My grandson, Alex, has shown an interest in making pottery. Fortunately we are not too far from The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA, where they offer classes for children and adults in using a pottery wheel. On Saturday Kristen (who came along to show us where to go and to visit a Philadelphia bead shop,) Alex, and I took the train into Philly to attend a class.
We walked 6 blocks from the train station at 8th and Market St to 2nd Ave, passing a large sign with the words of George Washington.
Very inspirational.
When you walk down 2nd Ave you will pass Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continually inhabited street in America.
We took a few minutes and walked down it, marveling at how it must have been to live here in colonial times.
Not far from Elfreth’s Alley was the Clay Studio.
As you enter the door leading to the classrooms you pass through an amazing hallway with walls and ceilings covered in pottery pieces.
You must climb to the third floor for the classrooms. And there we began our class. Such fun (I was not able to take pictures of the wheel work because my hands were all gooey.) I had tried out a pottery wheel in high school many many many years ago but it was a first for Alex. We learned how to hold our hands, tuck in our elbows, and center the clay on the wheel. And then how to shape a bowl or cup. We were allowed to make mistakes and get more clay as needed (the studio reprocesses and recycles the messed-up balls which become used in the next week’s classes) which was a very good thing since we both had fails!
It was very relaxing feeling the slippery clay ooze through our hands, and we both enjoyed the experience very much. It’s harder than it looks, though.
After we made a couple of pieces the teachers showed us how to paint our projects using slip paint.
It will take 2-4 weeks for them to dry and the studio will then fire them in the kiln; at which point we’ll be able to either pick them up or have them shipped at a nominal fee.
I look forward to seeing them after firing.
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