Certificate 1V start date has been rescheduled to start Monday 13 of February

Certificate 1V start date has been rescheduled to start Monday 13 of February (classes will not commence this Monday 30th of January)

Appointments are currently being taken to advise and enrol students. Please call Kerry on 40422505 to make an appointment to discuss your course options.


Some information about the Ceramics program from Ceramics Teacher Kerry Grierson


Places are still available in the Tuesday Certificate 1V Ceramics Class which runs from 9.00am -3.30 pm starting Tuesday 14 February.


In this class we concentrate on Wheel throwing in the morning session and hand building skills in the afternoon session. Use of glazes and decorating colours such as slips and underglaze colours, along with the firing of your work is covered in your tuition fee. Students provide their own clay and hand tools (skills in making basic tools are covered in the first class).

The Wheel throwing class is definitely for beginners (students with existing skills in wheel work can work on improving those skills and developing their forms further) and includes hands on instruction in clay choice and preparation, getting the clay on centre on the wheel and skills in lifting the clay to make the basic forms of cylinders, bowls and plates and working up to small lidded vessels.

Finishing skills such as turning and trimming the base of the pot and creating feet are also covered in the first weeks. As students skills begin to develop decorating techniques starting with those applied to the wet clay such as decorating slips (brushed slip, stencils, sgraffito, marbling, feathering), combing, altering the form (squaring) are introduced along with chattering the leather hard form when turning, incising, slip inlay.

By week 5 -6, students are collecting their 1st pieces from the biscuit firing and are learning the basics of applying resist to the base of the pot and then applying glazes. The pots will be fired to Stoneware temperatures at around 1300 degrees, giving a strong durable product that is perfect for everyday use. Students are given time to practice the basic skills and improve their work before moving on. Other areas covered include applying attachments such as lugs and handles (pulled, rolled and extruded) developing glazing techniques to include glaze on glaze and in glaze brush decoration. Students will be involved in group loading and firings of the kilns to biscuit and stoneware temperatures. Students maintain a technical record and visual diary for this module.

In the hand building session: Students will be introduced to the basic hand building techniques of pinch, coil and slab and firing these pieces using sawdust, raku and saggar fire techniques. A variety of different clays suitable for the differing firing techniques will be explored. Decorative techniques such as burnishing, texture and resist of glaze will be introduced. Students will be responsible for the firing of their own test pieces (including their own glaze tests) and the larger coil built raku piece created during this module. Raku is an exciting fast firing technique in which hot pots are pulled from the kiln with long handled tongs.

Hand building skills also include the construction and the use of simple slip moulds to produce a set of small cups, slab techniques will be used to produce matching plates on a theme. Students also use a combination of wheel and slab techniques to produce large oval dishes that can be used for serving or in the oven. Students maintain a technical record and visual diary for this module.
In the second semester students complete a research project developing techniques and a range of work based on their experience in the first semester. This can include areas such as colouring clays, printing on clays and further development in the low fire techniques such as Raku firing. Throughout the year students are encouraged to combine a mastery of techniques with a high level of creative interpretation.
Facilities include two well ventilated studios with a total of 28 pottery wheels, electric and gas fired kilns, raku kiln, pug mills, slab rollers, glaze rooms and storage areas. Students are issued with a locker to store materials and tools in.
Please check the blog archive for detailed information about the painting program from Jenny Valmadre