In this Two Day Handbuilding Workshop we will guide you through all three of the key techniques of handbuilding; Coil, Slab and Pinch. Using these multiple techniques you will then explore an array of forms. This course is both suitable for beginners and intermediate makers. For those who are more experienced we will explore the techniques you find most suited to your aims. We will then help you improve your skills and aim for those forms you wish to pursue. The wonderful thing of taking a two day course is really being able to delve into more complex ideas and explore bigger pieces, carving out more time to contemplate and build upon your shapes and expand the knowledge of this beautiful material.
In the Saturday session, you will first be introduced to the material and will begin to build with soft clay using the coil building technique. This method will allow you to create a range of forms such as cups, bowls and vases, your instructor will also show you how some potters then use the pinching method alongside the coil technique to create thinner ‘walls’ of your vessels. During the second half of the session, your instructor will demonstrate how to use the slab roller to compress clay into long sheets. These sheets of clay will be left overnight to firm up in preparation for Sunday's session. On the following day, your instructor will demonstrate the process of slab-building, allowing you to work on larger scale structures. In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to refine your pieces further by adding attachments such as handles, applying texture and slip decoration.
The course allows you to keep 4-6 pots per student depending on the scale of your work. If you wish to keep more pots, by all means, you can, we charge £10 for each additional piece kept to cover the material and firing costs. We do however encourage students to be as critical of their work as possible and only keep what they know they will use, or is going to sit proudly somewhere to look at, as we want to aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible and clay can only be recycled pre their firings, but not after!
We are now offering the option of returning to the studio 1 week (minimum) after your workshop to glaze your own pieces in a selection of our 10 house glazes. These sessions will take place under the guidance of one of our experienced instructors. You can book your glaze add on session here.
There is a maximum of 10 people who attend each class.
Two Day Weekend - Throwing on the wheel - ALL LEVELS
All weekend classes will run from 11:00-17:00 on both days
Suitable for complete beginners as well as those who are more advanced; An All Level Course.
For our beginners we will take you through the basic techniques of throwing on the wheel. We will start with learning how to centre your clay, moving straight on to throwing cylinders and bowls, then learning how to turn your work on the Sunday to give your bowls feet and to tidy your pieces up. On the last half of your second day, we experiment with decoration techniques with slip as well as mark making with texture tools and stamps. We will then fire your work for you, putting a tin white glaze over your finished pieces, after they have been through their initial firing, giving a lovely muted affect to any coloured slips you have used beneath this glaze.
If you are already more experienced, we will help you progress from the level you are at , taking into account your current aims to increase your skills further.
We are now offering the option of returning to the studio 1 week (minimum) after your workshop to glaze your own pieces in a selection of our 10 house glazes. These sessions will take place under the guidance of one of our experienced instructors. You can book your glaze add on session here.
Saturday and Sunday 25th and 26th April - 11:00 - 17:00
or
Saturday and Sunday 1st and 2nd August - 11:00-17:00
This will be a fantastic intermediate-level weekend workshop focusing on all things related to the Tea Bowl form, from Yunomis to Chawans. Joseph Ludkin will guide you through various techniques for slip decoration, exploring a range of shapes and approaches to crafting the foot of each piece. We’ll also provide a selection of teas for you to enjoy as you work! This is a workshop that always produces fantastic work and furthers the skills of each potter in a very inspiring way.
General Class Information…
All classes will be held at Crown Works Pottery: 11 Crown Works, Temple Street, London, E26QQ.
Please bring your own apron, and avoid wearing your best clothes as you’re likely to get a bit muddy!
Please ensure you can attend both dates, as we are unable to refund or reschedule bookings without at least 7 days’ notice.
The price includes all materials, glazes, and firings. You may keep up to 8 finished pots, and additional pieces can be kept for £10 each if desired.
We regret that due to limited shelf space, unclaimed pots will be disposed of one month after the original pick-up email is sent.
