Class Experience
Centered: The Art of Mindfulness Cultivating Presence at the Potter’s Wheel
Fridays- 12pm-3pm 9/26-10/31
In this 6-week wheel-throwing class for adults, we explore pottery as a grounding, embodied, and expressive practice. Whether you're new to clay or returning with experience, this class invites you into deeper presence—at the wheel and within yourself. Through hands-on instruction, weekly themes, and guided mindfulness exercises, you’ll develop both ceramic skills and personal awareness.
Each session weaves together technical guidance and reflective exploration, allowing your creative process to become a meditation in motion. Together, we’ll discover how working with clay can support self-trust, patience, and presence—on and off the wheel.
Weekly Themes:
Week 1 – Centering with Confidence
Ground yourself in body, breath, and wheel. Learn foundational techniques for centering clay while exploring personal centering as a practice.
Week 2 – The Creative Edge: Pushing Clay & Returning to Center
Discover the edge of creative expression by stretching and shaping clay past its limits—then learning how to re-center, both literally and energetically.
Week 3 – Simplicity: Stop Fussing With It
Less is more. This week, we focus on recognizing when a piece is complete, resisting overworking, and trusting the simplicity of form.
Week 4 – Finding Your Process: The Yin & Yang of Making
Explore your natural rhythm in the studio. We'll look at balancing intuitive flow (yin) with structure and intention (yang) in both design and practice.
Week 5 – Glazing with Confidence
Approach glazing as a mindful extension of your process—not an afterthought. Learn simple, effective glaze techniques with intention and trust.
Week 6 – Embracing the Unexpected: Wabi-Sabi & the Art of Letting Go
In our final class, we reflect on imperfection, happy accidents, and the beauty of what clay teaches us. We'll finish and celebrate our final pieces while exploring the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—finding beauty in the unfinished, irregular, and impermanent.
Meet your instructor- Erin Winters is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative journey began in early childhood with crayons and crafts. Her background in movement arts—including acrobatic yoga, slackline yoga, and aerial silks—informs her tactile, embodied approach to visual art. She creates functional ceramics inspired by traditional Japanese techniques like kohiki, with a focus on ceremonial matcha bowls. Her recent watercolor series features animal totems and native plants from the Colorado ecosystem. Across all mediums, Erin’s work celebrates nature, ritual, and the joy of making.
Class Details:
Fee: $280
Duration: 6 sessions, 3 hours each
Skill Level: All levels welcome
Ages: 18+
Click HERE to register.
Materials: 20lb bag of reclaim provided at the beginning of class and additional clay is available for purchase. You can use outside clay, but it must be cone 5 and above. You will be provided a shelf and cubby.
Access to open studio hours is included for the duration of the class and two weeks following.
While communal tools are available, a basic tool kit will also need to be purchased at the start of the session. Purchase here- https://firehouseart.org/product/tool-kit/.
Storage:
There is shelving provided for each class in the classroom. This can be used for the duration of the class; however, once class is over these shelves must be cleared. Anything left behind after the two week grace period concludes will be assumed abandoned and then discarded.