Private Pottery Wheel Courses

Beginners Pottery Wheel Classes in Binalong Bay, Tasmania

Learn to throw pottery on the wheel with highly individual tuition in my working ceramic studio in Binalong Bay, on Tasmania’s beautiful East Coast.

My pottery wheel courses are different from a traditional group pottery class. Courses are taught privately 1:1 or semi-privately with a maximum of two students, giving you plenty of individual attention and the opportunity to learn at your own pace.

You’ll have your own pottery wheel throughout each 90-minute session, with hands-on demonstrations, guidance and support as you learn the foundations of throwing and gradually build confidence at the wheel.

No previous pottery experience is necessary.

Why Learn in a Private Pottery Wheel Course?

Learning to throw on the pottery wheel is physical, tactile and highly individual.

Small changes in the position of your hands, the pressure of your fingers, the speed of the wheel, the amount of water you use or even the way you sit can completely change what happens to the clay.

In a larger pottery class, a teacher’s attention needs to be shared between many students.

Here, there are never more than two.

This means I can watch what is happening at your wheel, demonstrate techniques when you need them, help troubleshoot problems as they occur and adapt the tuition to the way you learn and progress.

You aren’t expected to keep pace with a group.

We work at your pace.

Choose Your Pottery Wheel Course

4-Week Beginners Pottery Wheel Course

A focused introduction to the foundations of throwing on the pottery wheel.

Across four weekly 90-minute private or semi-private sessions, we’ll progressively work through the fundamental skills of wheel throwing.

You’ll learn how to prepare your clay, centre it on the wheel, open the form, pull and shape walls and begin creating simple functional forms.

As your skills develop, we’ll also work on trimming and finishing your pieces and explore the different stages your work moves through as it progresses from soft clay to finished ceramic.

At the end of your course, I glaze your selected finished pieces for you before their final glaze firing.

4-Week Course Prices

Private 1:1 tuition — $495

Semi-private 2:1 tuition — $450 per person

6-Week Beginners Pottery Wheel Course

For students who would like more time at the wheel and a deeper introduction to the ceramic process.

The six-week course gives you valuable additional time to repeat and consolidate your throwing skills, develop greater control, refine your forms and become increasingly confident working with clay on the wheel.

Rather than simply adding two more classes, the additional time allows us to build on what you have learned and take your making further.

You’ll also move further through the ceramic process by learning to glaze your own work.

We’ll explore glaze preparation and application, and you’ll have the opportunity to make choices about the surfaces and finishes of your own pieces before their final firing.

If you would like more than an introduction to wheel throwing and want the time to begin developing genuine confidence and independence at the wheel, I recommend the six-week course.

6-Week Course Prices

Private 1:1 tuition — $715

Semi-private 2:1 tuition — $665 per person

What’s Included?

Your course fee is designed to be all-inclusive, so everything you need to learn and make is here in the studio.

Each student receives:

• Four or six 90-minute pottery wheel sessions

• Private 1:1 or semi-private 2:1 tuition with ceramic artist Christie Lange

• Your own pottery wheel for every class

• One full bag of clay per student

• Use of studio pottery tools and equipment

• Clean aprons are provided

• Individual throwing instruction

• Trimming and finishing instruction

• Bisque firing of your finished work

• Glazes and final glaze firing

• Glazing by Christie in the 4-week course

• Hands-on glazing instruction in the 6-week course

• Tea, coffee and hot chocolate during your studio sessions

There are no additional materials or firing fees for the work made within your course allocation.

Just come in comfortable clothes, wear enclosed shoes and be prepared to get your hands muddy.

4 Weeks or 6 Weeks — Which Should I Choose?

Choose the 4-week course if...

You’re completely new to wheel throwing and would like a highly supported introduction to the fundamental skills.

Your time in the studio is focused primarily on learning to throw, trim and finish your pieces. Once your work has been bisque fired, I take care of glazing it for you.

It’s a wonderful way to experience the pottery wheel and begin developing your skills without needing to learn every stage of the ceramic process at once.

Choose the 6-week course if...

