SUMMER COURSES & BENCHTIME SESSIONS 2024

RAKU (feather & horse hair) with Andrew Eddleston £96.00 (+ weigh & pay)

8 places only

2 x mornings making – July 8^th & 11^th July 10am – 1pm

1 x day firing – 20^th July 10am – 4pm

Course Description:

Feather & Horse Hair Raku is the technique of creating a decorative finish on a pot using a feather and/or hair to burn an image onto the very hot surface.

Morning Sessions = Making

Day Session: Finishing, burnishing pieces glazing & firing - experimenting with various decorative techniques.

N.B. On the firing day you will be working closely with extremely hot surfaces you need to wear clothes you can get dirty and smelly.  NO shorts or open toed footwear. Long sleeved cotton jumper to cover arms. Long hair tied back.

Please bring: An apron, feathers and hair, (doesn't have to be horse, but the longer the better), lunch a drink and a snack if required.

COIL & THROW with Andrew Eddleston £48.00 (+ weigh & pay)

7 places only

2 x mornings - July 9^th & 12^th July 10am – 1pm

Course Description:

Your Tutor will demonstrate and lead you through step by step how to make a garden pot using the techniques of coil and throw. Your finished pot will be fired at a later date.

Please bring: An apron, a drink and a snack if required.

BEGINNERS THROWING with Andrew Eddleston £120.00 (+ weigh & pay)

7 places only

5 x mornings - July 15^th - 19^th July 10am – 1pm

Course Description:

This course is for students who have little or no experience of throwing.  It will cover techniques in clay preparation, centring, pulling up and finishing on the wheel.

N.B. Students will be able to keep one pot per day which your tutor will fire and glaze, to be collected at a later date.  All other pots will be recycled.

Please bring: An apron, a drink and a snack if required.

IMPROVERS THROWING with Andrew Eddleston £120.00 (+ weigh & pay)

7 places only

5 x mornings - July 22nd – 26^th 10am – 1pm

Course Description:

This course is suitable for students who have experience and confidence in working on the wheel.  It is not for beginners or students with little experience.  It will cover more techniques in clay preparation, centring, pulling up and finishing on the wheel.

Please bring: An apron, a drink and a snack if required.

BIG SLAB VESSELS with Roz Dunwell £120.00 (+ weigh & pay)

8 places only

5 x afternoons - July 15 – 19th^th 1pm – 4pm

Course Description:

This course is suitable for all students.  A joint exploration into sculptural shapes and surface decoration whilst perfecting our slab construction skills.

Please bring: An apron, a drink and a snack if required.

RAKU & Hiro's Quick & Easy Sawdust Firing with Hiro Takahashi £175.00 (+ weigh & pay)

8 places only

3 x days – August 17^th, 24^th & 31^st 10am – 5pm

Course Description:

This course is suitable for students with some pottery experience.

Please bring: An apron, lunch, a drink and a snack if required.

July & August Benchtime Sessions with Roz Dunwell

Max 10 students per session
Gives potters with some experience the opportunity to develop their skills in a supportive environment.   These are not taught sessions.

Your tutor will fire made items (to be collected on a later date). There will be an additional cost for all items made through 'Weigh & Pay' so the heavier your 'creations' the more you pay!  Please bring an apron and something to eat/drink.

N.B. THERE WILL BE NO REDUCTION FIRING FOR BENCHTIME.

Enrolment is now open …. Please ctrl+click on the link below to take you to the FCE Pottery Shopify site - click on 'Bench Time & Summer Courses' (at the top) - click on the picture of the Course or benchtime session you wish to enrol onto – click add to cart – click checkout then make payment.  

Summer Courses & Benchtime – Frome Community Pottery (fromepottery.co.uk)

Pottery classes have been running in Frome since the 1940s, so the Frome Community Pottery is the latest incarnation of a strong tradition.   There are currently 11 classes a week and four different tutors, so hopefully there is something for everyone.    

Frome Community Pottery is housed in the Art Department at Frome College.   The Pottery is at the top (north) of the campus.   The entrance is on Bath Road just below the junction of Gypsy Lane and Cuckoo Lane.   There is parking just outside the pottery.   Please DO NOT park in the Merlin Theatre/Leisure Centre car park as there is no way through to the pottery.

Students on the Pottery courses have their place for 3 terms (if they want it).   A few spaces become available in January and April and names are put forward from our waiting list.   In July, all places are available for classes starting in September and people on the waiting list are informed of the enrolment date.   Join our waiting list to receive this information.

With new kilns (gas and electric), 7 wheels and plenty of tables for modelling and hand-building, the Pottery is impressively equipped.   Tutors Andrew Eddleston, Craig Eyles, Hiro Takahashi and Russell Coates bring an incredibly wide range of skills and, with each class open to all abilities, students can follow individual projects or tutor led assignments.

Pottery is a mucky craft, so wear clothing that you don't mind getting dusty!  Bring an apron if you have one.   Also, bring a flask with your choice of refreshment.   All tools and materials are provided.   A charge is made for finished articles. Your place is for the academic year (if you wish) payable termly.   Places do become available throughout the year and are allocated on a first come, first served basis to those on our waiting list.

Enrolment is via email to: pottery@fromecommed.org.uk  We will confirm your place and provide payment instructions via BACS to Frome Community Pottery. Your tutor will fire made items (to be collected on a later date). There will be an additional cost for this through 'Weigh & Pay' so the heavier your 'creations' the more you pay!

PLEASE BRING ALONG AN APRON AND SOMETHING TO EAT/DRINK.

To enrol please email: pottery@fromecommed.org.uk  
We will let you know if there is a place and will send payment instructions.

 

Tutor Profiles

Russell Coates has taught pottery in Frome since 1988.   At one time Russell taught all the classes, ran study trips to Morocco and Crete, and built a wood fired snake kiln in the College grounds.   Russell teaches three classes on a Thursday when he also fires the gas kiln, enabling students to experience Stoneware Oxidation and Reduction firing.   He offers instruction in a wide range of pottery projects and help with individual areas of interest.

Hiro Takahashi has been teaching pottery more than 30 years to many different groups, ages and abilities.  Hiro teaches design, wheel based work, hand building and sculpture and especially glazing.  Hiro is a member of The Craft Potters Association of Great Britain and is our specialist in Raku. 

Andrew Eddleston is another multi-talented potter and artist who also works as the Pottery Technician.   Producing his own domestic and decorative pottery and sculpture, Andrew works with many artists and groups in the area.   Andrew organises our annual exhibition of student work at The Black Swan and teaches most of our summer courses.

Craig Eyles is the newest of our tutors, starting with Frome Community Pottery in 2018.   However, as a trained teacher, Craig has been teaching pottery for twenty years and also produces his own work which is sold through outlets across the south-west.

How to find us

The Pottery is housed in the Art Department at Frome College.   This is at the top (north) of the campus.   The entrance is on Bath Road just below the junction of Gypsy Lane and Cuckoo Lane.   There is parking just outside the pottery.   DO NOT park in the Merlin Theatre/Leisure Centre car park as there is no way through to the pottery.