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Our facilities
Equipment
- 8 electric wheels
- Extruder
- Slab roller
- Pug mill
- Various moulds
- Large assortment of tools
- Club glazes for class work and club raku firings
- 3 electric kilns (2 top-loading, 1 front-loading)
- Raku kiln
Access
Financial members have keyed access at any time to the workroom and equipment, lounge/kitchen, and library - most books/magazines may be borrowed (1 month maximum loan period).
A room charge of $2 applies for each session or class, payable at the time, and all users must sign in .
A room charge of $2 applies for each session or class, payable at the time, and all users must sign in .
Kiln Use
Bisque and glaze firings are charged per shelf load (or shared proportion). Payment may be made at the club rooms or by direct bank deposit - please contact our Treasurer for payment and bank information.
NOTE: Firings must be booked with, and supervised by, a kiln monitor - please click here for inquiry form.
NOTE: Firings must be booked with, and supervised by, a kiln monitor - please click here for inquiry form.
Clay Supplies
The South Canterbury Pottery Club buys in bulk, and can supply members at a competitive rate. (Clay may be bought by non-members, but a higher rate is charged.) Please contact us for further information (prices, types of clay, payment options). NOTE - we do not stock air-dry clay.
Classes
- DUE TO HEAVY DEMAND, THERE IS A WAITING LIST FOR ALL CLASSES.
- Please email Crissie Dickie to be placed on the waiting list. You will be contacted when a place is available.
- Once you start regular classes you are required to become a financial member - please email Crissie Dickie for a membership form.
- Our classes are run by private tutors approved by SCPG, and are for beginners, intermediate, and more advanced potters. Tutors set their own fees, paid directly to them. However, all students must pay a fee of $2 per visit for use of the SCPG rooms, tools and equipment. You will also need to buy your own clay and pay for glazing, all materials for which are available through the club.
- Our tutors are:
- * Marita Bool (Resident Tutor)
- Beginners' wheel and hand-building, Mondays 10am-12.00pm and 6.30-8.30pm and Thursdays 10am-12pm.
- * Sue Inkster
- Beginners' wheel work/throwing, Tuesdays 6.30-8.30pm
- * Sabina Turner
- Beginners' hand-building, Wednesdays 6.30-8.30pm.
- In the WHEEL WORK/Throwing classes beginners will:
- *Learn to wedge clay.
- *Learn about the properties of clay, and the different stages at which various techniques can be used, e.g. throwing with wet clay, carving and adding and applying slip to leather hard clay, using underglaze on bisqueware.
- *Learn to centre small to large amounts of clay on the wheel.
- *Learn to open up centered clay in order to begin throwing.
- *Learn to throw cylinders of various sizes.
- *Learn to shape a cylinder into the desired shape by applying pressure on the inside of the cylinder, e.g. "bellying out".
- *Learn to use a chamois to create a rounded rim.
- *Learn to pull a handle.
- *Learn to attach a handle.
- *Make a mug and a jug
- *Learn to make a bowl shape
- *Learn to make a flat plate.
- *Make a jar with a lid
- *Throw small bowls "off the hump"
- *Make a teapot
- *Learn to sieve and test glaze for appropriate viscosity
- *Apply various glazing techniques In the HAND BUILDING classes beginners will learn to:
- *Enjoy the different properties of different types of clay, and explore what you can use the materials for at different stages of dryness.
- *Join pieces of clay by scoring and slurry method
- *Make pinch-pots and create various objects from them
- *Use moulds to create desired shapes
- *Make coiled pots
- *Make slab built pots, and use the slab roller
- *Use a variety of decorating techniques - glazing, sgraffito, impressing found objects etc
- *Use these skills to achieve desired creative ideas