If you haven’t already heard, Riverside has got its own local ceramics corner. Mud Hut Pottery is an amazing place for beginners, intermediate and advanced potters who want to experience the wonder of clay first hand. From pottery wheel classes to paint and sip events, this studio offers a variety of experiences to choose from to boost your creative juice.
When I entered the building, the soft smell of clay surrounded me. A wall filled from top to bottom with paintable clay pieces of all shapes and sizes stood proudly on my left. I was greeted with a smile and a “Welcome in!” Drying bowls and mugs from previous classes adorned the right wall and a “Hand-Building with Clay” workshop took place further down in the studio.
The adult beginner pottery wheel class costs $50 per spot during which an instructor walked us through every step of the process carefully. We began with learning how to set up and use the wheel as well as how to stabilize it at a speed we liked.
The instructor then walked the class through how to center the clay, letting people try it themselves before offering help. He then demonstrated each step to pull up the walls of the clay and create a cylinder, again, walking around offering help. Finally, he taught the class how to shape the cylinders into anything ranging from a simple bowl, cup, vase or even matcha bowl. After having shaped our first piece, we set it aside to dry and move on to the next one.
The beginner’s pottery class allowed us to create two pieces. The first one was very guided but the second one let us try everything out ourselves, remembering the steps and letting us experiment on our own. This time the instructor only helped us after being asked to as this part of the experience is mostly independent.
The Mud Hut Pottery Studio offers many different classes. If you choose to take an Adult Pottery Wheel Class, you have the choice between a 90-minute session of $50, or a 120-minute class where painting your pieces are included for $75. However, the studio offers classes without pottery wheels. The studio offers two different Hand Building classes as well, costing $50 as well as Paint and Sip classes for which the price varies.
Additionally, the studio also offers two different Date Night classes. A couple can learn to use a pottery wheel and create their own pieces together for $100 per couple. Another couple class is the sculpting ”Clay and Chardonnay” class for $90 per couple where couples participate in a hand building class. Finally, the studio offers hand-building and pottery wheel classes for children for $35 each.
Something important to note if you are unfamiliar with ceramics is that potters do not leave with their pieces immediately after class.Their work is fired and glazed in the weeks following their visit and they are notified when their work is ready for pick-up, four to six weeks after the class. Something they warn their clients about is that pottery pieces will sometimes break in the firing process due to excess water and other possible problems so the pieces are not guaranteed to come out in one piece, even though employees do their best to preserve them as best they can.
This studio is much smaller than chain stores like Color Me Mine, where people can pick out ceramics and paint and decorate them. This is not a bad thing however, as it gives it a more home-y, friendly and comfortable feel. The classes are smaller which allows for people to actually create their ceramics themselves and not just pick something from a wall to paint. The piece you create, and paint in some classes, is entirely yours from the shape of the clay to the smooth feel of the edges of your bowl.
