Throw a Pot Workshop

We had a full house yet again at the weekend. We had a couple of participants, amongst others, who had travelled from York and a Father and Son combo. The pots that were created on the Saturday were left to dry overnight. When the potters returned on Sunday morning, they were able to turn, smooth, add handles and motifs to their masterpieces. The last part of the process involved painting their pots and sculptures with coloured slip.

Here's what some of the participants had to say: -

"I really enjoyed the independence to 'play' having learnt various techniques. The small group meant there was a great balance between individual tuition and group learning" Helena

"Everything was super - will recommend you to friends" Hazel

"An excellent informative two day workshop. Great pace and something for all abilities" Ann

The next Throw a Pot workshop takes place on Sunday the 30th of May, please download a booking form from: http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/pages/documents/adultdatesandbookingform2010.pdf

Badsey First School

'Animals' is the curriculum topic this term for Year One. On Wednesday we made a collaborative wheel thrown pot, covered in the class's favourite creatures, swiftly followed by individual pinch-pot animal sculptures.



Next week we're going to attempt a collaborative dinosaur!

Nursery at Washwood Heath

I'm so lucky to work with people who understand totally the benefits of creative learning. Washwood Heath Children's Centre in Birmingham is another good example of an educational setting with creativity at its core. They have a talented artist in residence, who works part time on a weekly basis and who I've known for a few years through my Creative Partnerships involvement http://www.creative-partnerships.com/

Sarah asked if I could come along and supply a 'clay provocation' to excite and inspire both the children and staff. We all had a lovely time playing on the potter's wheel, sometimes with six or seven children hands-on enjoying a collaborative potter's wheel experience.

Hatherton Children's Centre

Ok so it took just over two hours to get there, (thankyou M5/M6 interchange roadworks) but well worth the journey north! This was my third visit to the centre in Walsall - this time new Mums were invited to leave their babies in the creche for two hours of potter's wheel and coil pot fun. I'm returning in a few weeks time to work with the Dad's and children, so will deliver mum's fired and glazed pots then.

Kick Wheel Delivery

Earlier this week we took delivery of four lovely new foot-powered potter's wheels. I intend to offer festival goers at this year's Big Chill the opportunity to make pots in a sustainable-powered fashion!...Bring on the chill! http://www.bigchill.net/festival

Smashing Group!

We always strive to accommodate everybody who wants to book onto our themed children's workshops in the school holidays. This often means scheduling an 'overflow' session, to fit them in. As always, the usual sessions over Easter booked up very quickly and were bulging at the seams. We didn't want to disappoint this group of six young ladies who made a last minute enquiry, so we ran a special session just for them. A couple of the girls had been regular workshop attendees when they were younger (mid 1990's?) so it was good to catch up with them and their friends.

Solihull Libraries Testimonial

Back in March I worked with a group of parents and under five's at Central Library in Solihull. Here's what the library had to say in their evaluation:

"Your technique was very approachable, welcoming and engaging. All participants were given encouragement and went away with a great sense of achievement and inspiration - our best comment "Where did all my artyness go, I used to do this, this is great".

Smashing Children's Workshops

Every school holiday we spend two days working with local (and not so local) children here at the studio. We've been running these highly successful, one and a half hour sessions since 1996, so we've seen ten's of thousand's of youngsters through the door. Each holiday demands a new theme, so we are kept on our toes thinking of interesting, topical and appealing things to make.

This time the children got to model and paint Faberge inspired eggs on stands. The next workshops take place in the summer half term (2nd and 3rd of June) and include a go on the potter's wheel. Please take a look at the following link for more details: http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/pages/eastnorpotterychildrensworkshops.htm, or e-mail admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk, to reserve a place.

Countrytastic!

Gemma enjoyed a lovely sunny day at the Three Counties Showground on Thursday the 8th of April, providing clay workshops as part of the Countrytastic event. The day was a great success, with hundreds of children turning up to make clay sheep and creations, which they could take home to paint. Here's a photo of some of the wonderful work made that day.

