On 6 Fridays from 10AM–4PM from March 22nd till May 3rd
Ever dreamed your home having a lovely set of handmade dishes but never really found the right one? Then come and make it yourself! By the end of this 6-week pottery course you will have a full dinner set of 24 pieces, made by you from start to finish. Previous experience with pottery not required. Come with your vision and we’ll help it come true.
Course layout:
- Introduction to techniques, sketching, workplan
- Basics of throwing, throwing small bowls for glaze tests
- Basics of slab-building, making small cake plates using moulds and sponge
- Throwing mugs
- Making bowls from slab using moulds
- Making dinnerplates with slab + lifting the rim on the pottery wheel
- Trimming thrown pieces, finishing (handles, decoration)
- Choosing the glaze, making glaze tests
- Glazing the pieces, analysis, finishing touches, photographing
Course layout:
Fri, March 22nd 10AM–4PM
Intro, sketching, sketch review, pause, basics of wheel throwing, throwing 10 small bowls for glaze tests
Fri, March 29th 10AM–4PM
Trimming glaze tests, throwing 6 mugs, pause, basics of slab building, making 6 small cake plates using slabs and sponge
Fri, April 5th 10AM–4PM
Trimming mugs, attaching handles, second try at throwing mugs if necessary, pause, making 6 bowls using slab and plaster mould
Fri, April 12th 10AM–4PM
Making 6 dinner plates from slab + forming the rim on the pottery wheel, pause, basics of glazing, choosing glazes, glazing glaze tests. Revision and correcting mistakes/remaking a piece if necessary
1 week break so everything has time to dry and get bisque fired. Possible to come for one extra course day on Wed, April 17th (or by agreement on another date) to catch up/remake or make additional work.
Fri, April 26th 10AM–4PM
Analysis of glaze tests, final glaze choice, preparations for glazing, glazing all the 24 pieces, pause, finishing glazing, questions-answers
Fri, May 3rd 10AM–4PM
Finished! Analysis of final products, finishing touches, photographing, packing for transport
We meet on six Fridays from 10AM to 4PM during seven weeks. Possibility to take an extra day to catch up or make more (for the price of 50€/per day). If making additional pieces, the cost for materials and firing is added. By the end of the 6-week course you will have finished a set of 24 pieces: 6 mugs, 6 bowls, 6 cake plates, 6 dinner plates. And in addition, 10 small bowls as your glaze tests! All handcrafted from start to finish by you.
Only 6 positions open for this course. Total price of the course is 690€, which includes instruction (48 academic (45min) hours), use of Olustvere ceramics studio rooms, equipment, tools, materials (clay and glaze) and firings (bisque and glaze firings for all pieces).
Possibility to pay the course fee in several installments. A place in the course is guaranteed by the downpayment of 150€ before the course begins.
For registration, please write: kadri.kunnus@olustveremois.ee
Venue: Olustvere glass- and ceramics studio, Tiigi 4, Olustvere, Viljandi county, Estonia
Feel free to use the school refectory and cafe for lunch breaks. There is also a small grocery store in Olustvere. For accommodation there are several options between student housing and more private lodgings. Please contact for inquires. Trains from and to Tallinn are running appropriately with the course schedule.
Meet the instructor:
Kadri Kunnus has been working with clay for over 10 years as a hobby and for the last 4 years professionally. She has graduated from the Olustvere School of Rural Economics and Service in Ceramics and working part time at the school ceramics studio as a potter. She has sold her soul to the pottery wheel and the majority of her creation is born just there, behind the wheel. In between the intense throwing sessions, slab building provides a nice change of gear. It is a simple, yet effective technique for building functional ware. And functional pottery is what inspires Kadri the most, she is intrigued by the ergonomics, the esthetics, the form and glaze play of a piece. All of this she is now ready to pass on to eager learners who are willing to dig deeper and make their very own dinner set from start to finish.