Brambleton Center opens sign-ups for eight-week intro pottery class

The Brambleton Center in Roanoke County is enrolling students for an eight-week introductory adult pottery class, the center’s staff announced. Sign-ups opened Feb. 17 and people may register online at roanokecountyparks.com, by calling the center at (540) 772-7529 (press 0), or in person at the front desk.

Rebecca, the class instructor, said the course begins with basic wheel work and works progressively through trimming, hand-building and other techniques. “The first week, we start by learning how to do every part of a bowl on the wheel very slowly,” Rebecca said. She described a sequence in which students make two bowls, trim them, practice hand-building and move on to making a coffee cup and other shapes later in the session.

The class is described as an introductory offering meant for people who have never worked with clay. Emily, a Brambleton Center staff member who helps schedule programs, said the class is appropriate for beginners and noted the center partners with the youth services division and the therapeutic recreation services division on programming. “They opened on February 17. So you can roll in now,” Emily said about registration.

Students will also see the finishing process explained and supervised: pieces are allowed to air dry (usually about a week), then undergo a lower-temperature bisque firing followed by a higher-temperature glaze firing that causes vitrification, producing finished, functional pottery. Rebecca said students return after class ends to pick up glazed pieces.

A student participant, Patrick, demonstrated work in progress and described learning to shape and decorate pieces. Rebecca said returning students may work with larger pieces and practice centering clay on the wheel once they have the basics.

For more information and to register, go to roanokecountyparks.com, call (540) 772-7529 (press 0), or visit the Brambleton Center in person.