Hello all! Recently I attended a pottery workshop at a pottery studio in Singapore and I would like to share my experience of making my first pottery creations 🤩
Details: I Love Pottery Workshop - Hand building & Potter's wheel
Price: $60
Duration: 3 hrs
Location: 85 Lorong Tawas, Singapore 639823
Getting there
We were slightly late for the class due to the difficulty in finding the location. We called the studio as we were lost and the staff were kind enough to escort us to the correct location from our landmarks!
To those following the online video guide in their website, do take note that one of the paths will be blocked by the road works, and there's a main road to cross to continue to the studio instead.
Potter's Wheel
We started out at the Potter's Wheel class for our first station to make our very own bowl.
Duration: 1-1.5 hours
Difficulty: 😫😫😫😫
Fatigue level: 😰😰😰
Process:
1) Throw the clay slab at the center of the wheel.
2) Moisturize the clay slab with water.
3) Step on the pedal to start the wheel at 75% of its full speed.
4) Coning up and down.
5) Making a donut by creating a hole at the center of the clay.
6) Make a cylinder by pulling up the clay.
7) Smooth the edge and outsides.
8) Cutting the clay from the wheel.
Thoughts:
I never knew wheel throwing involves so many steps... In fact I was struggling with it the whole time! I failed my bowl twice as I used too much force and ended up either puncturing a hole in my clay or ruining the edges, but the instructor was reaaaally patient with me and I completed my bowl on the 3rd try!
Crafty tips:
-Try to have short nails during pottery making as long nails are prone to ruining your clay piece.
-The instructor allows multiple attempts if you fail to make your bowl, so don't worry about rushing to complete it.
-If you are fast enough to complete your bowl, you are allowed to play around with the clay and experiment with the wheel till the class is finished.
Le completed bowl.
Glazing and painting of the bowl will be done by the staff before firing it in the kiln.
It's a pity that I didn't get to paint my own bowl... But I think the workshop would have been more than 3 hrs if we get to paint our own bowl 😂
Hand Building
We were then brought to another area for our hand-building class.
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Difficulty: 😫😫😫
Fatigue level: 😰😰
We were given 2 pieces of clay that were already cut in a cylindrical shape for us to make into a mug/ pencil holder.
We were then taught how to join these parts together.
Process:
1) To join the long edge of the cylinder together, cut the edges in a 45deg slanted angle
2) Before joining any clay parts together, score their surfaces to roughen them so that the different pieces can stick well together.
3) Use a mixture of clay + water to use as glue for the clay parts.
4) Use the wooden tool to smoothen out any uneven surfaces after joining.
5) Paint your work as desired.
Thoughts:
I preferred this section of the workshop as I was able to design my own character of my own. Though next time I would love to try out doing hand-building onto a wheel thrown work to achieve that perfect round shape and to make some really cute characters out of it.
Crafty tips:
-Score your pieces well so that they stick well together, and spam glue to make sure they hold up well!
-You wont be able to add attachments that are too small onto your pottery work as they are prone to breaking off after firing.
-I found that the colour of my piece turned into a darker shade after firing. Do note to go for 1 shade lighter if you want to achieve a more pastel colour.
-We had more than 1 whole hour to do up our pieces, but I found myself rushing to complete mine at the end.
Before and after painting
All of our painted works
One month later, we received an email informing us that our pieces are available for collection!
You can either opt for self collection (free), or delivery to your house which requires an additional fee of $10-14.
I opted for self collection since it wasn't too inconvenient for me to head down to the studio.
My perfectly shaped bowl but with a pretty average colour; if only I could paint it myself! :(
My mascot Momochi and a pottery version of her!
Photo comparison of before -> after painting and glazing!
Overall, I have enjoyed my workshop experience despite the long process of waiting for the glazing and firing, and I think this studio also offers very affordable pottery workshops as normally a wheel throwing class already costs about $60 and up. The only gripe I have is the location of the studio as it is pretty inaccessible if you do not stay in the west of Singapore.
Studio: Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln
Website: http://www.potteryjungle.com/
Opens from: 9am - 5pm daily (No appointment required)
Hope you enjoyed my honest craft workshop review and I have more experiences ready to share!
(🍑˘⊖˘🍑)♪
Cheers,
-momo-
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