As portable as pottery can be

For me to now be back making pottery ive had to create a set up that works. Making pottery from my mums house has created some challanges, ive had to create a pop up studio which has been working wonders. Pottery is pretty labour intenisve, so adding the portability factor does add some more work but theres some advantages too.

When the weathers nice enough i will pop the studio up outside. Working outside in the sun is lovely and all but it has caught me off guard as my work has dried too quickly making the bases crack. I find every time i face issues like this i always learn valuable lessons. Now im very cautious to not let my work dry too quickly. The cracking is due to the uneven drying of the cyliner. when the walls dry first it pulls the structure inwards making the base crack as it tries to shrink.

When i first thought of myself as a potter id always think of how this hobby needed a dedicated space , and although it would be the dream to have a studio, that isnt the reality right now and sometimes you just need to work with what you have. To be honest this is keepings things fun. I recently took a trip down to my sisters (holly) in Malvern. I packed up my portable pottery studio and headed down. myself, Holly and caroline (my mum) all spent 2 days throwing from my sisters garage located in her back garden.

This set up works wonders, the cheap wheel is super light, ive got a wooden pallet that the wheel sits on to raise it up and ive used a old ammo box with a cusion on top as a seat which doubles up as a tool box. We had a great couple of days making and hollys space would make a perfect permanent studio which im sure in the future in may turn into one! Another cool thing about this pop up studio is that when i come to do markets i can have the small studio there with me for doing demo's and or giving people a little taster sessions as i do want to offer lessons when the time is right.

Hers a little video of my mum on the wheel throwing some mugs.