Pottery & Wilderness
Pottery Lessons/Workshops!
Welcome, I’m Shahane and I teach all of the ceramic workshops and private lessons! If you’re signing up/booking a clay workshop you’ll be seeing both of us though because Phillip helps me run and organize them! Read about all the available options below and make sure to sign up for the email list and follow us on social media to stay up to date on what’s happening!
WILDerness Workshops
What’s up guys, Phil here, and I lead all of the WILD workshops! I’ll be teaching you about New England geology while guiding you through amphibian “hunting” (searching for salamanders, turtles, etc) and/or birding (bird watching). Shahane helps me run and organize most of them so she’ll be a familiar face as well! Find more details and contact us below; don’t forget to sign up for the email list and follow us on social media to see what shenanigans we’re up to!
For anyone interested in Private Lessons and/or Workshops scroll down & e-mail us!
Pottery
Creating with Clay!
Wheel Throwing
How can one discuss pottery in this day and age without talking about the wheel?! The wheel, like any other tool in pottery, is meant to aid you in the creation process but this one takes a bit of getting used to. There is a level of meditation in throwing that is unique and all encompassing. It takes some time to develop the skills necessary to have even and symmetrical forms but for those with the patience it’s well worth it.
Coil Building
Many of those who haven’t worked with clay much before often say their association to coil building is with air dry clay from elementary or middle school. Although accurate and joyfully nostalgic the wonders of coil building can be vast and help you create things you’d never imagine otherwise! This technique can be used to make ceremonial, decorative, functional, and sculptural work depending on how the creator uses it. Coil Building is wonderful since it appeals to every level of experience; whether you’re making your first piece ever, have some experience hand building, or are a full-fledged sculptor.
Slab Building
Another extremely popular hand building technique used in the creation process is Slab Building! Similar to coil building, slabs can create functional, sculptural, ceremonial, and decorative works. The forms in slab building traditionally have dramatically flat surfaces and push the angular aesthetic.
Pinch Pot
The Pinch Pot is what I consider the closest glimpse into how our eldest ancestors first began creating pottery. When you have nothing but yourself and the 4 cardinal elements you can still create and find joy; that is the root of art, science, and magic. That’s the beauty of the Pinch Pot, an ancient art that creates organic form while mapping out every mark you make on your meditative journey. They can be functional, decorative, sculptural, ceremonial, etc.
Pottery Pricing!
WORKSHOP PRICING:
Wheel Throwing: $65 /per person
3 hours
Capacity per class: 2 minimum - 6 max.
Hand Building Workshops: $55 /per person
2 hours
Capacity per class: 2 minimum - 6 max.
Location: Village Clay, 25 Andem Place, Bookline MA, 02445
General Info.
Be prepared to get messy! If you have plans after bring a change of clothes or an apron. Once the session is over, everyone must label their pieces and mark on the paper given to them at the end of class what glaze (finish) they’d like on their pieces of those available. I will then fire (bake) them, glaze (color/finish) them, and do the finial firing. Once the pieces are complete (2-4 weeks) I’ll send out an e-mail to the participants of the workshop letting them know it’s done and what day’s/time’s they can come get their work! **Workshops are private events meaning you can’t sign up just yourself at the moment you’d need to book for a group; we hope to organize individual sign ups soon.**
PRIVATE LESSON PRICING:
Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday 10am-4pm $55/hour
Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday 6pm-9pm $65/hour
Saturday & Sunday 10am-4pm $75/hour
Saturday & Sunday 6pm-9pm $85/hour
Location
25 Andem Place, Bookline MA, 02445
General Info.
Private lessons are held in my personal space in Village Clay! Lessons are available via pre-paid appointment which should be set up through e-mail (further down). Once you’ve e-mailed we will discuss your current level of experience (I accept beginner through advanced) and structure either a single or multiple session course depending on need/resources. **Private Lessons are meant for individuals not couples or groups.**
For anyone interested in Private Lessons and/or Workshops scroll down & e-mail us!
Wilderness / Outreach
Hey, fellow nature enthusiast, my name is Phillip and I’d like to introduce myself, who I am, and why I’m so passionate about wildlife! Being raised in a big city during a time in which the world was transitioning into the era of technology didn’t allow for me to have much of an experience with or within nature. We had our occasional field trips in grade school when we would go to a state park for a day full of organized sports and activities. Unfortunately, we were never given the time nor opportunity to just be curious kids among nature. Years go by and eventually I found myself attending a small Liberal Arts college in Alfred, New York where my need for nature/wildlife was finally answered. For the first time in my adult life I was able to take a ton of special interest courses that were mostly field-work oriented and majority of those classes were held outside. With the guidance of amazing professors, I, the city kid, was able to get hands on experience with various aspects of Ornithology (the study of birds), Herpetology (the study of amphibians.), and other environmental issues. I was amazed at how much fun I had, but the most eye-opening thing was realizing that I was missing this exposure my entire life up until this moment. This new unconventional classroom captivated me and my interests for business marketing were replaced with a passion to serve nature; in doing so I ended up studying both Environmental Science and Geology.
After graduating May of 2015, I was honored to work a session at a summer camp where I was able to network with a ton of amazing outdoorsy people who too shared the same passions and ideals as me. From that session I was able to learn about the amazing program Nature’s Classroom. The summer camp and Nature’s Classroom were the first places where I was able to share my new hobby with an audience of pubescent kids who didn’t have much of a desire to truly be in nature with a hippie they just met. Both places shared the same mission at heart, to provide students and teachers alike an opportunity to experience an alternative way of formal education, outside the constraints of a classroom. This is where I fell in love with mentoring other kids who were interested in the same environmental things as I, they were just missing the right person to captivate their attention all this time.
Collectively these experiences have lead me up to this point where we are starting “W.I.L.D.-erness” program! W.I.L.D stands for wilderness incorporated learning and discovery, and its purpose is to allow kids and parents both a platform to co-learn/co-experience nature as we partake in weekly activities focusing on varying aspects of environmental education. Our goal is to provide families with an opportunity to be encompassed in nature and allow themselves to step away from the stresses of today’s world, and to look at nature with a new set of eyes and appreciation. I was taught that one must be a steward of his environment at heart for them to teach others just how important our environment is to us. Unintentionally, the messenger that I am, I have the duty to share what I know with this new generation of people who will have the resources to change the world for the better far beyond our imagination.
If you’re interested in guided family/individual/couple/group wilderness hikes please contact us below to schedule and get more info!
PRICING: We understand this is a hard time for many people so instead of a fee we are implementing a recommended “$10.” per trip donation. This can be more or less depending on how you enjoyed your trip with us and what you’re capable of. Everyone deserves a chance to connect with nature!