Level 2 | Creative Throwing with Marcus O'Mahony | 1 Day

Join renowned Irish potter Marcus O’Mahony for a one-day masterclass exploring the potter’s wheel as a creative tool. Taking place on 21st November, from 11am - 5pm this workshop will explore Marcus’s experimental and intuitive approach to throwing, from miniature forms to larger functional and non-functional pieces. Throughout the day, Marcus will demonstrate a wide range of techniques, sharing his approach to working with clay and encouraging participants to push beyond conventional forms. You’ll explore throwing off the hump, scaling up your pots, altering work both on and off the wheel, and using techniques including faceting, squaring and drawing. Marcus will work with a variety of stoneware clay blends, demonstrating how different materials respond on the wheel and how they can be pushed in different directions. What You’ll Explore: Throwing Off the Hump: Explore techniques for throwing multiple smaller forms efficiently and developing a more fluid approach to working at the wheel. Scaling Up: Learn approaches to throwing larger forms, including managing larger amounts of clay and maintaining control as your pots grow. Letting Go: Move beyond making perfectly controlled forms and explore a more intuitive, responsive approach to throwing. Wild Throwing: Experiment with altering and manipulating thrown forms, using the wheel as a starting point rather than an endpoint. Altering & Surface: Explore faceting, squaring, drawing and other ways of transforming thrown forms both on and off the wheel. Trimming: Look at Marcus’s approach to trimming, including techniques for trimming both on and off the wheel.* The day will include plenty of demonstrations, discussion and opportunities to ask questions about Marcus’s approach, influences and experience as a potter. This masterclass is suitable for Level 2 students and experienced wheel throwers who are looking to develop their throwing practice and explore a more experimental approach to form. Participants should be confident centring and throwing independently. *Please note as this is a one day masterclass, a follow up trimming session is not included in the workshop - participants have the option to keep pots or may want to use this as a learning experience. About the Artist: Marcus O’Mahony is an Irish potter based in Glencairn, Co. Waterford. He has been working with clay since 1972, when he began studying ceramics at Limerick School of Art. After graduating, he spent twelve years teaching art and pottery in prison education before moving to Waterford in 1993 to establish his own pottery. Marcus has exhibited widely and has worked as a visiting tutor at LSAD and NCAD. He is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association UK and has spent many years teaching workshops alongside leading Irish, British, American and Japanese potters. His own practice combines wheel-thrown functional pottery with wood firing and salt glazing. Since 2006, he has been deeply engaged with wood firing, building and firing his own kilns and exploring how flame, ash, placement and firing conditions contribute to the final surface of his work. His practice reflects a lifelong curiosity about clay, process and the unexpected possibilities that emerge through making.