Learn to clay like I do
Welcome to the Complete Ceramic Handbuilding Course! This is the course in where I have bundled my knowledge that I've gathered about ceramics in the past 7 years.
8 hours of video material is waiting for you to be enjoyed, learn from and be inspired <3
Participants that purchase this course in December 2024 will receive a special bonus (December participants only!):
A 30 minute mentor session (online or offline) with yours truly: me, Christina!
You can use these 30 minutes with me in different ways:
- To kickstart you if you want to begin, but somehow feel blocked
- To have me look with you while you work. I know that I like that sometimes, to get a bit of personal feedback from a professional
- A 30 minute compliment session: you rock, you rock, you rock
- A 30 minute coffee in where you can ask me anything about clay and art.
If one (or more) of these apply to you, this handbuilding course is made for you:
You are someone who would love to try out ceramics, but you don't know where to start. Is clay the same as mud? Can you bake clay in your regular oven (no)? Do you always need a turning wheel when working with clay (no! And you don't need one with this course, nice!)
You are a sensitive person who is currently more at home because something has happened in your life. Burn-out, depression, or anything else, but the world is just a lot to be in right now. You want to do something for yourself. Something with your inner-child, something creative. You are searching for a little more light in your life.
You are a wheel-turner and would like to delve in to the world of handbuilding. You've seen a couple youtube videos but they don't seem to go that far. You've seen this 'Crooked Garden' girl handpinch nice cups, how does she do that?
Hey you, I'm Christina! When I received my Bachelor of Arts in 2018, I found ceramics and ceramics found me. We have been very good friends ever since, and in the past years I have guided more than 600 sets of hands in their own process, in bringing a unique piece of ceramic dinnerware to life with handbuilding techniques.
Yes, more than 600 different people. That means that I've learned a thing or two about creative processes, and in this course I have compressed this knowledge into a nice set of videos guides that will help you in your creative clay path. This course is made with love and here, I will teach you to clay like I do - slow, with your hands and in tune with your inner creative child (the one that doesnt have the words to express herself, but would love to show you)
Clay is cool. Be welcome.
A selection of works that participants made during my classes in my atelier:
What will you learn?
When you buy this course, you will get acces to an archive of the lessons that I've learned about handbuilding with ceramics in the past 7 years. For one full year. I’ll guide you step-by-step through creating your own ceramic cup, plate, pitcher, fruit bowl, and vase using three primal handbuilding techniques. You’ll learn everything you need to start, from working with clay types and safe practices (a.k.a. dumb ways to clay) to glazing with commercial glazes and finishing your pieces. You do not need an electric turning wheel for these techniques! You can clay from your kitchentable.
The videos that I've created, are made to let you feel like you are creating together with me. They will go at the pace of creation (resulting in often lessons of 1,5 hour). You are allways welcome to pause or speed up the video to let her match your own pace. I've given ceramic workshops for 6 years, in spaces that I created to make you feel inspired and safe - an important part of the creation process. With these videos I do not only teach you the techniques, but will also do my best to make you feel at ease through the screen.
Practical
It is important - if you want to bake the items that you create and safely use them in your daily life, that you will have access to a pottery kiln. Clay needs to be fired above 1220 degrees Celcius to become foodsafe and durable.If you live around (or can travel to) Groningen, Netherlands, I offer a special baking service. This will only be available to participants who have purchased the online course and will cost a little extra (€175,- to be exact, because it includes a clay pacakge, to make sure that no unknown materials enter the kiln). More info here.
An example of one of the lessons
(in this one I teach you how to create
a plate!)
I've always done my utmost best to create an inspiring enviroment for workshop participants in my atelier. My goal was to let them feel safe enough to really dare to create. I am now translating this to the online world and so, I've created videos to let you feel like I'm creating together with you.
A small selection of reviews, from people that visited my atelier in recent years:
Deeper thoughts on working with clay:
Hand-building with clay is the Crooked Garden specialization. I personally think it's best to work together with the clay and truly connect with this extraordinary, ancient material. I work, for example, with the 'handpinching technique'. This is a special, primitive method (thousands of years old—look up “Trechterbeker cultuur” if you're curious) that engages your sense of touch, and by doing so, connects you with your body.
Feeling your fingertips brush and pinch and knead with clay - this material from Mother Earth, is a unique experience. It brings calm and can be practised whenever you feel like it, even when life isn’t flowing smoothly. You build and bring something to life, with peace and attention. When the item is fired, a kind of birth occurs. You’ve brought a piece to life that can last an incredibly long time (if you handle it carefully) and, in a special case, your grandchildren might even one day drink coffee from it.
Clay gives something back to the one working with it. From grounding, to mirroring something from your unconscious and thereby making it known to you. It helps you find balance. If you have a stubborn personality and you allways push through, clay invites you to slow down a bit. If you find new things intimidating, clay is gentle and welcoming. If you think you’re not creative, then your clay work says: "That’s completely okay, but look—you can just drink coffee from me; isn’t that awesome? You made me; big high five!”
Everyone has creativity in their heart, but not everyone knows how to access it.
Some people were told early on elementary school that they were "not creative" and this has stuck with them.
Others couldn’t draw like the beautiful images they saw on Instagram and labeled themselves "not creative" because of it. I have noticed that even children develop perfectionism quite fast, which is quite human but also a sad thing for our creative wings.
In a society so focused on achievement, our magical creation abilties sometimes get pushed to the back. We might forget the importance of it, the fact that it gets your energy flowing, calms overstimulation in your brain, and gives expression to your unique self. There’s only one of you! There are shapes hiding in your hands, an inner child that would love to express herself. Clay is definitely not the only way for that, but I do find clay a satisfying medium. Clay has a voice and will push back if your perfectionism takes over. Clay invites you to take it slow and has so many experimentation options that it somehow stays fun to create cups, and another and another :)
My aim is to help you (re)connect with your creativity, I'm here to take a couple steps together with you on your personal creative journey. From one artist, to another!
I hope that these videos will make you feel safe enough to explore. To feel encouraged to dare —even to fail (which is a big part of creating)—to be a creative person, and, of course, to simply enjoy doing your thing.
If you like to know more or say hi, be welcome you to reach out on my Instagram. I’m here! Or my mail: workshop@crooked-garden.com
Ready to get your hand in clay? Feel free to sign up for the course (button on the top of this page). Be welcome, enjoy!