A Busy Day in Brum

I split my Tuesday between two Birmingham Children's Centres in the city. Surestart Soho was my first port of call. It was the first time I'd worked at the centre, so I introduced myself to the families by way of an interactive potter's wheel demonstration. The resulting pot turned into a collaborative spider sculpture with all the participants modelling an eight-legged beastie to go onto the piece.

Once I'd packed up, it was a quick dash across town to the St Thomas Centre, for their popular 'Stay and Play' session.

PRU Testimonial

One of eight lovely gargoyle wall planters produced by Holyoakes Field PRU, ready for delivery back to the school.

On completion of residencies I ask schools and venues to complete an evaluation questionnaire.

Q:Did the project live up to expectations?

A:Totally! The whole week was fantastic - the children and staff were engaged and learning. Our children are difficult to engage but they were absorbed by the whole process and worked well the entire week. You could have spent a month here and it wouldn't have been enough!

Early Years Outdoor Conference, Leighswood Primary

Over the last weekend in March, teachers and teaching assistants attended an Early Years Outdoor Conference at Leighswood Primary School in Walsall. The event included lots of different activities, such as storytelling in a Tepee, walking through the woods with a forest ranger, using tools, and risk taking. Staff were encouraged to evaluate their experience of the conference by creating two giant terracotta owls - Each one made up of individual 'feathers' illustrating the teachers take on the day. Gemma was on hand to facilitate the creativity and help construct the birds. Once the owls are dried and fired they will be flying back home to Leighswood Primary...

What To Do About Nails?

The clay gets absolutely everywhere and participants on our throwing workshops often report finding the stuff weeks later, in places they would never have dreamed! Finger nails are well and truly on the front line, harbouring great wads of clay and generally getting in the way. Some women have, after repeated pot collapse, lopped their talons off in a flurry of potter's wheel rage. Others adopt a 'knuckle' technique for drawing the clay up.

With so many women passing through the pottery, the nail issue is not one that's going to go away!! Check out our previous hen party workshops: Amanda's Hen Party - http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/blog/2009_09_01_archive.html , Miranda's Hen Party and Penny's Henny - http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/blog/2009_07_01_archive.html.

Collaborative Fish

Jon the Potter's services were required at the official opening of the refurbished Widemarsh Children's Centre, in Hereford. Over four hundred families made kites, watched magic shows, listened to stories and of course took part in Jon's fabulous clay workshops. At the end of the day Jon and the participants had produced three fantastic collaborative fish. Once the creatures have been dried, fired and returned to the centre, they will live in the outside area, for families to discover and enjoy.

Stay and Play at St Thomas

It always gives me great pleasure to be back at the St Thomas Children's Centre. This time I enjoyed working with families at the Centre's hugely popular 'Stay and Play' session. The gang were painting pebbles, so we all had a go at producing pebble pots to put them in.

I'm always glad to have help clearing up at the end of the session... This young participant cleared up all the clay, tools and water into this inverted kettle drum - what a superstar!

Welland Primary Terracotta Animals

I worked with the whole school (133 children) over two days to produce five striking collaborative terracotta animals. Class one made a dragon, class two - a caterpillar, class three - a lion, class four - a tortoise, and class five - a giraffe!



If you would like Jon the Potter to visit your school, please take a look at: http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/pages/eastnorpotteryschools.htm

Katherine's Hen Party

I spent a lovely afternoon with Katherine and her 'hens' on the potter's wheels. The small number of participants meant lots of individual attention with all four girls getting to grips with the technique and producing some wonderful pots. We'll fire their little beauties in time for Katherine's wedding day.

Take a look at the following link for more information on our fabulous hen party sessions: http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/pages/eastnorpotteryhenparties.htm

Julia's Friends and Family Workshop

Six couples on a weekend away, rolled up to the studio on Saturday morning for a spot of pot throwing. The friends and family meet up once a year for a social get-together and to try something different.
This year it was Julia's turn to organise the activity. The gang took it in turns on the potter's wheel as well as making some funky coil pots...

What did they think of the experience?
"Very good fun - plenty of easy-to-follow instructions, input and encouragement. Thankyou very much!"