Education & Training 

“I believe that each one of us is born with creative power – with the attributes of the artist and the craftsman.  I believe that the arts must be at the very centre, the core of our lives.  I believe that if the proper dignity of every human being were respected and his or her native gifts were well nourished and cherished we should then reach our full stature and come into our rightful heritage – and help other to theirs.  I am certain that our brief sojourn on this amazing planet was meant to be purposeful, active, engrossing, satisfying, fulfilling, and happy”

Robin Tanner:  1904-1988 
Artist, Etcher, Printmaker.  Teacher and Schools Inspector.

 

Facilities

The pottery consists of three main areas: 

The Studio has 9 electric wheels, two kick wheels, slab roller, pug-mills and extruder. There is generous table space for hand-building with plenty of tools and equipment.

The Glaze Room has a wide variety of our own glazes already made up for general use. We also carry a large amount of raw materials and encourage everyone to try and develop slips and glazes of their own.

The Kiln Room, although small, has two gas kilns (24 & 12 cu. ft.) and two top-loading electric kilns. We have recently built a soda kiln in the garden, which is still experimental, and have a portable Raku kiln.

Additionally, there is a showroom open to the public where our work can be purchased and we also have a large resource library of books, minerals, slides and videos.

 

 

Community Groups

The sessions that we have for the public we call ‘Community Groups’.  They take place on Monday morning, Monday and Tuesday evening, and there is a Sculpture Group on Wednesday evening.

We do not run courses in the normal sense, but have sessions that are open to all abilities, whether a beginner or someone with a lot of pottery experience.  So, we see our task as providing an environment that enables someone to improve and reach their potential.

Periodically, we hold full day sessions, during which we concentrate on a particular aspect of pottery, ie Throwing a bowl shape.

 

 

Education and Training

Since we opened Lansdown Pottery we have continued to work with groups of young people with Learning Difficulties from the Stroud and Bristol area.

Each afternoon Dawn takes a small group and works intensively with them, learning the basis making processes, decoration techniques and glazing. Usually a ‘student’ is with us for a period of one term and if they enjoy their time with us this can be extended for a further period.

We are also joined each day by a slightly older group of ‘trainees’ who are here for work experience.  This can also include the making of items, but also the peripheral tasks of clay management, making glazes etc.

It is fascinating to see so many people from different places coming together in such a way, not only from a learning and working point of view, but also socially, giving the workshop a warm and lively atmosphere.

What we have found important is that this takes place in a ‘working pottery’ where students see potters at work and not a ‘classroom’ setting where their experiences are restricted  to a lesson’s content.

 

 

Wheel of Learning

We believe that we offer a unique approach to both the education and the training at Lansdown Pottery. So often both the art and the craft lessons in schools are undervalued and often under threat. There seem to be fewer opportunities open to most people today with courses being closed and funding removed.

We feel that we have a strong holistic approach that allows the student to gain not only the practical experience of making, decorating and firing a pot, but to find a practical application of many other subjects learned in the classroom. When we learn any subject, be it in a classroom or a workshop, we become involved in a process. It is very easy to isolate and compartmentalise what we learn and fail to see how things relate to one another.

In this Learning Wheel it is easy to see how these subjects are very closely related to each other in the craft of Pottery. Most importantly, are the interpersonal skills and transferable skills, which are of value to everyone.

 

 

 

The Centre for Science & Art - Lansdown - Stroud - GL5 1BB - UK - Tel/Fax 01453 753051
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Bridging the Gap   When we returned from our Easter break, it was a further week before our students and groups returned from their holidays and that gave us the opportunity to begin the new term in an exciting way. The Waldorf College runs a six week course in conjunction with Stroud College called 'Bridging the Gap', offering an experiential week in different subjects. We had been invited to have everyone for the first week to do pottery.  As it was it was a short week due to the Bank Holiday, we also wanted to introduce as many stages of the process as possible so that all the students could finish the week with examples of completed work. So we chose Raku pottery as our medium.  Raku translate from Japanese means 'pleasure'. On the Tuesday we started the morning by preparing the clay before using pinching, coils and slab techniques  to make what became an incredible collection of pots as the day went on..  There were cups, small dishes, even some climbing wall holds (!!!!) and small sculptures.  It was obviously a very creative group. On the Wednesday, we built a small wood-firing Raku kiln from house bricks and old kiln shelves.  This was not as easy as it first appeared as there were fundamental flaws in the kiln design and the drawings.  With the students help the problems were soon overcome.  Pallets were broken up as fuel and the pots from the previous day were dried and placed in an electric kiln for an initialbisque firing. The following day glazes were made and prepared for the final day on Friday Friday morning came.  The kiln was lit and a small gas fired Raku kiln was also used to keep up with the week's production.  Pots were decorated and glazed as the kilns began to reach a high temperature.  The idea was to reach 900o centigrade and then put small groups of pots into the kiln fire them until the glaze melted at about 1000o  draw them out with tongs and first place them into sawdust and then after a few moments into cold water.  The combination of flame, smoke and steam make the firing process extremely dynamic and exciting.  This continued all day even through an impromptu barbeque lunch from the embers of the kiln. By the end of the afternoon everything was fired, everyone exhausted and hot, but with some amazing examples of what  can be done in a very short week.