Trying something new: Pottery Class at Glaze Craze

Pottery Wheel class at Glaze Craze

The girls and I have always wanted to check out pottery classes. However, the time commitment (usually a 3-month or so workshop) and costs are not very appealing—considering we have other activities we were busy with. So, it was nice to have discovered a try-it pottery wheel class in Glaze Craze in Richmond Hill.

No experience was necessary and it was one class just to try it out. If interested, you can book further practice sessions or join a workshop to learn other techniques. What was a bit confusing was that this was supposed to be a three-hour thing. I thought it would actually take us three hours to finish about 3 pieces included in the session or that we would actually be painting the pieces as well. Maybe the 3 hours was the average but when DD#2 gave it a try, she was done with 3 pieces in just over an hour. And, I should have deduced, we needed to let these dry (for weeks apparently) before these could be painted. So, what I had allotted in our sked for 3 hours left us with free time for a movie date but did extend the outing to two more trips back to Richmond Hill over the next few weeks. We were to come back after 1-2 weeks to paint then another 1-2 weeks to pick up the glazed/fired pieces.

Pottery wheels, Glaze Craze

There was only one other person during the time of the workshop so we got a good personal lesson. It started off with instructions and actual demo of what steps are needed to complete a simple piece. Throughout the session, Karin (owner/instructor) was there to guide the students on things to look out for and what the next step was.

Some ceramics for painting at Glaze Craze

It did seem hard especially for my almost 8-year old as you would need some hand and arm strength to work on throwing, centering and working the clay. She even had some difficulty getting the right speed for the pedal.  At the end of it, she did seem pleased with some of her work, but the experience was anti-climactic as she was not able to bring home any of her work right away.  I emailed 2 weeks later to check if we can already come over and paint, but did not get a reply. I then called 2.5 weeks later but the owner was too busy to check if our pieces were ready. When I finally got a call back, we came over and DD#2 enjoyed the painting experience. To pick up the finished pieces also took another 2 weeks. So, all in all, it was an outing that was about a month in the making. Fun but be prepared that this whole project requires time and patience.