For any questions, please email Giulietta atgiulietta@crownworkspottery.com
Saturday 30th and 31st May - Intermediate
This fantastic weekend workshop dedicated to the art of jar making, led by the talented potter Ervin Cirikovic. This workshop will take place from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on both days at Crown Works Pottery. With a maximum of 10 attendees, each student will have their own dedicated potter’s wheel.
Designed for throwers at an intermediate level who wish to further their skills, this course will cover advanced aspects of jar design. You’ll learn how to make diverse shapes and explore the aesthetics and functionality of interlocking mechanisms between the body and lid.
The workshop includes all materials, glazes, and firings, allowing you to keep up to six pieces, with additional pots available for £10 each. Due to limited storage space, please ensure you collect your finished pots within one month of receiving the pickup notification.
For any questions, feel free to reach out to Giulietta at giulietta@crownworkspottery.com. We encourage students who are comfortable centering and pulling approximately 1 kg of clay to sign up for this course.
We welcome Nancy Fuller as a guest potter to teach a two-day workshop at Crown Works Pottery. Nancy brings with her a wealth of experience. She studied Fine Art Printmaking at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and holds an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS, University of London. Her pottery journey began in Taiwan, and she trained with a master potter in Japan, where she built her own wood-fired kiln. Since then, she has participated in residencies and symposiums around the world. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from someone with deep roots in pottery and a passion for teaching.
In this course, you will learn various pot-making methods that can also be used to create sculptures. Whether you're a beginner or have some experience, this class will introduce you to traditional techniques that Nancy learned while studying with master potters across Asia. The starting point will be familiarising yourself with the clay through wedging and pinching, and you will learn how to create a medium-sized pot over the two days. Nancy will guide you on how to control the form and create even clay walls by using your hands as tools and paying careful attention to how you move the clay. Her experience has shown that it’s often the small details that participants find most useful for their practice. By the end of the course, you will have the skills to continue working in the size and style that suits you.
Workshop Dates:
Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May - 11:00 to 17:00
or
Saturday - 15th and Sunday 16th August - 11:00-17:00
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General Class Information…
Each class is limited to a maximum of 8 students.
The price covers all materials, glazes, and firings. At the end of the workshop, you can choose and keep the pieces you’ve made. There is a maximum of six pieces per person included with the workshop. If you wish to keep further work, we charge £10 per additional pot to cover firings, us glazing your work and to help cover materials.
[Please contact giulietta@crownworkspottery.com in advance to confirm that you are of a sufficient standard to join this course, Thank you]
The Glaze Chemistry for Beginners course, taught by Lucia Ocejo, will take place on Saturday, June 6th, and Sunday, June 7th of 2026, from 11:00 to 17:00.
This two-day introductory course delves into the essential principles of glaze chemistry, offering both technical insights and hands-on experience with glaze mixing.
On Saturday, the class begins with lab sessions. The morning will start by introducing a substitution test that will show the unique characteristics of the raw materials that make up glazes, while the afternoon session focuses on the flux capacity and techniques to manipulate glaze reactions. The tests from these labs will be fired overnight. On Sunday, while the kiln cools, we’ll conduct a two-part, two-hour PowerPoint lecture covering the technical properties of raw materials, including how glazes melt at different temperatures, color manipulation in glaze chemistry, and creating various glaze effects.
This course is designed for beginners, so no prior knowledge is needed. Students will explore both the technical aspects of glaze chemistry and the practical steps involved in glaze mixing. Test tiles and raw materials will be provided by the studio, and each participant will be able to keep a selection of their test tiles at the end of the course. Each student is required to bring their own respirator or dust mask; without one, participation in lab activities will not be permitted due to health and safety concerns, as raw glaze materials are in powdered form and can be hazardous if inhaled.
Classes will be held at Crown Works Pottery, located at 11 Crown Works, Temple Street, London, E26QQ, with a maximum of 8 participants. Please ensure you can attend both dates, as rescheduling or makeup sessions are not available; this is outlined in our terms and conditions, so we ask that you review them before booking. Upon booking, you will receive a confirmation email indicating that further details will follow closer to the course start date, typically about a week in advance.
