Weekly on Sundays

10.15am - 11.15am, 11.45am - 12.45pm, 1.45pm - 2.45pm or 3.15 - 4.15pm

Every Sunday, join our Watts ceramicist for Clay Club! As a family, get hands-on and messy with clay to wedge, carve, mould, roll, sculpt and create clay masterpieces.

Themes will change fortnightly, inspired by Watts Gallery's rich heritage of pottery, current exhibitions and contemporary influence, (as well as lots of fun and imagination). Take part in a one-off workshop or build Clay Club in as a regular part of your families' creative time together.

16 and 23 March - making with moulds
Learn how to make a piece of pottery using a plaster mould. Create a small plate and a trinket or two. Add your own designs to them or keep them as they are.

30 March and 6 April – under the sea
Inspired by the sea horse tiles in the De Morgan collection, create with clay something you would see under the sea.

13 and 20 April - florals for spring, groundbreaking!
One petal at a time, build up a springtime flower. Use slip and a scoring technique to celebrate the Flower Fairies exhibition with us. Drawing inspiration from the floral illustrations, before the exhibition finishes on the 27 April.

27 April – busts and glazing

Inspired by the three busts at the front of the Historic Galleries, create a sculptural portrait of yourself or of someone else. We’ll look closely at faces to create a 3D portrait! If you have any creations made in previous sessions that you would like to glaze, you can use this session to apply a clear glaze to your pre-made piece!
*If you do not have anything to bring back, we will have some pre-made ceramic pots available to decorate.
**All works for glazing must have been fired terracotta clay (not air-dry clay) and will need to be left with us to fire. It will take around 4 weeks, when we will contact you to return and collect.

4 and 11 May – Flower folk
As we celebrate Spring create wonderful decorative faces inspired by the tradition of green man or green woman faces.

18 and 25 May – Slab pots
Create beautiful textures and patterns directly from nature working with scented herbs and flowers to make a beautiful cylindrical pot.

1 and 8 June – Moulds
Learn how to make a piece of pottery using a plaster mould. Create a small plate and a trinket or two. Add your own designs to them or keep them as they are.

15 and 22 June – Mythical creatures
Inspired De Morgan's collection of mythical creatures, create your own fun creature - will you make a phoenix, griffin, unicorn - or make up your own special creature?

29 June – Pottery painting and glazing
Whilst we love the colour and texture of terracotta clay, it can be great fun to add colour through coloured slips and glazes on to ceramics. Join us for this day to paint onto pre-made pieces or bring back works you have made with us before in Clay Club to add some colours and extra decorations.
*If you do not have anything to bring back, we will have some pre-made ceramic pieces available to decorate.
**All works for glazing must have been fired clay (not air-dry clay) and will need to be left with us to fire again following glazing. It will take around 4 weeks, when we will contact you to return and collect.

July - August themes announced soon.

Clay options

Your family will have the option to choose from air-dry clay (to take home with you on the day) or terracotta clay (that will need to be fired in our kiln). If you choose terracotta clay for firing, we will contact you when the works are ready for collection. This will take around 4 weeks, weather and other factors depending.