Craft, Trade, & Manufacturing Courses

Portland, OR

8 Week Beginner Handbuilding: 4 Projects for New Potters

Beginner

With Sara Hensel

Hello handbuilding-curious folks! In this peacefully-paced class, we will have lots of work time to explore and complete 4 projects aimed at exposing you to the foundational techniques of handbuilt pottery. We will construct a coiled utensil crock, a soft slab pair of mugs, a set of pinched snack bowls, and a stiff slab charcuterie tray. These projects will help us understand and celebrate the properties of clay as a material, and gain a strong base skill set for anticipating timing and construction considerations with clay. I recommend this curriculum to anyone who is project-oriented and enjoys lots of work time

Each week will consist of instructor demos and personal making time. Students will also have full access to the studio during open hours for the duration of their 8 Week course (6am-2am All Days).

Shelf space and 25lbs of clay is provided to each student. Tools and other equipment are available at the studio for communal use.

Course Details

Location8063 SE 17th Ave, Portland, OR 97202, USA

LevelBeginner

Capacity8 students

instructor info

Sara Hensel

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Languages spoken: English

I earned a BFA in ceramics from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2018, where summer opportunities to teach ceramics to youths nurtured an ethic of playful earnestness in my work. Now, as a full time potter and ceramics instructor for adults, I believe a clay practice offers a powerful opportunity to not only develop a technical toolkit, but to also explore our philosophy and intention around making. In my teaching, I emphasize the potency of clay as a medium as well as the ways in which form and surface dovetail to elevate a user's experience of the objects we create. I strive to imbue my work and my introduction with humor, curiosity, and observation, and hope to convey the harvest around and within. Nerd out with me about pottery, vegetable gardening, making music, cooking, D&D, bouldering, and dogs!