Crafts
Ceramics & clay
Forming and firing clay — wheel, hand-building, glaze and kiln.
Also in this category
Classified but not yet written up.
22 activities in the catalogue, 1 written up so far.
Air-dry clay modelling
CraftModelling with clay that hardens in the air, so no kiln is needed at all.
Under £25 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Alternative firing
CraftFiring pottery in sawdust, saggars or barrels for surface effects a kiln cannot produce.
£100–£300 to startOutdoorsModerate effort
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Ceramic restoration
CraftBonding, filling and retouching broken ceramics reversibly, which is the opposite of kintsugi’s intent.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Ceramic transfer printing
CraftApplying printed decals to glazed ware and refiring, which brings graphics into pottery.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Clay sculpture
CraftModelling figures and forms in clay, fired or cast rather than thrown.
£25–£100 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Coil building
CraftBuilding pots from rolled ropes of clay, which scales to sizes a wheel cannot reach.
Under £25 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Glass casting
CraftKiln-casting glass into refractory moulds taken from a wax original, over long controlled schedules.
Over £1,000 to startIndoorsModerate effort
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Glaze chemistry
CraftHobbyFormulating and testing your own glazes rather than buying them ready-mixed.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Hand-building
CraftMaking pottery with pinch, coil and slab techniques, no wheel required.
£25–£100 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Handbuilt pottery
CraftMaking pots by pinch, coil and slab without a wheel, which is most of ceramic history.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Kiln building
CraftBuilding a wood, gas or raku kiln, which is a refractory and combustion problem.
£300–£1,000 to startOutdoorsDemanding
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Kintsugi
CraftRepairing broken ceramics with lacquer and gold, making the break part of the object.
£25–£100 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Pinch pots
CraftForming vessels entirely by hand from a ball of clay — the oldest pottery method there is.
Under £25 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Pit firing
CraftFiring pots in a pit with combustibles, for smoke-marked surfaces and no kiln at all.
£25–£100 to startOutdoorsModerate effort
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Polymer clay
CraftModelling with an oven-hardening plastic clay — jewellery, miniatures and canes.
Under £25 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Porcelain
CraftWorking the least forgiving and most translucent of the clay bodies.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Raku firing
CraftPulling red-hot pots from the kiln into combustible material for dramatic crackled glazes.
£300–£1,000 to startOutdoorsModerate effort
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Sgraffito
CraftScratching through coloured slip to the clay beneath, a drawing technique on pots.
£25–£100 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Slip casting
CraftPouring liquid clay into plaster moulds to reproduce a form repeatedly.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsGentle
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Studio pottery collecting
HobbyCollecting twentieth-century and contemporary studio ceramics, identified largely by impressed seals.
£100–£300 to startIndoorsSedentary
In the catalogue, not written up yet
Wheel throwing
CraftForming pots on a spinning potter’s wheel — the hardest and most addictive part of ceramics.
£300–£1,000 to startIndoorsModerate effort
In the catalogue, not written up yet