Ceramics

The Level 2 Diploma is for those who want to build on their skills and knowledge to further develop and explore their creativity and technical knowledge in the area of ceramics. You will refine and continue to enhance your skills in a way that will enable you to practically respond to challenges and issues that motivate you. You will explore a wide range of techniques, continually experimenting with these to push the boundaries of your work to produce highly individual creative responses.

The Level 3 Diploma is for those who want to build on their skills and knowledge to further develop and explore their creative ceramics practice. You will refine and continue to enhance your skills in a way that will enable you to visually respond in a contemporary format to challenges and issues that motivate you. You will explore a wide range of techniques, continually experimenting with these to push the boundaries of your work to produce highly individual creative responses.

This course will cover all the basic preparation and construction processes - pinching, coiling, slab building, press-moulding, wheel throwing, surface decoration and glazing. It will teach you skills necessary to progress onto our UAL Level 2 course in ceramics.

Learners will have one wheel each. This course covers all techniques including basic beginner-level skills such as clay preparation, centring, throwing to cylinder, making bowls and turning a foot ring. More advanced learners will be challenged with individual tasks such as making lids, spouts and plates, etc.

You will build your proficiency and confidence in handbuilding and/or wheel throwing. You'll produce quality work through a project-based assignment, using contemporary and historical ceramics for inspiration. Learners will be encouraged to be experimental with surface decoration and glazing.

Please note: This course will be tutor supported for half of each session (90 minutes).

This evening ceramics course introduces the basic handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques through practical demonstration and guidance. Learners will also gain skills in glazing.

Please note: we have courses running on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Click course details for multiple course options and dates.

The course will be self-directed but tutor led and is designed to build proficiency and confidence in handbuilding and/or wheel throwing. You'll produce quality work through a project-based assignment (optional), using contemporary and historical ceramics for inspiration. Learners will be encouraged to be experimental with surface decoration and glazing.

On this single session, you will be introduced to hand building techniques used to make ceramic objects and sculpture, through practical demonstration and guidance and have a go at making your own object in clay.

This course will cover all the basic preparation and construction processes - pinching, coiling, slab building, wheel-throwing, press-moulding, surface decoration and glazing.

Tutor: Emily Stapleton Jefferis

The course will be self-directed but tutor led and is designed to build proficiency and confidence in handbuilding and/or wheel throwing. You'll produce quality work through a project-based assignment using a variety of surface treatments; using slips (applique, mishima, inlay, etc.), oxides, grogs & inclusions, textures, glazes etc. using contemporary and historical ceramics as a starting point.

On this short course, you will learn hand building and surface decoration techniques. These include pinching, coiling, slab building, press moulding, slip application, stamping and sprigging.

This course covers the basic beginner-level wheel-throwing techniques such as clay preparation and wedging, centering, throwing a cylinder, making bowls and drinking vessels, turning a footring and adding handles. Learners will have one wheel each. Learners will also be able to try simple decoration techniques with slips and on the last session, to glaze some of their produced work.

This course is specifically for learners who have made work on the wheel intensive courses and wish to complete their work by glazing
Learners must have a range of bisque fired work to glaze.

On this short course, you will be introduced to the processes of mould making and slip casting as well as a brief overview of more experimental approaches to using slip.

This specialist short course focuses on the ceramic surface, with a specific attention given to working on your very own series of decorated tiles. You will be guided through a range of processes exploring repeated patterns and experimental printing techniques for your own tile designs. You will learn how to effectively apply your designs, illustrations or painterly surfaces to your tile forms using techniques such as mono-printing with clay slips, paper and fabric stencilling.

On this short course, you will gain the skills and knowledge to begin working with wild clay and minerals to make ceramics. The course covers how to find and identify local material resources, processing techniques, testing and troubleshooting clay bodies, slips and glazes made from wild clay, stone and ash.

This specialist short course which will focus on making ceramic beads for jewellery.
You will be guided through different techniques for making ceramic beads using specialist clays, coloured stains, and lustres. You will be taught about the different states of clay/ceramics including shrinkage, modelling techniques, marbling and glazing techniques using nichrome wire.
By the end of the three weeks you will have a small but unique collection of beads from which you can go onto to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

This course introduces learners to the raku firing process which is a low fire process. In raku, pottery is removed from the kiln when red hot.¿It is cooled rapidly, often in combustible material like sawdust or paper.¿Raku can be a very volatile and exciting firing process and produce work with a beautiful lustrous finish or a traditional ‘crackle’ glaze and learners will be able to craft a range of work and select a limited number of items for raku firing on the final session.

The course is a 'summer school' for current students who wish to continue to craft over the summer break. It will be self-directed but tutor led and is designed to build proficiency and confidence in handbuilding and/or wheel throwing. You'll produce quality work from a personal student created brief, using contemporary and historical ceramics for inspiration.