The pottery retreats that are making clay cool

What began as a desire for handmade ceramics has tipped into a yearning to throw our own shapes, fuelled through lockdown by Instagram avant-garde pot-stars such as Florian Gadsby, Tortus and the sweary, surfing Mua duo.

Now, as restrictions lift, Britain’s studios are launching new-wave pottery retreats – no longer the preserve of retirees fashioning ornamental owls – which take the art form to the next level.

“Before the pandemic, pottery was already increasing in popularity,” says Lucy Attwood from Studio Pottery London (studio-pottery-london.com), who has arranged retreats for Soho House, Daylesford and Instagram HQ in addition to the studio’s courses. As we near the end of lockdown, Attwood reports a renewed surge of interest. “The pursuit of making in clay is creative, therapeutic, and even spiritually nourishing.”

In response, she has organised three retreats: two in July (artist Faye Wei Wei has signed up), led by Michel François in Cornwall – the heartland of Britain’s

studio pottery movement – with retreaters staying at St Mawes B&B Braganza; and one in November on the Cowdray Estate (cowdray.co.uk).

And from mid-May, hotel and millennial members’ club Birch (birch community.com) reopens its studio in Hertfordshire, holding classes with Emma Louise Payne, whose quirky porcelain details decorate the hotel.

i Pot luck: creations by Florian Gadsby