Classes

Classes are held in my studio/home in Exeter on a seasonal basis. They generally last 3 months (10-12 weeks) as this allows time for all phases of the making process without rushing. (In our hurry-up world this is sometimes confounding, but good things are worth waiting for!) Fall classes begin after Labor Day, Winter classes after the New Year, and Spring classes in early April. If there’s enough interest, informal summer sessions may be arranged.

The focus of all classes is on learning the skills involved in handling clay on the potter’s wheel, developing sensitivity to this remarkable material, and making actual the ideas you have in your mind. The setting is a working studio, the teacher a working potter with experience and enthusiasm about sharing what I know. Particular interests/needs of students are always given consideration. Lots of demonstrations.

Beginner adult classes are generally on Thursdays, advanced adult classes on Tuesdays. Evenings, 6-9 pm, generally works well. Children’s classes may be on weekday afternoons from 4-6 pm.

Classes are small (5-6 students maximum), allowing for individual attention and development. Course fees are between $300-$500. Work will be fired in our high-fire gas kilns. There is a clay/firing charge based on each person’s output.

Contact us for more information. Email or evening phone calls (603-772-6323) are preferable.

Small classes  in a studio setting. Individual instruction from a professional potter/educator. Experiment, explore, imagine and create. Throw a variety of forms on potter's wheels, learn decorating and glazing techniques and fire in our gas kilns.

Studio Classes

Making marks on clay the brick kiln

Attempting a matched set

Lifting the walls of a mug

I've been teaching since the early '70s, enjoying interchange of ideas, skills & cameraderie. Sometimes I think that the future of ceramics (and our world?!) is in the hand of seekers like these:

Working with earthenware on Clay Day

A former apprentice gives a lesson to a friend

Using clay stamps

Because my own work is based on the use of the potter’s wheel, that is the primary tool in my studio teaching. Students see my process and develop their own. We throw, decorate, trim, fire, glaze and refire pieces. Advanced students and beginners with an interest can be involved in developing glazes and with firing.

Handbuilding is a natural adjunct to wheelwork and is encouraged as such. We may make clay stamps, do slab work and sculpture. I try to respond to the interests of the class, for there is good energy there. More advanced students/those who have studied with me for a period of time, may devise with me a curriculum that suits their needs.

Classes for adults and children are offered in winter, spring, summer and fall. Six is the maximum number of students in any class, and many are smaller. Sessions are 8-12 weeks, with adult class sessions running 3 hours and children’s classes 2 hours. You may call or email for class schedules/registration material.

Residencies

As an artist on the roster of the NH State Arts Council, I am available to provide enrichment activities in the arts programs of public and private schools. Doing this on a regular basis, I feel I can contribute to the future of the strong craft/art tradition of the state. Programs are tailored to the specific needs or interests of the school or group.

In my current residency at the Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield NH, we are making canoes in the art studio, using earthenware clay.

I am available to work with local groups.I also work with the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, providing enrichment activities for school and other groups.I enjoy developing handbuilding projects to dovetail with the curriculum for elementary students, teaching advanced wheel skills to older students, and planning ceramics programs with interested art teachers. I believe that clay should be an integral part of any arts curriculum.

Pottery Cooperative

Kit and Deb Moran are now working as a cooperative. We are sharing teaching and learning, loading and unloading, studio chores and communal suppers.

Apprenticeships

Over the years I have worked with many interested students/aspiring potters as apprentices. The tradition of apprenticeship is strong in our field, and there are important reasons to support its continuation. Apprenticeship can be a complement to formal clay education, and occasionally a substitute, if the desire to learn independently is sufficiently strong.

Because of other demands on my time I am not currently accepting apprentices, but occasionally am looking for studio assistants with some clay experience.

Jessica Seaton practicing throwing tea bowls

Wet bowls; a morning's work

Sara Kaufman testing her "trick mug" that soaks the drinker unless they know the secret

How to find clay