Pottery Blog - Making Handmade Mugs & Tableware

Developing A Rustic White Pottery Glaze

How hard can it be? Surely white glazes must be the easiest of all to get right... If you're just after glaze recipes you can sign up to my mailing list via the link near the bottom of the page. Reading this article may help you develop your own though if you'd like to do that. What makes a glaze white? Most white glazes are simply a base glaze with some kind of opacifier added. The base recipe could vary a lot depending on your firing temperature and atmosphere of the kiln. There's lots of info on the internet about base glaze recipes...

How to centre clay - The one sided method. Beginners Guide

Let's first ask ourselves why centering clay is important. It's possible to throw a lump on the wheel, push it roughly into a ball in the centre and then start opening up and throwing a pot. The problem is any small differences in the clay at the first stage is amplified once you start pulling the walls thinner.

7 Reasons I Love Making Handmade Pottery

Living in the 21st century can be a bit hectic. The commute, the kids, the work, the scrolling through endless screens. Sometimes it's nice to just switch off and zone out from the world. Pottery is ideal for this.

There is one job when sat at the wheel - to make something beautiful. This concentration of effort on one task is hard to achieve in many other activities when notifications or other distractions break the calm.

Great Pottery Throw Down Application Questions

I applied to go on this programme but didn't get on. I thought I'd share my responses as it took me ages to write. If you are thinking of applying, maybe write the exact opposite to this :)

Firing Pottery With Small Gas Kilns - A Beginners Guide

I'm going to assume you are reading this because you either just bought a gas kiln or are interested in getting one. I'd thought about firing with gas long before I made my kiln. It just seemed very scary to actually start messing with big gas bottles and lots of flames.

Making Handmade Pottery - What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

I've been asked for advice on anything I wish I knew before starting pottery from my home garage studio. It got me thinking, and I couldn't really answer in a quick reply so decided to write this post.

A Beginners Guide To Making Your Own Pottery Glaze - Step by Step

I imagine you found this article because you're already producing pottery and are interested in making your own pottery glazes. You're in the right place!

There are many books on glaze making which cover this topic in much more depth. To be honest I haven't read many of them - and I do like reading books.

The Best Pottery Courses for Beginners - Pottery in Yorkshire

There seems to be a resurgence in people interested in pottery making at the moment. Luckily there are lots of great places in Yorkshire offering pottery courses for beginners.

What Makes The Perfect Handmade Mug? How Big & Why Handmade?

Your favourite mug is possibly one of your most treasured possessions. What exactly is it that makes you love it so much?

In this article I'll try and pin down what I think makes the perfect mug. I'd love to hear about your favourite features, and hopefully I can improve my making in the future.

Stoneware Pottery - Is it safe? Does it break? Stoneware Q&A

When I checked Google for the term 'stoneware pottery' I noticed a few interesting questions pop up in the related searches box. I thought I'd try and answer some of those questions in one super helpful blog post!