teacher give you? Please share!