Urban Potters: Makers in the City

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So if the original studio pottery movement was a reaction against industrialisation and urbanisation, what is driving the contemporary revival – and why is it happening in cities? The obvious answer to the former is that artists are reacting to the digital revolution in the same way that they reacted to the Industrial Revolution and Adamson’s work bears this out: ‘Our own era is just as potentially traumatic and disruptive as the time of the industrial revolution.’ Indeed, he describes craft as ‘an understandable response to the crises of modernity.’

This cookie is used to remember display settings for colour contrast and font sizes set by the user in the accessibility options panel. And that patience may be starting to pay off. Tanya Harrod argues that fired, glazed clay, long neglected by art critics and historians, is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves: ‘In this brave new world, Grayson Perry’s 2003 Turner Prize, bestowed upon a room full of pots, signifies a change of heart, an abandonment of the fustian hierarchies that have marginalised ceramics.’ Although she does point out, quite rightly, that this attention all-to-often seems to be focused on male artists, rather then the usually female craftspeople who make their work, or indeed studio potters.

Assemble "squishes" coloured clays to create one-of-a-kind Splatware products

Weekly updates on the latest design and architecture vacancies advertised on Dezeen Jobs. Plus occasional news. Dezeen Awards In the event of a true, unavoidable emergency, we will do our best to work within the studios schedule to help you make up your class. Or, as Tanya Harrod puts it, ‘Making technically imperfect pots was an anti-modern response to new processes and materials, to what DH Lawrence called “the tragedy of ugliness” that appeared to characterise the industrialised world.’ In contrast, A Potter’s Book offered a reassuring image of a potter happily apart from contemporary society, and it’s no coincidence that Leach chose the Cornish village of St Ives to establish his pottery. The Urban Potter teaches you how to make beautiful, one-off handcrafted pieces with simple, natural shapes and neutral tones. Ceramicist Emily Proctor's unique, self-taught style embraces irregularity and asymmetry - here, there is no such thing as perfection, every piece is created through an authentic, intuitive process, with no wheel required. Students Enrolled in Current Class: Please note that if you are unable to give us at least 48hrs notice that you will be missing a class, we are unable to promise that we will be able to schedule a make-up class.

The Ceramics Book - an A-Z guide to 300 ceramic artists, published by Ceramic Review Publishing LtdWritten by design journalist Katie Treggiden and published by Ludion, the book introduces 28 young ceramicists in their six respective cities – exploring their work, studios and inspiration. The book introduces 28 young ceramicists – including Helen Levi – and explores their work, studios and inspiration

We do our best to avoid holidays when scheduling these classes, however if a holiday lands amidst a 6 week class, the class will go ahead as scheduled. The book also maps out the shift from the standardisation and mass-manufacturing of pottery, to the revived interest in handmade ceramics – which has seen Turner prize-winning Assemble "squish" coloured clays to create one-of-a-kind products, and Alissa Volchkova create porcelain bowls that look like paint blobs. Early man discovered the power of fire to harden earth into a durable material as long as 25,000 years ago – probably while placing clay figures into fires as part of ritual practices or lining hearths with clay to keep them watertight – but it wasn’t until our nomadic ancestors started to settle into towns and villages 13,000 years later that ceramics started to be used as functional vessels. Katie Treggiden is a design writer, editor, curator, lecturer and consultant. Treggiden writes for the Guardian Magazine, the Telegraph Magazine, Elle Decoration and Icon, among others. She is the author of The Makers of East London and of The Residents: Inside the Iconic Barbican Estate. Points of View, by Geoffrey Quilley, Standpoint, London / Ceramics: Art and Perception International, issue 60See more competitions with great prizes currently on Dezeen › Urban Potters: Makers in the City documents the revival of ceramics in six major cities News about our Dezeen Awards programme, including entry deadlines and announcements. Plus occasional updates. Dezeen Events Guide Private lesson pricing is tiered. If your group size changes from when you originally booked, you are expected to pay the price-per-person of your actual group size.