This course allows you to spend three days immersed in learning how to create clay animals! Using a contemporary technique that is loose, expressive and breaks all the rules, you will make one sculpture each day – a wall-mounted portrait head, a sitting or lying down animal and a dynamic wall-mounted animal (no flying birds though, please!).
James Ort has been teaching his popular courses for years now. He specialises in a form of clay modelling which pushes clay to its limits. The technique is a fast, expressive and easy to learn. As a result, the pieces come to life being full of energy and grace.
Over the three days you will be given a series of demonstrations that show you the key stages and principles of the technique. The rest of the time will be spent making your own pieces with James’ guidance and support every step of the way. Once completed, your masterpieces will be dried out and then fired in our kilns. You will then need to return for a later glazing session to bring colour and life to your pieces before they go in for their final firing.
COURSE OUTLINE
DAY 1:
Wall-mounted portrait heads.
DAY 2:
Wall-mounted Dynamic Mammals
These forms have simple armatures in them, so we’ll be focusing on an understanding of anatomy and trying to get a sense of movement into your work. A snap shot in time as your animal moves through the world!
DAY 3:
Four-legged standing mammals.
GLAZING DAY
Bring your pieces to life with colour!
Once your masterpieces have been bisque fired in the kiln, come back and James will teach you how to best apply the underglazes. The allocated dates for glazing for this course are the 3rd/4th/5th October. You will be told how to sign up for one of these days. Make sure you put them in your diary!
This fun course includes:
- Informal, relaxed & attentive guidance for every student, provided by James Ort
- Step-by-step demonstrations covering…
- How to build an armatures for wall mounted animal heads, sitting or lying animals and dynamic wall-mounted animals
- How to apply the clay to best capture the animal’s anatomy and features
- How to create expressive facial features and give your piece character
- An outline of the firing process in our kiln room
- How to glaze your work using underglazes on a separate session. For this course the glazing sessions are scheduled for the 3rd/4th/5th October
Suitable for?
Anyone regardless of experience.
We generally limit the age to 14 years old+ though exceptions can be made where appropriate. Please contact James Orts and ask.
What is included in the price?
- Three full days teaching (10am-4.30pm)
- Clay, firings and glazes
- A glazing session once your pieces have been bisque fired
- Tea, coffee, biscuits/cakes
- Use of a beautiful, purpose built art studio with all the equipment & materials you will need
- Beautiful countryside setting
This course is for you if:
- You want to explore your creativity but lack the confidence to do so on your own
- You want to get away from it all and immerse yourself in a fun, creative environment
- You want to experiment in clay but aren’t interested in pottery
- You love animals
- You want to try another way of making sculpture armatures
- You’ve watched the Throw Down’s sculpture challenges and thought ‘I’d like to have a go at that!’
Pre course prep
If you have signed up for the course or are considering doing so then you just need to do a little preparation beforehand. In a nutshell you need to collect reference material of your chosen animals – various angles, the more photos the better.
You will be sent an email shortly after booking which prompts you towards documents that help you prepare for your time here. If this does not happen then please email James before the course.
You will also need to email James a picture of your chosen four-legged standing mammals before the course starts.
Need accommodation?
If you are travelling from further afield and would like to stay in the area for your visit then have a look at our recommend B&Bs and hotels. Click here for the list.
Return Glazing Session
Once you have made your creations on the course, they will need to be dried & bisque fired before they can be glazed. This means that you will need to return at another time to glaze your work, then another after that to collect the finished pieces.
You will need to book yourself onto one of the following planned glazing days, each starting at 10am:
- 3rd/4th/5th October 2026
Given that you will have three pieces to glaze, you should expect to be at the studio for the best part of the day, arriving at 10am.
Beyond The Course
Having completed a Phoenix Studio course many of our students choose to explore the medium further. They may come on another course, or carry on independently at home. We are more than happy to help and advise you in taking those first creative steps, help connect you to the wider creative community.
ABOUT THE TUTOR
James is the main tutor of this course. He is a wildlife artist. He has always loved animals and his late Grandfather, the Ladybird Children’s book illustrator Brian Price Thomas was a big catalyst for both his love of wildlife and art. His main passion is sculpture, where he is equally drawn to ceramic and wire.
James also has been the manager of the Phoenix Studio for over a decade now, having moved up to Oxfordshire from Brighton where he worked in conservation.
At the end of the course I am confident that you will come away with three pieces that you can be happy with and have a great sense of pride & achievement. Who knows, discovering ceramics may change the course of your life – it certainly has mine!
James Ort – Course Tutor
We get wonderful feedback from the people who attend this course. Here are just a couple of testimonials:
Had a really great time on the two day course with James and was amazed and very pleased at what I was able to produce as a newcomer. The turorials were inspiring and James and Alison were very patient and great fun to be around. And such lovely surroundings at the studios – a perfect way to spend a weekend!Ciara Murray
A great creative weekend. The studio is beautiful, well equipped and in a wonderful location. The resident chickens roam around the large wild lawns and we were even lucky enough to have lunch outside in early April! The tuition was brilliant. James and Alison were very thorough and made you feel very comfortable and confident. It was amazing what we were able to create in a matter of hours. James and Alison were always on hand to give instruction, suggestion and encouragement, and always in a relaxed, informal and very friendly way. The weekend was very social with a really supportive atmosphere. I will DEFINITELY be going back.
Nikki Windridge
Comments are closed.