NEW! We have introduced an optional *FREE extension hour to all our morning classes! (See *Studio Access Times below)
Selected Term 3 EarlyBird tickets OPEN for booking now! (Wednesday and Friday morning classes)
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Hands + head + heart! They all come together with clay as your catalyst! We aim to give you the best experience learning pottery and ceramics in Melbourne! Start in our Beginners level with our Slow Clay(tm) method which is a solid foundation of intimate, mindful practice with best practice ergonomics! One of our students describes it as “Clay Yoga”!
“One of the best legit ceramics schools. Beautiful space, excellent teachers who are artists in their own right, emphasis on the art with a strong foundation in safe practices, acknowledgement of history of pottery across cultures and honestly a sheer love for working with clay. Whether you want to try it out for the first time or you’re honing your pottery skills, Slow Clay really delivers.” (Review received 29/11/22 see more reviews here)
Our unique teaching method is based on the Japanese techniques that our founder, Jane Sawyer, learnt as a young apprentice and have been taught bey her and her trained teachers for over 30 years. These techniques help protect your body from injury whilst enabling you to uncover your “signature” touch with clay. The bonus is you learn to be responsive and fresh with your movements! Over the decades of teaching Jane and her team have trained many, many people using the Slow Clay(tm) method.
It’s the perfect foundation to begin your journey with clay and the potter’s wheel! And the icing on the cake? If you love it you can attend our daily *Studio Access Times (SATs) and progress through to Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Note: if you have already learnt as a beginner at another school we encourage you to start with our beginner’s level for one term before you move into our Intermediate level. This will give you the chance to learn and adjust to our methods of sitting upright and using the breath.
Class Times:
- Wednesday 10am – 12noon (Alyssa Nuttall)
- Wednesday 6.30-8.30pm (Felicity Leung)
- Thursday 6.30-8.30pm (Alyssa Nuttall)
- Friday 10am – 12noon (Alyssa Nuttall)
- Saturday 1-3pm (Alyssa Nuttall)
Term Dates:
- Term 1: 29 Jan (Wed) – 22 March (Sat) (fully booked)
- Term 2: 28 April (Wed) – 23 June (Sat) (in progress)
- Term 3: 21 July (Wed) – 13 Sept (Sat) Selected Early Bird Tix OPEN NOW!
- Term 4: 20 Oct (Tue) – 16 Dec (Wed) TBA
- We also run the same content in a WEEKEND FORMAT: see Weekend Intensives!
Content: 8-weeks of skill-based learning including throwing “off the hump”, trimming, slip decoration, clay prep and glazing! Beginner’s students generally make bowls and cylinders as the starting point. The formal curriculum structure helps people to gradually move to individual design development as their skills permit. Our framework is of open-ended enquiry, non-judgemental and encourages a personal design curiosity. Students learn the full ceramic process and collect their fired pieces a few weeks after term finishes. (user pays firing fee of $20/kg is payable on collection)
Bookings: See drop-down menu for times and ticket choice.
Some Early Bird tickets are available for selected classes in advance. For others, bookings will become active for on the advertised date at the top of this page. Booking buttons will then appear on the left. Choose a date and time carefully from the drop-down menu. Follow the booking prompts with a credit card ready to pay the deposit. If you can’t see any spots available it either means the course is either not open for booking yet or is fully booked with continuing students. Note: We pre-release some Early Bird spots for future courses to ensure people can book ahead so keep an eye on the booking buttons. We also keep waiting lists so if a class is full or not yet open, please ask to go on the waiting list!
Earlybird price has a cutoff date and is required to be paid in full at time of booking. If a class falls on a public holiday there will be an extra class added to the term.
Tips: Please refresh your browser before you book! We update our website regularly and your computer might have cached previous pages. After refreshing, you will be able to see the new classes and book online on the left side of this page, provided there are spots available. Please choose your course time carefully because we do not give refunds if you make a mistake!
Please note: This is a Beginners level course. If you have completed two or more beginner’s courses with us (or equivalent elsewhere) you are encouraged to join one of our mixed level Intermediate-Advanced wheel courses.
FAQs: please read these FAQs and familiarise yourself with our studio guidelines before enrolling.
Alternatives: If these Beginner classes are fully booked we suggest you check out our Weekend Intensives that offer the same content ! Or you might like our Form & Surface courses that are also geared for beginners level. Tip: Once you are a student in our studio you get priority to continue the following term in any class of your choice! Alternatively, our online hand building course Basics To Freedom can be done at home and is also a great introduction to the study of ceramics.
Tutors: Our Beginner’s Wheel tutors are experts in our Slow Clay method! They have experienced our in-house training program which means they are great examples of how our teaching methods really work!
Course fee:
$575: Early Bird (pre-release tickets only for limited time, pay in full when booking, available to all: best price! Once booked, tickets revert to Continuing students, Concessions and Full Price)
$595 Continuing students (without a break in between) and Concession card holders (50% deposit on booking, Balance three weeks before start date
$625: New students. 50% deposit payable on booking. Balance three weeks before start date.
NEW: Cancellation insurance is available for 10% extra fee at the checkout to cover all refunds and we strongly advise you to purchase it in case you cannot attend at the last minute. Please read our T & Cs on the FAQ page first. We run a very small business with limited class sizes so we are not able to give refunds if something happens and you cannot attend. We do, however, offer one free *Studio Access Times(SATs) if you have to miss class for any reason. Please familiarise yourself with our FAQs and SATs. Ignorance is not an excuse!
*Studio Access Times (SATs): SATs are for our weekly students to access our studio facilities for unsupervised extra making or practicing time. After the first few classes, when you are more confident and familiar with our studio, you can book a wheel and attend either as an optional FREE one-hour extension of a morning class (value $106 over the term!) or a three-hour time slot ($40). All materials are included when attending SATs. Bookings are required for a 3-hour session and you’ll be emailed booking details in your first week. If you miss a class you can use a 3-hour SAT to replace it (limit one per term) plus one extra free SAT if you miss a class due to Covid.
Waitlists or cancellation lists? Yes! Please email us with your phone number and we will put you on it.
Terms & Conditions:
- If classes are cancelled for any reason we will either refund you in full or roll over your booking to a new term. Minimum numbers of students are required for a class to run.
- If you cancel due to illness we cannot refund you or offer replacement classes, sorry.
- Transfers: We do understand shit happens and life gets busy and we can occasionally transfer people at short notice if we have a replacement – or if you can find a replacement – so please do ask if we have someone on the waiting list. There is a $25 fee for all transfers/credit notes.
- If you pay by deposit online you will receive a reminder from our booking service, We Teach Me, to pay the balance three weeks before the course start date. If the balance is not paid we reserve the right to cancel your booking and offer your place to someone else, sorry! 🙁
- Please choose your classes carefully. We recognise life throws us changes but please understand that due to our limited class sizes once you’ve booked and paid either the deposit or the full fee we will only refund what you have paid if the class is cancelled by us. If you are unable to attend we suggest you share the love and transfer your booking to a friend or let us know in plenty of time and, provided we can fill your place from our cancellation list, we will hold your payment in credit for a future course.
- Minimum age: 16 years
Telephone: 99437844
Email: info@slowclay.com