Our Weekly Pottery Classes and Apprenticeships allow us to work long-term with some incredibly talented artists and we have asked a few of our Students and Collaborators to give us an insight into their pottery journey…
Anita and Simon began attending classes at Tarka Pottery and quickly developed into accomplished potters who now run their own studio, Four Acres Pottery.
They were among our very first students and joined our Thursday evening pottery classes where Anita developed a love for the wheel and has become a hugely talented thrower of mainly functional ware. Simon enjoys throwing and has equally developed a passion for experimenting with pottery techniques and glazes with some striking results.
Anita has been kind enough to give us an insight into how they developed their pottery passion through coming to Tarka Pottery:
“Five years ago, this March, Simon and I had a quick discussion about having a go at some pottery lessons. Both of us remember doing some at school many years ago. It was a 5-week course about half an hour from us near Great Torrington, which we thought would be a nice distraction to our winter routine, and we’d be doing a fun evening together!
We found Jax and Tarka Pottery to be so welcoming, we just had to keep going back! We made a bunch of lovely friends from our Thursday evening sessions, and we still keep in touch now. With every week we learned new ways of making our clay items and how to decorate and glaze them. Many of our creations have found their place as gifts for loved ones – even the lumpy odd ones from the beginning!
Now, Simon and I have our own studio in our garden complete with kiln, potter’s wheel, slab roller, extruder, glazes, and clay. We even sell our pottery on Etsy and at craft fairs, and again have found new friends to enjoy our art with.
I love to keep pushing what I do and see what new things I can make. This is thanks to Jax’s open way of teaching, and not restricting how she teaches and how students learn their craft. She enables people to achieve. Everyone has their own ideas of what they want to make!
