Creative with Clay - Coiling & Making Botanical Slab Vases Workshop at the Haddenham Arts Centre - October 2026
Updated: 3 days ago
I returned to the Haddenham Arts Centre yesterday to teach another Creative with Clay workshop with a coiling session in the morning and a large slab botanical vases workshop in the afternoon. I had a really lovely creative group of students which made the day so much easier - especially as I was suffering from a bit of a head cold.
After their welcome tea & biscuits, everyone joined Simon and I in the studio where we spent the morning enjoying the freedom and playfulness of creating pots & mini sculptures using the coiling method. Everyone was thoroughly absorbed in the process and it was great to hear how much they enjoyed the mindfulness of the session.
I always use a camera and large screen to help demonstrate some of the more delicate or trickier elements of any technique, so everyone was able to see up close how to achieve the desired design and some of the more challenging joins.
After lunch, the students discovered the art of slab building; creating two large slab vases - the first with a completely botanical theme. Everyone enjoyed pressing in leaves, flowers and seed heads. I introduced some stamps and patterned rollers for the second vase, and some members of the group opted for a fabulous mixed media approach; incorporating botanicals with stamps and patterns. We also explored the idea of creating vases with voluptuous folds.
It was lovely to see all the different designs emerge and everyone should be very proud of their achievements.
Despite the terribly bumpy and pot-holey Fen roads, we managed to get all the work back to the Blended Monkey Studios intact. The lovely creations will now be left to dry slowly before they are bisque fired, provided with glaze colours already chosen by each student, and then high fired.
The students can then opt to collect from the Haddenham Arts Centre or from our Blended Monkey studios.
I'll post photos of the glazed and fired creations when they emerge from the kiln! But check out the shots and videos below so you can get a flavour of the day.
If you missed out on my Creative with Clay Coiling & Botanical Vases experience, I am repeating this next year, and you can also enjoy a 2-hour botanical vase workshop later this month. See below:
Sunday 11 October - 1.30 pm - 3.30 pm - Large Ceramic Botanical Vase Workshop - Farmland Museum & Denny Abbey - £50.00 - INFO & BOOK HERE
Friday 30 October - 5.45 pm - 8.00 pm - Evening of Ceramic Christmas Decorations - Blended Monkey Studios - £35.00 - INFO & BOOK HERE
Saturday 27 February - 10.00 am - 4.00 pm - Tile Making & Glazing - Haddenham Arts Centre - £80.00 - INFO & BOOK HERE
Saturday 24 April - 10.00 am - 4.00 pm - Creative with Clay Coiling & Large Ceramic Botanical Vases Workshop - Haddenham Arts Centre - £95.00 - INFO & BOOK HERE
And there are more dates on our website!
For more info about all our other fabulous guest tutor group workshops, visit our WEBSITE
Our experiences make ideal CRAFTY GIFTs & we can post or email you a complimentary personalised voucher if you'd like to make any of our experiences a present for somebody.
Botanicals ready to be pressed into clay - Blended Monkey creative with clay workshop Lovely group of students at my coiling & botanical vases ceramics workshop Coiled vessels made during the Blended Monkey Creative With Clay workshop Lots of botanicals to choose from Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Lovely coiled vessels created during my coiling & ceramic botanical vases workshop Some sample glazed coiled elements Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals Making a slab botanical vase with pressed in botanicals
Group Creative with Clay Experience taught by Louise from Blended Monkey
Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Botanical vases drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Coiled vessels and sculptures drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Coiled vessels and sculptures drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Coiled vessels and sculptures drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio Coiled vessels and sculptures drying in the Blended Monkey ceramics studio
Everyone's Ceramic Creations are now Slowly Drying in the Studio
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