Improvers Handbuilding

Service Description

Ready to take your handbuilding skills to the next level? This six-week course is for people with some experience working with clay who want to build their confidence, explore new techniques and tackle more ambitious projects. You'll experiment with sculpting, Nerikomi, Kurinuki and sgraffito, learning new ways to shape and decorate your pottery. There'll also be plenty of room to develop your own ideas, with guidance from our friendly teacher along the way. WHAT WILL WE COVER? Week 1: Sculpting & Modelling Sculpt animal heads or other expressive forms, exploring proportions, textures and details. Week 2: Nerikomi Combine coloured clays to create patterns, then use slab building to make functional or decorative pieces. Week 3: Kurinuki Carve and hollow solid blocks of clay to create organic, sculptural vessels. Week 4: Independent Projects & Sgraffito Develop a project of your own and explore decorative designs by carving through coloured slip or underglaze. Week 5: Glazing & Decoration Experiment with colours, glazes and finishes to bring your creations to life. Week 6: Glazing & Experimentation Continue glazing, exploring different combinations and decorative effects. This course is ideal for anyone who's completed a beginners' pottery or handbuilding course, or has equivalent experience. You should be familiar with pinching, coiling and slab building, but there's no need to have mastered them! PRICING At Neighbourhood, we use a solidarity pricing system to make pottery more accessible. Choose from three prices based on your personal circumstances: Low Income – £184 Standard – £204 Lend a Hand – £224 Choosing 'Lend a Hand' helps us subsidise our low-income spaces. ATTENDANCE Each week builds on the last, so we recommend attending all six sessions. If you need to miss a class, you can book one make-up session during the course, subject to availability. Make-up sessions can't be guaranteed. FINISHED WORK The course includes 2.5kg of fired pottery. Additional work costs £6 per kilo. Your finished pieces will be ready to collect a couple of weeks after the course ends. WHAT TO WEAR Clay and glaze wash out easily, but wear something you don't mind getting messy! Bring an apron if you have one, or borrow one of ours. Please note: Participants must be aged 16 or over.