Wheel for Beginner Intensive (3 Day)
$395.00
Wheel for Beginners Intensive
Meet the wheel. Stay a while.
There's a moment on the wheel where things start to click—where your hands begin to understand what your brain has been trying to tell them. This intensive is designed to get you there.
About the Workshop
Over three consecutive days, participants spend dedicated time at the wheel building foundational skills through guided practice and repetition. You'll focus on centering, forming, and refining essential shapes—working through the process multiple times so adjustments can be made in real time.
As forms begin to feel more consistent, you'll move into keeping pieces, refining them through trimming, and finishing with simple surface decoration.
This is where the premium nature of the intensive comes in: extended, consecutive time with an instructor, focused on practice and troubleshooting. Instead of waiting a week between sessions, you stay in it—building momentum, gaining confidence, and progressing more quickly.
The focus is on foundational forms—cylinders, bowls, and simple vessels—but more importantly, on understanding how clay moves and how to respond to it.
A Glazy Day session is included to bring your finished pieces to life.
Workshop Schedule
DAY 1
Morning Session | 10:00am-12:30pm
Getting grounded at the wheel
Introduction to the wheel and foundational techniques
- Understanding clay behaviour and wheel setup
- Centering fundamentals (again and again—in a good way)
- Opening and pulling into cylinders and simple bowls
- Finding stability, posture, and hand positioning
Lunch Break from 12:30–1:30pm
Afternoon Session | 1:30–4:00pm
Repetition + rhythm
- Guided throwing practice with instructor feedback
- Resetting and repeating forms to build consistency
- Troubleshooting in real time (wobble, collapse, uneven walls)
- Beginning to recognize what's working—and why
DAY 2
Morning Session | 10:00am-12:30pm
From practice → intention
- Returning to the wheel with more control and awareness
- Throwing cylinders and bowls with intention
- Identifying forms worth keeping
- Introduction to timing: when a piece is ready to trim
Lunch Break from 12:30–1:30pm
Afternoon Session | 1:30–4:00pm
Refining your work
- Trimming fundamentals: foot rings, balance, and proportion
- Cleaning up forms and elevating simple shapes
- Continued throwing (for those ready to push further)
- One-on-one troubleshooting and skill refinement
DAY 3
Morning Session | 10:00am-12:30pm
Refinement + finishing touches
Final trimming and refining of kept pieces
- Adjusting proportions and finishing details
- Introduction to simple surface decoration
(texture, slip, carving—kept approachable and effective) - Preparing work for drying and firing
Lunch Break from 12:30–1:30pm
Afternoon Session | 1:30–4:00pm
Bringing it all together
- Final supported work time
- Last chance throwing or refining
- Group check-in: what clicked, what to keep practicing
- Cleanup, wrap-up, and next steps
INCLUDED:
- Pieces will be bisque fired and ready for pick-up in 3–4 weeks
- Attendance to one of our Glazy Day classes (Aug 7, Aug 21 & Sep 18)
- 1 × 10kg bag of clay of your choice (additional clay available for purchase)
- All tools and materials provided during class time
Ideal Participants
This workshop is open to beginners and those looking to build confidence at the wheel. It's especially well suited for anyone who feels like they just need more time to practice, or who wants focused, hands-on support to move past early frustration and start feeling more in control of the process.
If you're unsure whether this workshop is the right fit, please reach out—we're happy to help guide you.