Taught by Guest Potter Dylan Bowen - Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th of July from 11:00 to 17:00
We are excited to welcome Dylan Bowen back to Crown Works after the last weekend he taught was such a brilliant success. Students came away with fantastic work, but more importantly they were energised and enthused with ideas and new ways to approach their own work and thought processes. A class therefore to nourish the soul and get you breaking rules and having an incredibly experimental time.
The course will alternate between making on the potter’s wheel and decorating sessions, each accompanied by demonstrations of different techniques Dylan uses with clay and slip. His focus will be on the making process itself: working in the moment, learning to leave things alone, and recognizing when a piece is complete.
On Saturday, you will learn various throwing techniques with the aim of creating a variety of surfaces in preparation for slip decorating on the second day.
Sunday will be dedicated to decorating, starting with demonstrations of various slip techniques. While the primary focus will be on using slip trailers, Dylan will also show alternative applications. These demonstrations are designed to help you develop your own unique ideas.
Renowned for his loosely thrown monochromatic work, Dylan Bowen is a well-established slipware potter. Having trained at the Shebbear Pottery in North Devon and the Camberwell School of Art in London, Dylan and his partner Jane Bowen, who is also a potter, now work from their studio in Oxford. For Dylan, the making and decorating processes blend together so that the spontaneity and energy invested in the creative process are embodied in the finished piece.
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General Class Information…
This weekend classes will run from 11:00 - 17:00 both days and there will be a maximum of 10 people attending this class. Each person has their own dedicated potters wheel.
Price includes all materials, glazes and firings. You are able to keep up to 8 pots per person and if you have made more that you love, you can pay for additional pots at £10 per piece.
[Please contact giulietta@crownworkspottery.com in advance to confirm that you are of a sufficient standard to join this course, Thank you]
Taught by Guest Potter Tom Kemp
Saturday and Sunday 28th and 29th March from 11:00 to 17:00 both days
Tom Kemp is a ceramic artist whose work bridges the disciplines of calligraphy and pottery. He became interested in the physical act of mark-making, evolving into what he calls "writing without language." About fifteen years ago, he discovered the potter’s wheel and found in clay a perfect canvas for his expressive, gestural brushwork.
Porcelain is prized for its luminous translucency and smooth, pale surface - an ideal canvas for decoration. In this workshop, you’ll explore the beauty and technical demands of working with porcelain on the wheel. Whether you're trying porcelain for the first time or looking to refine your skills, this course is designed to help you throw taller, thinner, and lighter forms with confidence. Tom will guide you through three essential techniques that overcome the common difficulties of porcelain, helping you create larger pieces with elegant, fine walls. These techniques will not only elevate your porcelain work - they’ll also enhance your throwing skills with stoneware.
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General Class Information…
This weekend classes will run from 11:00 - 17:00 both days and there will be a maximum of 10 people attending this class. Each person has their own dedicated potters wheel.
Price includes all materials, glazes and firings. You are able to keep up to 8 pots per person and if you have made more that you love, you can pay for additional pots at £10 per piece.
[Please contact giulietta@crownworkspottery.com in advance to confirm that you are of a sufficient standard to join this course, Thank you]
THROWN AND ALTERED - INTERMEDIATE
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June - 10:00-16:00 both days
We are incredibly pleased to invite Sabine Nemet as a guest potter for the first time to teach a two-day workshop at Crown Works Pottery.
Sabine completed an apprenticeship as a thrower in East Germany in 1997 with Hans Joachim Grünert in Waldenburg(Sachsen). She then underwent a three year long thorough training in producing domestic ware exclusively on the potter’s wheel. This is also where she was first introduced to wood firing. Since then, the excitement of staying up all night feeding an ever hungry kiln with wood, the direct impact of when and how much wood to put in the firebox, has never left her. In 2000 Sabine travelled to England to gain more experience in ceramics and has lived in the UK ever since.
