Workshops
Wheel Throwing to Hand-building
Clay Taster
This course is the perfect introduction to working with clay on the potter’s wheel. You’ll start by getting to know clay as a material and learning how a simple ball is gradually transformed into a vessel. With our guidance, you’ll shape your first pieces on the potter’s wheel and experiment with various techniques. Result: 1 piece.
Schedule AppointmentIntroduction to wheel throwing
Clay Foundations
Over the course of 4 weeks, you’ll learn the basics of pottery on the wheel: shaping, trimming, and glazing. With each lesson, you’ll see your skills grow. By the end, you’ll be able to take several unique pieces home with you. The course is taught in small groups. We guarantee a supportive atmosphere and guidance so you can experiment at your own pace. After the course, you can continue your journey by practicing on your own in our Open Studio or by deepening your skills in the Clay Flow course. Outcome: 2–5 pieces.
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City Clay Retreat
Daily hands-on practice will help you progress faster than a weekly class. You’ll learn how to make bowls, plates, handles, and master key techniques alongside a small group. Everything is included: lunch, drinks, clay, glaze, and firing services. At the end, you’ll take home up to fifteen handmade pieces and many wonderful memories from Zurich.
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Clay Flow
Over the course of 4 weeks, you’ll strengthen your technique through targeted practice. We’ll work with larger amounts of clay, perfect our cylinder-building technique, and explore new forms such as plates and handles, all while you continue to develop your personal style. Clay Flow is the ideal next step after our Clay Foundations course and prepares you to continue practicing on your own in our Open Atelier, as a member of Studio Roka, or through additional advanced courses or our private lessons. Result: 2–5 pieces.
Schedule AppointmentGo deeper - Intermediate and skill courses
Glazing 101
Discover the art of glazing in this hands-on workshop for all skill levels. Learn how to test glazes, create sample tiles, and try out different application techniques. You’ll get practical tips on brands, mixtures, and much more. It’s the perfect way to take your pottery to the next level.
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Throw Bigger Bowls
Are you ready to move beyond cups and small bowls? In this lesson, you'll learn how to work with more clay and discover the joy of creating larger, bolder shapes.
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Off the Hump
This is considered a very old, traditional method in ceramics, in which many small pieces are thrown from a larger lump of clay, rather than centering a new ball of clay each time. It’s perfect for making a set of cups or bowls, finding your rhythm, or simply practicing and training your fingers.
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Centering Masterclass
Even experienced potters struggle with centering from time to time. This workshop is dedicated entirely to improving efficiency, body positioning, and control at the wheel, helping you centre any amount of clay with confidence and less effort. Level: basic wheel skills.
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Throwing high Cylinders
The cylinder is one of the most fundamental forms on the pottery wheel. Learn how to pull taller walls, improve consistency, and create strong, elegant cylinders that can become vases, utensil holders, pitchers, or larger vessels. Perfect for anyone looking to refine their throwing skills. Level: Intermediate
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Stretching Forms
How to stretch vom cylinder to a vase. Starting with a simple cylinder, you'll learn techniques for shaping elegant vases, bottles, and flowing forms while maintaining strength and balance in your pieces. Level: Intermidiate
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Weekend Wheel Intensive
Weekend Intensive Wheel Throwing Course All the fundamentals, packaged in a more intensive weekend format. In this course you'll learn the essential steps of throwing on the potter's wheel over two weekends instead of in a weekly course. In three guided sessions of 3 hours each, you'll learn how to prepare clay, centre it and throw simple forms. Along the way you'll develop your technique, trim and finish your pieces, and get an introduction to glazing. The course is suitable for absolute beginners and is designed to give you the foundations to then continue working independently in the "Open Atelier" or as a member of "Studio Roka". Included in the price is a glazing session in the "Open Atelier", where you can finish glazing your pieces. As a rule, 3–8 pieces are made during the course.
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Handbuilding Taster
Discover the world of ceramics and handbuild your own mug. In this beginner’s course, you’ll learn the basics of hand-building with clay and use the thumb-coiling technique to shape your own unique piece. Give your mug a personal touch with a handle, patterns, or a name stamp. After the class, we’ll glaze your piece for you. Once it’s fired, you can pick up your finished mug from us about 3 weeks later. Result: 1 piece.
Schedule AppointmentIntroduction to Handbuilding
Handbuilding Foundation
In this 4-week course, you’ll learn the basics of handbuilding. You’ll explore key techniques such as pinching, coiling, and slab building, while focusing on form, texture, and your own artistic expression. Each day of the course builds on the previous one, guiding you from simple shapes to more sophisticated, functional pieces. You’ll create several finished pieces and gain the confidence to continue working on your own. Outcome: 3–5 objects.
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Nerikomi Technique
A playful session full of color and energy. This workshop invites you to explore the fascinating world of mixed clay, a technique that combines different types of clay to create unique organic or geometric patterns directly in the material. In this class, you can take the pieces you make home with you. We’ll glaze them with a transparent glaze.
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Jewelry Making
Small treasures with big personalities: Create earrings, pendants, rings, or beads out of clay. A creative, detail-oriented course that’s perfect for experimenting and making wearable art. In this course, you’ll get to take home a pair of stud earrings.
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Porcelain coiling
Working with this delicate material requires a slower pace, in which the form is shaped layer by layer and subtle details come into focus. In this course, you’ll learn about porcelain through carefully considered hand-forming techniques and discover how to create balanced forms, refine surfaces, and work confidently with the unique properties of porcelain.
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Dream Objects
That ceramic piece you’ve always wanted to create but may have found a bit intimidating until now—now is the perfect time to get started. In this one-day hand-building workshop, Mojca will guide you from your initial idea to the finished piece. With her support, you’ll create something personal and unique, entirely at your own pace.
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Organic Sculpture
Join us at Studio Roka for a five-hour ceramics workshop where you’ll explore sculptural hand-building techniques. Led by artist Cynthia Besomi, you’ll start with coffee and a relaxed conversation before diving into a focused, hands-on creative session where you’ll create your own medium-sized sculptural piece. Included: 5-hour guided workshop with Cynthia Besomi 2 kg of clay, two firings Refreshments: Coffee and a light lunch What you’ll make: A medium-sized, sculptural ceramic object with a raw, unglazed finish. Who it’s for: Open to beginners and experienced artists alike
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Yoga and Clay
A slow Sunday afternoon shaped by movement and making, in collaboration with Soul City. We begin in Soul City’s yoga studio with a 75-minute embodied vinyasa class - a moment to arrive in the body, release tension, and let the mind soften a little. Afterwards, we stay for tea and cake before walking together to Studio Roka. There, the afternoon continues with a two-hour handbuilding session. We’ll work with clay in a calm, intuitive way, making pieces by hand without pressure or perfection - just time, material, and the pleasure of creating. The workshop is open to everyone, and no experience is needed. All materials are included, and the pieces will be glazed and fired, ready for pickup a few weeks later.
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