Community Afternoons

Gentle monthly creative workshops for all 

Who are these workshops for?

Anyone who has attended one of our community partnership workshops last the three years (this including groups such as Promas Carers, the Wednesday Wanderers, ISight Cornwall, Social prescribing, Man Down, Penwith Wellbeing Services, Mud Club and local memory cafes). Carers and support workshops welcome too.

&

Anyone 18 years and over who lives locally who would benefit from attending a creative, supportive and gentle workshop in St Ives.

Community Afternoons are free and drop-in. You are welcome to email Ellen Love at ellen.love@leachpottery.com to let us know you are coming but otherwise you are welcome to drop-in. We expect to be able to welcome everyone who turns up but in the event of over attendance, priority will be given to those who have emailed ahead. You are welcome to attend just one session – there is not commitment to attending all of them!

Monday 9 February, 2-4pm , St Ives Community Orchard

Z bowls: Hand-build and decorate your own z bowl with iron oxide. The z bowl became a feature of the Leach Pottery’s output in the 1940s, getting it’s name from the decorative three confident lines on the side of the bowl… do you see a Z, or a bird on a branch? Pots will be fired and glazed and ready for collection from the Leach Pottery within 12 weeks of the workshop. This workshops starts with a short talk about the development of the standard ware collection at the Leach Pottery.

Monday 27 April, 2-4pm, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Drawing from Pots: Using the pots and shapes of the Leach Pottery collection, experiment with different approaches to sketching to create a series of pot-inspired drawings. Each way of working with be demonstrated and participants can take it in any direction they wish. No creative prowess required! This session will start with a short talk about the role drawing plays in maker’s creative process, considering the parallels and contrasts between the practices of potters, crafts people and wider artists. Can the role of drawing teach us about the dynamic between craft and art?

Monday 18 May, 2-4pm, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Archive Exploring & Tea Bowls: Explore letters, pots and photographs from the Leach Pottery archives as participants curate a collection of objects of interest to them. Through sharing sketches and ideas about the objects this new collection of Leach Pottery’s history will be formed…alongside making some pots too! This session will start with a short talk about how museum collections are formed, how the Leach Pottery are looking after the archive and issues curators face in piecing together stories from objects. How can museum collections be used to tell stories?

Monday 29 June, 2-4pm, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Tool Making: Using natural materials make a collection of potter’s tools to add to your tool kits. From carving tools to brushes, consider how these beautiful objects in their own right can work with clay. This session will start with a short talk about the history of potter’s making their own tools. How does the surrounding landscape of a potter impact their tools?

Monday 20 July, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Kirnunki: Join us to make your own pot using the approach of Kurinuki. In this taught workshop, you’ll learn the basics of kurinuki carving, explore texture and form, and create a small sculptural vessel such as a cup or bowl. No prior pottery experience is needed—just curiosity and a willingness to experiment! Finished pieces will be fired and glazed by Leach Pottery and available for pickup within 12 weeks of the course. This session will start with a short talk about the history of kirnunki. What can we learn from the Kirnunki technique as makers?

Monday 21 September, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Throwing Demonstrations and Have-a-go: See different potter’s approach on the wheel as they demonstrate throwing off the hump, throwing to precise measurements and the art of centring, pulling and refining a pot before having a go on the wheel. This session will start with a short talk about how throwing has been taught at the Leach Pottery over the last 100 years with readings from Bernard Leach’s 1940 book, A Potter’s Book. What makes a good pot?

Monday 19 October, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Winter Decorations: Using local clay and slip decoration, make a collection of winter decorations. This session will start with a short talk about the decorative approaches used at the Lecah Pottery across the years. Identifying Decorative approaches in the work of Bernard Leach – what comes from where?

Monday 30th November, The Clore Learning Studio, Leach Pottery

Collagraph Printmaking: Have a go at the collagraph printmaking process. Prepare your printing plate, ink it and then roll it through the printing process to see your tonal leach-inspired prints.

This session will start with a short talk about Bernard Lecah as a printmaker. How can we see Bernard’s training as a printmaker in his work as a potter?

Workshops, start promptly at 2pm and run until 4pm.

Travelling & Parking

About the Core

The CORE is an environmentally sustainable eco-centre at the base of the  30 acres of the Community Orchard and Nature Reserve. It’s a 5 minute walk from the Leach Pottery in St Ives. https://www.stivesorchard.co.uk/st-ives-core-building/

Core Parking

Parking for the St Ives Community Orchard is very limited, with the CORE building having a prior arrangement space for those with limited mobility (please flag if you need Disabled parking arranged.) Most visitors are encouraged to use the larger car park at St John-in-the-Fields or there are few spaces on the surrounding roads.

We look forward to welcoming back the Community Studio to the Leach Pottery when we move into the new studios!

Join the Community Studio to gain more confidence when working with clay, from working on the wheel to hand building. Over the course of 3 workshops on fortnightly Tuesday afternoons make a body of work and choose a piece to get fired.

Community Studio is a fortnightly afternoon workshop for locals who have been part of the Leach Pottery Community programme (including the Social Prescribing workshops, EyeSight Cornwall, Promas Carers and the Wednesday Wanderers) to develop creative clay skills independently from the group and in a supportive environment. The group is taught to 6 participants.

Project in Focus: Recently the Community Afternoon participants were introduced to developing glazes. While the group have worked with clay before, this was the next step in furthering their understanding of pottery. The group started with the Leach 4 3 2 1 transparent glaze recipe and then added glaze stains in increments, followed by an experimental approach. Once the test firing was complete the participants were able to choose their preferred glaze for their pots.

The current course is fully booked. Ages 26+

Please contact ellen.love@leachpottery.com to see if you are eligible to join. If you run a community group who you think would benefit from the Community Studio evenings please get in touch to find out more.