You’d like more time to practise, consolidate your throwing skills and develop greater confidence at the wheel.

The additional sessions give us more opportunity to identify and work through the things you personally find challenging, refine your technique and explore your forms more intentionally.

You’ll also learn to glaze your own work, giving you experience of a much broader part of the ceramic-making process.

Your Studio Experience

Classes take place in my working ceramic studio in Binalong Bay, Tasmania, just moments from the Bay of Fires on Tasmania’s East Coast.

This is the studio where I develop and make my own ceramic and exhibition work.

Rather than attending a large teaching facility, you’ll be learning within the environment of a practising contemporary ceramic artist.

With only one or two students in the studio, the atmosphere is relaxed and supportive, with time for questions, demonstrations, experimentation and conversation over a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

When Are Courses Available?

Pottery wheel courses are held as regular weekly 90-minute sessions.

Current teaching availability is generally:

Monday afternoons and evenings

Tuesday afternoons and evenings

Selected Thursday afternoons

Availability varies throughout the year around my exhibition and workshop schedule.

Courses are arranged so that you have the same regular teaching time each week for the duration of your four- or six-week course.

Please choose your regular course time carefully. Your weekly 90-minute session is reserved especially for you for the duration of your course.

Please enquire about current availability before booking.

Course Attendance & Make-Up Sessions

When you book a 1:1 or 2:1 pottery wheel course, your regular weekly class time is reserved especially for you for the duration of your course.

Because classes are limited to a maximum of two students, a missed session cannot simply be made up by joining another group class.

I understand, however, that illness and unexpected circumstances happen.

One make-up session may be arranged per course in the case of illness or genuine emergency, subject to studio availability.

Wherever possible, please provide at least 24 hours’ notice if you are unable to attend your scheduled session.

Your make-up session must be arranged at a mutually suitable time and completed within 30 days of the end of your course.

Additional missed sessions, late cancellations and no-shows are not refundable or transferable.

2:1 Courses

If you are attending as a pair and one student is unable to attend, the scheduled class will still go ahead for the other student.

An additional private make-up session for the absent student is not automatically included. I’ll always do my best to help you stay on track within the remaining course sessions.

If I Need to Cancel

If I need to cancel one of your scheduled classes, I will arrange a replacement session with you.

This does not count as your permitted make-up session.

What Happens to My Work?

Ceramics is a wonderfully slow process.

Your finished pieces need time to dry completely before they can go through their first — or bisque — firing.

If you're taking the 4-week course

After your work has been bisque fired, I glaze your finished pieces for you before placing them into the kiln for their final glaze firing.

If you're taking the 6-week course

You’ll learn about glaze application and glaze your own work as part of your course.

Your pieces then return to the kiln for their final firing.

Once everything has completed the firing process, I’ll let you know when your finished ceramics are ready to collect from the studio.

Because ceramics involves drying, firing and cooling cycles, your work will not usually be ready to take home immediately after your final class.

Learning Beyond Your First Course

Learning to throw pottery is a process of repetition.

The more time you spend at the wheel, the more your hands begin to understand the clay.

Students who complete a four-week course may choose to return for further tuition or progress into a longer course to continue developing their skills.

From 2027, I’ll also be introducing an 8-week Continuing Wheel Course for returning students who have previously completed a four- or six-week course with me.

This longer course will provide an opportunity to build greater independence at the wheel, refine forms, develop more complex throwing skills and explore glazing and surface decisions in greater depth.

Returning students will receive a 5% continuing-student discount when progressing into the eight-week course.

Ready to Get on the Wheel?

Whether you’ve wanted to try wheel throwing for years or you’re looking for the opportunity to learn in a quieter, highly supported environment, I’d love to welcome you into the studio.

With a maximum of two students, places are deliberately limited and courses are scheduled around my studio, exhibition and workshop calendar.

Choose your 4-week or 6-week course and enquire about the next available starting date.

4-Week Course

Private 1:1 — $495

Semi-private 2:1 — $450 per person

6-Week Course

Private 1:1 — $715

Semi-private 2:1 — $665 per person

Enquire about current pottery wheel course availability