November News from The Yard

Happy New Year from The Clay Yard

Pottery News from The Clay Yard

Greetings to you all as we chip forward into November. It’s certainly a very different vibe at the studio with busy people making the most of the dark nights to develop their creativity and socialise with each other.

November news looks like this…

The Joy of Giving
Master Potter skill share
January Programme
Slab-building excellence - Jools
Volunteer helper in focus - Anne Watson
Spring Workshops
The Clay Yard Student Exhibition (Feb ‘24) News

I hope you enjoy this update - lots to get excited about in this growing creative community.

Throwing in a Surprise Gift

As a recent graduate of Food Science, Hannah has moved to the area and is settling in to her new position at Yeo Valley. Hannah enjoys a Thursday evening with other potters on the beginners course and had explored throwing on the wheel in her class. Her parents bought her a surprise gift of a private lesson when visiting her new “gaff” in Totnes. You can see from the pics that Hannah made great progress.

“ I look forward to my ceramics class every week as it’s just such a fantastic space for creativity to flow and to meet some great people!” Hannah comments, “I didn’t think I’d be able to use the wheel but after some great guidance and patience from Alison I can plan to make endless ceramics for all my food recipes!”

The Clay Yard Gift Vouchers

Buy the Gift of Learning

Dirk Rohwedder, Master Potter

Dirk Rohwedder has been seen at the yard a couple of times - it’s been a while since he worked with clay and he has been generously guiding both the teachers and students at the studio whilst making some very interesting big pots. Here, he explains the technique for making this lamp shade whilst giving the team at the yard stories of his journey to achieving Master Potter status when he trained in Germany.

January 2024 Courses

Courses for all levels are available for booking now.

Courses for Beginners
Wednesdays 2-5pm with Julia Toy (21 hrs)
Thursdays 6-9pm with Alison Hannah (21 hrs)
Fridays with Alison Hannah (15 hrs)

Courses for Intermediate & Improvers
Tuesdays 10-1pm & 6-9pm with Alison Hannah (36 hrs)
Wednesdays 10-1pm with Julia Toy (36 hrs)
Thursdays 2-5pm with Verran Townsend (21 hrs)

Throwing Courses
Wednesdays 4 Jan with Julia Toy (21 hrs)
Fridays 10-1pm with Lucy Bell and Alison Hannah (21 hrs)

Jools’ Slab-Building Excellence

Slab-building doesn’t get much better than this… well done Jools, I love your mancala game board and can’t wait to learn the rules and have a game.

Potter Focus: Ann Watson

Ann is an outstanding volunteer helper at the studio. Recently she gave an inspiring demonstration of coiling - allowing the clay to make its’ own journey into a shape.

Ann shares her expertise in many ways, now retired, she fills her time with creative pursuits which also include volunteering as a steward at Make South West and in planting with the Growing Space Project in Ashburton. If you’re walking along Ashburton River, look for the stoneware sun spiral disc made by Ann and erected by Growing Space. Her inspiration for this work came from the triple spiral carved into the wall at Newgrange Ireland.

Spring ‘24 Workshop Programme

The Spring 24 weekend workshops are on the website for you to browse. Hilda Carr, Jennie Hale, Tina Hill-Art, Julia Toy and Lucy Rose are all giving their time and talent to work with you in the weekends from January to June.

The Clay Yard Potters Exhibition 2024

Lastly, giving you the heads-up that I have scheduled the weekend of the 24th and 25th February to showcase the work of all potters who have taken part in courses and classes in 2023. If you are interested in taking part in this, our very first Clay Yard graduate exhibition, drop me an email and we can start planning together.

Have a fun-filled November and I’ll be in touch in December with more updates.