Pottery Lesson at The Village Pottery
Well hello there stranger! Sinead Nua has been on a go slow this year but is picking things up with great speed and is ready with some new additions to the experience bank. I'll start the ball rolling with a couple of creative ventures, and you thought I was all food food food! I spotted an opportunity to fling some clay in a supervised environment, aka pottery class, so I popped along to The Village Pottery in Clifton where I met my instructor, Jen. I started off with a nice cappuccino and a browse amongst the pots, bowls, dishes and jugs on display and wondered what I might CREATE (read with dramatic tone and hand in air gesture). I was starting to feel all artistic and wistful, but less like Francis Bacon, more like Brian from Spaced.
I was shown through to the potter's wheel, which looked pretty impressive compared to the plastic battery operated yoke I had as a kid. I made stumps of clay on it, they were post modern comments on society - at 11 I was way ahead of my time creatively, I'll probably be famous when I'm dead. I was invited to sit at it as one would sit upon a motorcycle, but was assured it would not accelerate and throw me to the floor as my brother's Honda Hornet had threatened to do (he said he was going 10mph but I swear it felt like 70).
Anyway, back to the potters wheel...I was given a lump of clay to fling into the centre. SPLAT and off I go. I was instructed to mould it into what I considered quite a fallic shape and then, thankfully before my blushing became obvious, with step by step guidance on moulding and shaping my lump morphed into a bowl right before my eyes, a pretty awesome bowl even if I do say so myself. It was finished off with a glaze, I chose a green to match my country kitchen in the dream house in my head (it's by the sea and has a country kitchen, that's all I have so far - am waiting for Sarah Beeny to advise of the rest but she doesn't do head calls..) My bowl was then transferred to a shelf and queued up for the kiln. I could hardly wait the three weeks it would take to set and for the glaze to shine up a lovely country kitchen shade of green. I got the call to pick it up and ran like Charlie with his golden ticket all the way to the village. My bowl now sits on my window holding lavender, a very noble post reserved for handmade creations.
Jen offers lessons like this, plus introductory lessons (the above without the kiln bit) and large group lessons. To find out more check the link below.
Image: Sinéad Millea
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