Sabines pots are mainly thrown, sometimes altered, cut and put together again. As decoration she use stamps, made from carved porcelain. The shapes on the stamps are based on nature, seeds leaf pattern, flowers, which are then pressed into the clay repeatedly. When the clay is completely dry, the imprint is filled with different coloured glazes and then sometimes glazed over again. She use simple glazes on the inside of pots and on the outside various coloured slips or no slips at all to fully utilise the effects of wood firing and soda glazing.
In this course you will explore throwing a range of different shapes to then alter. Sabine will guide you through the techniques to do this with shapes such as casserole dishes, bowls and platters. You will look at the importance of different handles and how they effect the final pieces and how to apply lugs.
Saturday 6th and 7th June - 11:00 - 17:00
We welcome back Andrew Priestman, a talented potter from Southwest Scotland who specialises in wood-fired and wheel-thrown functional ware made in stoneware and porcelain. Andy’s pieces feature locally sourced clays and minerals, combining Eastern-inspired glazes with a Northern European aesthetic. He strives for a carefully made pot that is good to hold and use, with glaze and surface of rich depth and complexity.
The focus of this intermediate level weekend workshop is on maintaining the integrity of the thrown surface whilst allowing each piece to evolve artistically. As you progress, you'll develop your own style by working with forms that increase in complexity. This is the second workshop that Andy has led at the studio and the students work was brilliant, but more importantly their progress in their own throwing and ideas came on leaps and bounds. We are so lucky he has chosen to travel again all the way from Scotland for us!
We’ll start with simpler forms, such as a small cup and bowl, with a focus on minimising the need for trimming. Once you’re comfortable, we’ll move on to more advanced shapes, like a flared form that’s inverted toward the end to create delicate, thin-bellied pieces.
On the second day, we’ll transform these shapes into vases or jugs and elevate them by adding feet, stems, necks, rims, and even handles.
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July 10:00-16:00 both days.
We are thrilled to welcome Ruth King back to Crown Works Pottery for an intermediate-level, one-off workshop focused on slab building, with an emphasis on developing double-skinned vessels. This is a unique opportunity to enhance your skills while creating sculptural ceramic pieces under the expert guidance of a master ceramist.
Trained at Camberwell in the mid-1970s, Ruth King has been handbuilding pots for over forty years. She is a Fellow of the CPA, with work exhibited in public and private collections in the UK and internationally. Ruth’s work involves making pots from soft sheets of clay, assembled to wrap and define space, with surfaces enriched by salt vapours that add texture and colour.
In this workshop, Ruth will guide you through essential slab-building techniques, focusing on constructing double-skinned vessels. You'll gain insights, tips, and advanced methods to refine your craft and explore new creative possibilities in an encouraging, skill-building environment.
Saturday 30th and 31st May - 10:00 - 16:00
Join us for a two-day handbuilding workshop on Nerikomi, a traditional Japanese pottery technique that involves stacking, folding, and slicing different colored clays to create intricate patterns.
On Saturday, you will delve into various color and clay blending techniques, aiming to create a variety of patterns to use for pinching and coiling forms. The day will be filled with hands-on instruction and demonstrations, guiding you through the initial stages of the process.
Sunday will be dedicated to finishing and refining your shapes. Detailed demonstrations and personalised guidance will help you perfect your pieces, ensuring a thorough understanding of the Nerikomi technique.
Ben Davies, a multifaceted artist, brings a unique blend of pottery, geography, geology, and professional cello training to his work. Returning to pottery in his late 30s, Ben specialises in unglazed coiled pots using colored clays and distinctive textures inspired by landscapes and geology. His expertise and passion make this workshop an exceptional opportunity to learn the skills for Nerikomi.
Click on the drop down menu to select one of our available dates.
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General Class Information…
This weekend classes will run from 10:00 - 16:00 both days and there will be a maximum of 10 people attending this class in our handbuilding studio.
Price includes all materials, glazes and firings. You are able to keep up to 8 pots per person and if you have made more that you love, you can pay for additional pots at £10 per piece.
[Please contact giulietta@crownworkspottery.com in advance to confirm that you are of a sufficient standard to join this course, Thank you]