What's in a Member Clinic?

One of the things that happens naturally in a pottery studio is that people gather around process.

Members gather around during a Throw Clay LA clinic demonstration, sharing techniques, questions, and ideas while learning together through clay. This clinic was on chattering.

Someone starts demonstrating a technique. A few people stop to watch. Questions start flying. Another member shares a trick they learned. Someone pulls over a half-finished piece to compare approaches. Before long, the room turns into a conversation about clay.

That spirit is at the heart of the member clinics at Throw Clay LA.

Held most weeks throughout the year, clinics are focused demonstrations, discussions, and occasional hands-on sessions centered around specific techniques, forms, tools, and ideas in ceramics. They are free for members and designed to keep curiosity, experimentation, and learning moving through the studio.

Some clinics focus on basic skills:

• trimming

• handles

• collaring

• underglaze techniques

• slab building

• surface carving

• glaze and kiln discussions

Others explore studio tools and equipment:

• using the extruder

• slip casting

• kiln basics

• understanding firing and glaze results

• revisiting ribs and pottery tools

Others wander into more advanced territory:

• double-walled forms

• swirl ware

• darting and altering

• leaf impressions

• faceting

• translating 2D ideas into 3D forms

• wall pocket planters

• pedestal feet

• chattering and texture

Clinic topics shift constantly as the studio changes and members explore new ideas. A clinic might grow out of a question someone asked the week before, a technique an instructor is excited to share, or a topic members want to explore together again.

Andy demonstrating collaring on a vase at a member clinic.

Two members catching up before a clinic in the Throw Clay LA studio.

Andy collaring a small jug on the potter's wheel.

And often, the clinic continues after the demonstration ends, with members gathering for potlucks, conversations, and the informal community moments that naturally form around a shared creative space.

Clinics are less about “mastering” something in an hour and more about staying engaged with the creative process, learning from one another, and spending time with people equally excited about clay.

For many members, clinics become part of the rhythm of studio life — another reason to show up, make work, see familiar faces, and stay creatively engaged.

Members continue building their foundation through ongoing 6-week pottery courses. Courses provide the time and consistency to develop skills more deeply, while clinics add moments of experimentation, discussion, and shared learning along the way.

Together, membership, courses, and clinics create a studio environment where people can continue learning, making, and growing through clay over time.