About
Familia Studios was set up and is run by Georgie Dixon, a ceramics maker from Manchester with 10+ years experience working in open-to-the-public pottery studios in Brighton, Melbourne, Australia and Manchester.
We host one-off workshops in both wheel throwing and hand-building, private events, 6-week courses in wheel throwing and our Friday night Ceramics Social is held once per month. Our spacious studio is conveniently located in Ardwick, where we aim to foster an encouraging, judgement-free, creative environment in which complete beginners and intermediate makers can come along and feel part of the furniture.
Please find answers to some of our FAQs below
Frequently asked questions
What should I wear?
Wear comfortable, everyday clothes that you won’t mind getting a little messy. Clay comes off easily with water, so anything that can be easily washed will be fine and we have aprons at the studio for you to use. Long nails are not recommended for wheel throwing.
What’s included in the class fee?
All materials, tools equipment and firing are usually included unless stated otherwise.
Hand-building or wheel throwing?
We love both! It's difficult to summarise , but we'd say that wheel throwing is messier, more physically challenging and there are a lot of steps and techniques to keep up with. Hand-building allows you to have better control over the clay from the get-go, and if you want to spend more time chatting as you create, it might be the better option. On the wheel, everything you make has a cylindrical form, and with hand-building you could go a little more off-piste with the base shape of your creation.
What's the cancellation policy?
To reschedule or cancel a booking, we require 2 weeks advanced notice. This allows us enough time to re-sell your spot in the class. If you provide between 14-3 days notice, we will attempt to re-sell your spot, but can only provide the refund if we are able to re-sell your spot. We are not able to provide refunds where less than 3 days notice is given nor in the event of a 'no-show'.
This may seem strict, but this is because when you make a booking, a wheel is reserved for and held you for the duration of the class. Think of it like a restaurant, but it's a restaurant that only has 4 seats! Regular cancellations or no shows could have a huge, detrimental impact on the business.
I want to do a 6-week course but I can't attend every session.
If you miss one of your 6-week course sessions we cannot offer you a replacement class. It may be possible to provide you with studio practise hours, but this would self-guided, not a taught class. As making pottery ceramics is very time sensitive, when you miss 1 week, it can have a knock on effect on the remaining weeks.
How can I get in touch?
Email is best. We're a very small team juggling the teaching of our classes with managing our bookings and queries. Georgie puts in a lot of effort to responding quickly via email and to providing clear information on the website.
It's more expensive than I expected.
We understand this feeling, ceramics is unfortunately, an expensive hobby to get into, making it also an expensive business to run. However, we think that when you compare the cost of eating and sitting in a nice restaurant for 2 hours, the price of a 2 hour class is quite comparable. The same rules apply - you're not just paying for ingredients and a product, you're paying for time, skills, years of training, electricity, rent and most importantly, something you can't do without our equipment and assistance.
Can I bring a child?
At this stage, no. It's not because we have anything against children, it's that the physical strength needed to use the wheel surprises even a lot of adults, and we find that a lot of children don't enjoy the repetitive nature of a wheel class in the same way that adults do. We're still a very young business, and we do hope to introduce classes for children and teenagers in the future - but this will be classes that are designed for them, with pricing, class format and times of day considered and made for families. At this stage we cannot say exactly when this might happen.
Wheel Intro Classes are suitable for ages 14+ when attending with an adult.
Why can't I take the pieces away on the day?
Clay in its 'raw' form won't be much use to you. To make your items into strong, water tight, food-safe and usable ceramic, the clay needs to be fired in a kiln.
Why does it take 3-4 weeks?
The process of turning clay into ceramic is slow, with many steps. After a piece is made it needs to be thoroughly dry before we fire it for the first time. In summer, the weather helps greatly in speeding this process up, but, like waiting for your clothes to dry, in winter it can take 3 or 4 times as long.
When pieces are completely dry we can put them in for the first firing - a 'bisque firing' up to 1000°c (an 8 hour firing, plus another 10 hours for the kiln to cool back down). Then we glaze the item, and fire it again this time a 'glaze' firing, up to 1200°c (with another 12 hours for the kiln to cool back down.)
Do I have to get the pieces fired?
Absolutely not! One of the beauties of clay in its raw form is that can be recycled and re-used again and again. Ceramic (fired clay) on the other hand, is a material that will outlive us all and cannot be recycled. We encourage our guests to think consciously about what they do and don't want to have fired. If you're coming along to enjoy the experience of getting your hands dirty and are less interested in the end result, please do let us know on the day and we can re-use your clay you've used for something else rather than firing it.
Can you post the items to me?
Yes. We charge a flat rate of £5, please pay and provide the postal address on the day of your workshop.