Potclays Open Day 4 October

Join us on Saturday 4th October for a pottery extravaganza! Sale Event, Factory Tours, Demonstrations and more in Stoke-on-Trent.

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Book places here (limited availability)>

What's in store...

• Showroom Sale & Clearance Grab a bargain and save on delivery costs! Our sale & clearance list should be ready by the middle of September. We’ll send an email out when it’s available for download.
• Factory Tours A unique opportunity for an in-depth look at our clay production. Free of charge but registration required. 
• Throwing Demonstrations with Jon French A chance to watch Jon at work, and learn about his practice. Free of charge, just drop-in.
• Painting Demonstrations with Valerie Shelton Watch Valerie transform a plain bisque surface into a thing of beauty, using Duncan EZ Strokes. Free of charge, just drop-in.
• Mayco Demos with Todd Hickerson Get ready to be inspired! Join Todd for three one-hour demos throughout the day. Free of charge but registration required. Places limited to 20. 

MAYCO WORKSHOPS & DEMOS

We are excited to share that Mayco’s Cone 6-10 specialist, Todd Hickerson, will be back at Potclays this year to spread the wonderful word of Mayco! Todd will be leading four full-day mid-high fire glazing workshops on the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before our Open Day - plus he will host a full day of FREE demonstrations during the Open Day itself. These workshops are designed to help you get the most out of Mayco Stoneware, Stroke and Coat, Fundamentals underglazes, Jungle Gems, Elements, Snow Gems, Mayco Fluxes, Washes and Engobes. If you're looking for flexibility in your firing temperatures or creating firing freedom, these workshops are for you. Todd will help you explore a variety of Mayco glazes that give great results from cone 06-10, and will cover best practices of Mayco glazes to achieve new and unique looks. Through this class you should gain the confidence to take your glazes further, experiment more, and make the most out of just a few glazes. Free Mayco samples will be handed out to participants, and a full range of Mayco products will be available to purchase at Open Day discounts before anyone else!

JON FRENCH

We are delighted to welcome back Jon French, Master Potter, to our Open Day. Jon will be demonstrating throwing (including miniature throwing!) all day in our showroom. Jon is a talented potter and painter, and has had a fascinating career. At the age of 16, he left the Essex countryside and took the bold step to move to the industrial town of Stoke-on-Trent and become an apprentice at Wedgwood. After 29 years working for them, he decided to go it alone and now produces his own ceramics utilising his main talent of hand-painting. In his time at Wedgwood, Jon worked in many divisions - Coalport, Masons, Jasperware and the Visitor Centre. Jon has worked on some of the finest collections and commissions for the finest homes and Palaces around the world, and created designs for high-end department stores - mainly in Japan. Jon's scope of work covers hand throwing the original basic shape to hand painting of portraits, classical scenes and prestige hand-gilding.

VALERIE SHELTON

We are very pleased to announce that Craft Potters Association Selected Members, Valerie and Ken Shelton, will be attending our Open Day again this year. Valerie will be demonstrating her beautiful brushwork using Duncan EZ Strokes, and Ken (who is also our technical consultant) will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about Potclays clays, glazes, kilns, wheels and more.Valerie studied fashion and textiles at Brighton and Bristol art colleges. Her art is about a combination of brushstroke and knowledge of colour acquired through a lifetime of painting. Ken learned to pot with potters in Bristol and London and has had a long association with potters throughout the country in his work for the craft ceramic materials industry and kiln manufacturing.  He has organised seminars with many of the best-known potters, an activity that enabled him to closely observe their skill and techniques which has influenced his approach to shape in his pottery. They have been selected members of the CPA since 1997.

FACTORY TOURS

Join us on a tour of our factory to learn about where our raw materials come from and how they are processed. Our tour will take you right through the manufacturing process, to the end result. 

Raw materials and blungers We will take a look at our raw material bays and materials warehouse, and watch material being loaded into the blungers. From here the slip is pumped to the 'rough arc' storage tank.

Sifters and sliphouse From the 'rough arc', the slip is pumped to the vibratory sifters which remove contaminants. The slip is then transferred to the 'fine arc' storage tank. From here, the slip is pumped to the sliphouse. Watch the team 'drop a press'.

Panmills Watch as material is loaded into our 'one of a kind' panmills and blended. Hear the fascinating story of our panmills and their surprising former life. Watch the clay as it is unloaded and sent down chutes leading to the pugmills.

Pugmills We'll see how the processed clay is transformed into a homogenous rectangular extrusion which is then sliced and bagged ready for sale.

We’re looking forward to seeing you soon!