Private Pottery Workshops

  • 15+ years teaching, kids through adults of varying skill levels (more on LinkedIn)

  • 5–12 students (larger groups accommodated with different project options, contact me)

  • Pieces are created during the workshop, professionally fired & finished afterward

  • I come to you, or we pick a location together

I have an ever-growing series of workshops that I can bring to garden centers, clubs, community centers, or even just a group of friends. These can be adjusted based on your groups’s specific needs. Contact me for availability and details for your specific event.

Contact: Email me for a quote (tempestneucollins@gmail.com)

Workshop Catalog

Wall Pocket Workshop

  • A 2-color ceramic wall hanging, imprinted with real leaves and flowers so every vein and detail shows (perfect for display on it’s own, or hosting an air plant).

  • Beginner Friendly/All skill levels welcome

  • 2.5-3 hours (flexible ending point)

Handbuilt ceramic wall pocket planter made during a private pottery workshop.

We'll start with a spread of leaves and petals, picking shapes and textures that speak to you. I'll walk you through radial design, a forgiving way to arrange materials into a pattern before pressing them into the clay. From there, we'll shape your slab into a bowl form and pierce it so it can hang. Your piece is professionally glazed and fired after the workshop, so what you take home is a finished, ready-to-hang keepsake.

Sculptural Bonsai Vessel Workshop

  • A hand-built bonsai vessel, sculptural in form

  • Beginner Friendly/All skill levels welcome

  • Full Day Workshop

Bonsai means "tray planting." The practice has always been a relationship between the container and the tree. This workshop moves between the history and design principles behind that relationship and hands-on making time. You'll walk away with a small pot ready to host a starter bonsai tree of your choice, along with the historical know-how and vocabulary to talk about it.

We'll start by talking through that relationship between pot and tree, looking at potters who follow strict traditional design principles alongside contemporary makers pushing bonsai vessels toward something more sculptural, with the pot and the tree still acting symbiotically.

Then you'll build your own vessel by hand. We'll shape rounded forms using a slump mold, and as you work you'll be making decisions about clay color, design, and texture, building a ceramic landscape meant to host your tree. Along the way you'll dig deeper into traditional design principles and decide how far you want to push your own piece toward the sculptural. You'll have the chance to work slip, texture, and carved line into the surface. The forms are sculptural and modern, but the standards are old ones.

Questions

  • Private workshops are typically charged at a flat rate, which covers my planning time and instruction.

    • Half-day workshops (2-4 hours): $300-500, plus materials

    • Full-day workshops (4+ hours): $650, plus materials

    • Pot firing: $20 per pot, covers glazing, firing, and finishing

    I can accommodate up to 12 people in a typical workshop, so whoever books the session decides how the cost is divided, whether that's a family splitting it evenly or a club or garden center setting its own price for attendees.

    Reach out for a quote.

  • I can host at your garden center, your club, or your pottery studio, or even in your basement or backyard -- basically anywhere we can find a table. Each person needs about 2 feet of table space, plus room for a materials table and a demo area.

    If you don't have a space in mind, I have a few partner spaces I can suggest.

  • Group size is flexible. Most workshops run 5 to 12 people, but I can accommodate more. Larger groups sometimes mean adjusting the project itself so it still works well at scale. Tell me what you're working with and I'll help you figure out the logistics.

  • Absolutely. Once we're booked, I'll put together a full outline for the event, and we can adjust it together based on what your group needs.

  • No. Workshops are beginner friendly and I check in with everyone individually as we go, whether it’s your first time touching clay or you’re coming back to it.

  • For students who already have experience with clay, the workshops are still engaging, with room to take the project in more advanced directions, which I can support.

    If this is booked for a clay studio or group with more collective experience, we'll work together to lightly modify the outline and include additional challenges.

“Thank you, Tempest, for creating such an incredible, welcoming space and teaching the magical process of creativity!”

-Sandra Q.