Your Three-Hour Session

Each session is three hours long. This includes 2½ hours of teaching and making, followed by 30 minutes of cleaning, packing away and studio care.

Learning pottery isn't only about making pots. We also want you to become familiar with the equipment, tools and good studio practice that make working with clay enjoyable, safe and sustainable.

During the course you will be shown how to use and look after the wheels and other studio equipment, how to clean your workspace properly, and how to work within our health and safety procedures.

The final 30 minutes of the session is therefore an important part of the class. You'll be expected to clean your wheel and workspace, return tools and materials, and leave your area ready for the next person. Please don't plan to leave immediately when the throwing finishes, allow the full three hours for your session.

Health & Safety

Blackmore Farm is a working farm & pottery studio, and there are inherent risks associated with working with clay, machinery, tools, glazes and kilns.

Before you begin, we will give you an introduction to the studio and its health and safety procedures. Please listen carefully to these instructions and follow the guidance of your tutor and studio team throughout the course.

Our pottery wheels contain magnets. If you have a pacemaker or another implanted electronic medical device, please contact us before booking so that we can discuss the equipment and your individual circumstances. We recommend that you seek appropriate medical advice where necessary before participating.

If you have any other health, mobility or accessibility requirements that you think may affect your ability to participate safely, please contact us before booking. We are very happy to discuss how we can make the course work for you.

What to Wear

We will provide you with an apron, but pottery is a wonderfully messy activity, so please wear clothes that you don't mind getting clay on.

Clay generally washes out easily, but we wouldn't recommend wearing your Sunday best!

Please wear:

• Comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely

• Closed-toe, flat shoes with good grip

• Clothes that you don't mind getting dirty

• Hair tied back if it is long

Please avoid:

• Loose or trailing clothing

• Long, loose sleeves

• Open-toe shoes, sandals or heels

• Long necklaces or dangling jewellery

• Watches or jewellery that could catch on equipment

Long nails can also make throwing more difficult, particularly when learning to pull up the walls of a pot, so shorter nails are recommended for the course.

Clay Dust & Cleaning

Clay dust is something we take seriously in the studio.

You will be shown how to clean your workspace safely and how to minimise dust. Please do not sweep or brush dry clay from your workspace. We use appropriate wet-cleaning methods to keep the studio environment as safe as possible.

Cleaning your wheel and workspace is part of learning to work in a ceramics studio, not an extra task at the end of the class.

We Are on a Working Farm

Blackmore Studio is located on a working farm in the Oxfordshire countryside.

This means that getting to the studio involves walking across some grass, uneven outdoor ground and down some steps. Please wear sensible footwear, particularly if the weather is wet.

The rural setting is part of what makes the studio special, but please be aware that it is not a town-centre venue with a paved route directly from the car park to the studio.

Attendance

The course is designed as a six-week programme, with each session building on the previous one. We therefore strongly recommend that you check all six dates before booking and make sure you can attend.

If you miss a session, we cannot provide a catch-up session or alternative wheel time.

Finished Work

Your pieces will need time to dry, be prepared for firing, bisque fired, glazed and glaze fired. This means that your finished pots will not be ready to take home at the end of the three hour session.

We will let you know when your work is ready for collection.

Please make arrangements to collect your work within the collection period provided by the studio. If you require postage rather than collection, please contact us to discuss this separately.

Your course fee includes the making, glazing and firing of 2 finished pots. These will be selected from the work you make during the course and will be taken through the full ceramic process of drying, bisque firing, glazing and final firing.

If you make additional pieces that you would like us to fire and glaze, these can be included for an additional charge of £12 per kg of finished work.

As a rough guide, this works out at approximately £5 for a standard mug, depending on its size and weight.

Additional pieces will only be fired if they are suitable for firing and have been prepared correctly. Your tutor will advise you on which pieces are suitable.

Please remember that ceramics is an unpredictable process and we cannot guarantee that every piece will survive drying or firing. We will always handle your work with care, but cracks, warping and breakages can occur.

Your finished work will be available for collection approximately four weeks after the final session. This allows time for your pieces to fully dry, be bisque fired, glazed and then undergo their final firing. Please bear this in mind when booking the course.

Studio Etiquette

We want Blackmore Studio to be a welcoming and enjoyable place to learn.

Please be considerate of other students, tutors and studio members. In particular:

• Keep your workspace tidy

• Clean your wheel after use

• Return tools to their correct place

• Do not leave clay or slurry in sinks

• Follow instructions regarding studio equipment

• Take care of your own work

• Ask if you're unsure about using a piece of equipment

• Give other people space to work

• Help us leave the studio clean and ready for the next session

Friday nights at Blackmore are designed to be fun, social and a great way to start the weekend. We’re very happy for you to bring your own drinks to enjoy during the session, and you’re welcome to bring a bottle of wine, beer or a non-alcoholic drink along with you.

However, Blackmore is a working pottery studio, not a bar. You will be working with pottery wheels, machinery, tools and other equipment, so everyone needs to remain sufficiently alert and able to follow instructions and work safely throughout the session.

Please drink responsibly and keep alcohol consumption moderate. If you want to get properly drunk, we absolutely encourage you to head to the pub afterwards just not while operating pottery equipment! We can recommend the Red Lion.

For everyone's safety and enjoyment, anyone who is behaving in a way that could put themselves or others at risk, is unable to follow the tutor's instructions, or is significantly disrupting the class may be asked to stop participating and leave the studio. No refund will be given in these circumstances.

We want Friday nights to have a relaxed, sociable atmosphere , music, conversation, clay and a drink are all part of the fun. We simply ask that you remember that this is still a working studio and that safety, respect for others and good studio practice come first.

Good studio practice is part of learning ceramics.

And Finally...

You don't need to arrive knowing how to make a perfect pot. In fact, please don't expect to!

Throwing takes time to learn, and most of the fun is in the process — the wonky pots, the collapsed pots, the occasional triumph and gradually discovering how the clay responds to your hands.

Come prepared to experiment, get messy, learn something new and enjoy six weeks in the studio.