Classes · Galway
Beginner wheel-throwing classes
Weekly evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, six people per class, for people who are new to the wheel.
Your evening
Pick your evening
Which evening suits your week?
Choose the evening that suits your week. You can mention it when you get in touch.
Go to the contact pageHow wheel throwing works
Three movements at the wheel
Wheel throwing means shaping soft clay on a spinning potter's wheel. However a class is run, most beginners spend their first evenings on the same three movements.
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Centring
Pressing the turning clay until it sits evenly in the middle of the wheel. It's the part everyone finds hardest at first.
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Opening
Pushing down into the centre to make the floor of the pot.
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Pulling up
Drawing the walls up slowly between your fingers into a simple cylinder or bowl.
After throwing, pots usually dry, get trimmed, and go through firing and glazing before they're finished. Ask the studio how that works for its classes. This is how wheel throwing generally works, not a class plan, and wobbly first pots are part of learning.
Class size
Why six people per class matters
Each class has six people. In a group that size you can see what others are trying, ask questions when the clay won't behave, and work at your own pace without feeling lost in a crowd.
Before you go
Good questions to ask the studio
Some details aren't published on this website. These are worth asking when you get in touch:
- What time do the Tuesday and Thursday classes start and finish?
- How much does a class cost, and how do you pay?
- Is it a single evening or a course over several weeks?
- Are clay, tools, glazing and firing included?
- Can I take my pieces home, and when?
- What should I wear or bring?
- Is the studio accessible, and is there an age limit?
Ready to try the wheel?
Take your evening and your questions to the contact page.