What makes a ceramic pot useful? What makes it beautiful to you? What makes a pot a “good” pot? This course will teach beginning wheel throwing and ceramic glazing skills by exploring these questions. We will cover the entire process of making functional wheel thrown pots, including design ideation, throwing, trimming, making handles, and surface decoration. We will also view images of pottery ancient to modern, and explore our own home ceramic collections. Focusing on craft, material sensitivity, and identifying personal taste, students will work on attainable forms to build new skills rapidly. This class is designed for complete beginners but intermediate potters will find it helpful as well.

What you will learn:
1. To throw a variety of small forms (cylinders, bowls, closed forms for more advanced students) on the wheel
2. To create functional finished pots using trimming, handle-making, additive and reductive decoration, and glazing techniques
3. To articulate their personal taste and vision, and use this to plan and execute pots they will enjoy using

Firing Schedule: All work should be placed on the bisque firing shelf by Friday, November 8, and on the glaze firing shelf by Friday, November 22 to guarantee it will be fired by the last week of classes. Students can continue to drop off work for glaze firing until Friday, November 22. Finished work can be picked up during operational hours between terms. Questions about the firing schedule can be directed to Chris Archer, Senior Studio Technician at carcher@fleisher.org.

Please review your class schedule as not all classes meet through the week of November 22. All artwork and supplies must be removed from Fleisher’s Ceramics Studio shelving by November 22 unless registered for a Ceramics class during the upcoming Winter 2025 term.

Please note: Class will not meet on Monday, October 14 in observance of Indigenous People’s Day.