Tag: Things to do in St. Ives

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New Year crafting resolutions for all.

New Year resolutions? Many people use the new year to set some new life goals and resolutions, if pottery is one of them for you or someone you know then we can help. Crafts can be used as a great escape from everyday life, something to keep your brain active, a new life skill or possibly a whole new direction in life. Wheel-throwing can often seem exclusive or something beyond reach but we believe it can be for anyone at any age. 

Clay provides an involved haptic experience and a pottery wheel-throwing lesson makes you fully concentrate and become fully immersed in the spinning clay and the creation of a vessel. Most people say they lose themselves in the process and completely forget the world while they are throwing and achieve a state of mindfulness.

Our sessions are tailored for just you and whoever/ comes and as they are just for a single booking and whoever/ you bring you can be sure you will always get the right level of teaching and time on the potter’s-wheel, no sharing our potters guidance with many other people you don’t know or waiting for them to be finished helping others, they are all for you. So if you are looking for pottery lessons in Cornwall for a 2024 activity then we are an easy to reach studio for all of Cornwall.

Pottery Wheel Throwing
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Welcome 2024!

Bledhen Noweth Da! Happy New Year!

As 2023 spins into 2024 it’s a time to appreciate all the lovely people we have met in 2023 and all the pottery wheel-throwing fun we’ve had. A massive thank you to everyone we have met in 2023 and for all your support. 

For 2024 we hope for much of the same with lots more awesome people. Pottery wheel-throwing lessons are so much fun and it is a joy to introduce people to it and help others with previous experience along with their ceramic journey. As each session is tailored to the students, it provides us with lots of varied and fun sessions. Since we moved to our teaching studio in Hayle it has opened up the opportunity for many more people to come and have a go. Our studio is easily accessed from such nearby towns as St. Ives, Penzance, Newquay, Truro and Falmouth. With plentiful parking, easy train and public transport links really nearby it is just much easier for most to visit us. Of course it means people often get to discover the wonderful town of Hayle and its surroundings for the first time. The beaches from the bluff to Godrevy really are some of the best in Cornwall. Hayle now has great independent shops and cafes throughout. You can of course get back over to our place of origin, St Ives, very easily with the most scenic rail journey you can imagine. 

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Mothers Day Gift Idea

With Mothers’ Day fast approaching are you stuck thinking of something fun and different to do? How about bringing her for a Pottery Taster Session with us? Or giving her a gift voucher to use when she wants to? A pottery session for you and your mum is a lovely joint activity. We will be available for pre-booked workshops on Sunday 31st and as normal the following week.

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New Workshop Options

With the popularity of our taster sessions and the requests for more in-depth pottery lessons, we have been working on new options. So if you’re looking for things to do in St. Ives, we now offer three types of pottery wheel-throwing experiences. Adding to our classic Pottery Taster Session you can now also book a 1 hour Pottery Lesson and an Intensive Wheel-Throwing Experience.

These three are all make-and-take sessions, once your creation has dried enough.

Pottery Taster Session

Create your own pot on a potter’s wheel, in this introductory session that lasts up to half an hour. Our resident potter will give you a demonstration, the you will try your hand creating a pot.

We try to make this a fun and relaxed experience for all ages and skill levels, with no pressure.

You can take away 1 pot from this session.

Pottery Lesson

For those wanting a more in-depth introduction to pottery wheel-throwing our new Pottery Lesson is a great start and lasts one hour. Our resident potter will give you a demonstration, then go into the history and processes of wheel-throwing, including the background history of pottery in St Ives, wedging the clay, centering and throwing a pot.  You will have one-to-one tuition while you create various pieces at a relaxed pace. You can take away 3 pots from this session.

Intensive Wheel-Throwing Experience.

Learn new techniques and how to create various vessels in this action-packed informative lesson lasting 90 minutes per person. It is suitable for adult beginners, or those with a little more experience. After a demonstration on centering and cylinders, you will begin mastering the basics. Then you will be set challenges on the wheel, including throwing the tallest pot you can, forming a wide bowl using different throwing techniques, and finally designing and decorating a piece using all the skills you have learnt. Our potter will be with you throughout to tutor and advise you. You can take away 4 pots from this session.

  • A great first try in a taster session.
  • First time on a potters wheel lesson.

See our Prices and Booking page for more details.

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One Year of Lessons!

We have now been teaching people wheel-throwing for a whole year! Over 240 people, most of them having their first ever go on a potter’s wheel. It has been amazing fun and great meeting so many enthusiastic people of all ages, all of whom successfully created something. Today one of the very first people to have a go came in to see us to let us know she has carried on and is currently doing a pottery course, which made Angela’s day. It is lovely to have helped people start off on a ceramics journey that will keep making them happy, as well as getting more people doing crafts through the toyshop.

Very soon we will be offering longer and more advanced pottery courses as we expand. Thanks to a lot of hard work and help from Angela’s family and Cultivator we will have a kiln by the end of April, so expect lots of products from Angela and various new courses to get more people potting. Lots more to come…

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St. Ives September Festival

Porthminster in September.

St. Ives is buzzing with the annual September Festival with venues all over town showcasing art and music. It’s a great time to explore St. Ives with galleries having special days and pop-up exhibitions as well as varied workshops for people to try.

The town is quieter than August, the weather is still mild and the beaches pretty empty. September also has some very high/low tides so the beaches are kept nice and fresh and plenty of beach to explore at low tide.

We stay open year-round so we still have drop in wheel-throwing pottery lessons available as normal.

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Things to do in St. Ives in the rain

St. Ives is well known for its beaches and crystal clear sea but what is there to do if it rains? There is actually a lot to do year-round and in all weathers in St. Ives and here are some of our suggestions.

St. Ives Pottery – We offer wheel-throwing pottery experiences no matter what the weather, often drop-in lessons are available but please do let us know in advance if there is a certain day or time you would like.

Coco Kitchen – Fun chocolate-based workshops for all ages at  www.cocokitchen.co.uk  A great place to experiment with chocolate and it has a cafe at the front for anyone not taking part to relax and enjoy the many tasty treats they have on offer. Also great for wedding parties and staff nights out.

St. Ives Cinema – We LOVE our cinema, we see it as having character and a great community asset, friendly staff and brilliant it is still in St. Ives with such a declining population….some might see it as a little run down, the ticket prices are much cheaper than most places to reflect that.  If you are of similar age to us you might even find it a bit nostalgic like going to the cinema in the 80’s. Please do support it where you can, on sunny days it will often be very quiet but rainy days it can be packed. Check out what they have on by clicking here.

Enjoy some food and drink – St. Ives is full of wonderful cafes, pubs and restaurants that are nice and cosy and one of our favourite things is to sit somewhere watching a good storm out of the window. The Albatross opposite us does our favourite chips, you can eat-in, and they even do ice cream for pudding!

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Royal Square Goodness

St. Ives is an amazing place and here in Royal Square we are lucky to be in a community-minded end of town, so when the Albatross Fish & Chips started stocking icecream this month, well, we just had to test it! And yep, it was delicious! We had the Salted Caramel and  Chocolate Heaven waffle cones. Getting an ice cream, chips or coffee are all great ways to get your energy going to come and have a taster session on our pottery wheel. We also have a great local shop, Osbornes, just past Royal Cinema which is great for snacks and drinks. If you book an evening group party with St Ives Pottery you are welcome to bring your own things in while you have your workshop. There are plenty of other restaurants, shops and takeaways nearby too if anyone needs something, and try the icecream, its awesome!

St Ives Pottery booking details

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