Specialist Skills Course: Teapot Making

Create your own standard ware teapot at Leach Pottery.

Please note all Leach Pottery workshops have been cancelled until at least the end of August. Visit the website for more information.

When: March & December (see below)
Where: Bernard Leach’s Studio, Leach Pottery
Places: 4
Duration: 5 days (10am – 4pm)
Tutor: Matthew Foster (Leach Pottery Studio Production Manager) or Kat Wheeler (former Deputy Studio Manager)
Equipment & materials: provided
This course will: teach you specific skills in teapot making
You will leave with: one teapot that will be glazed, fired at the Leach Pottery, and sent to you*
Level: intermediate – to do this course, you will need to be able to centre well, produce cylinders, and be able to achieve the forms that you aim for.

Cost: £520

This course will give you valuable insights and guidance in the processes used to create our Standard Ware Teapot, and how to apply these insights to creating your own designs.

Dates

2 – 6 March 2020
7 – 11 December 2020.

Overview

During this course you will:

• learn about form and the key elements to achieving good design and functionality of a teapot
• lids; exploring a range of lid styles with an aim to achieve strong galleries and well-fitting lid systems
• spouts; how to make a spout, attach it to the pot in the correct position for a good pour, and convenient placing for water levels and drainage
• handles, including how to pull both a standard and a loop handle, and briefly look into handles made from alternative materials and how to make and attach lugs for these.

This course begins with an introduction about teapot making and an overview of the week ahead. The tutor will assess your needs and, where possible, tailor the course to cover them.

Throughout the week your tutor will present a series of demonstrations covering every thrown section of our Standard Ware Teapot. You will then practice throwing these sections and, as the week progresses, you will be guided through each stage of the making process and helped to improve your throwing skills to achieve, or start to achieve, the level of quality that is required to make our Teapot.

Following on from making our Standard Ware Teapot, you will explore a variety of shapes, lid systems, spouts, and handle styles leading onto further consideration of the assembly of the teapot, so that it functions well and has a cohesive design.

There will be plenty of guidance and one-to-one tuition to help you improve your making skills. By the end of this course, each participant will have explored the stages of making a teapot, looked at teapot designs, and have a greater understanding of the form and functionality necessary for a well-designed teapot.

*if the address that you would like your work posting to is non-UK, extra postage may apply.

Any questions? Please contact [email protected]