A few of the thousands of
moulds Village Ceramics
keeps in stock
Whilst the UK is famous for its ceramic industry - the concept of Hobby Ceramics originated in the USA. Ceramic studios have been around for more than 30 years. The hobby is now becoming popular in the UK and Village Ceramics aims to meet the needs of everyone interested in creating their own ceramics. Following the same techniques used by major commercial ceramic companies (minus the mass production) you can create your own ceramic ware.
The degree of sophistication depends on you. Regular classes are available if you want to make a regular hobby out of ceramics or you can come along to Pay-as-you-Paint sessions whenever you like. If you are artistic it helps - but anyone following our guidance can produce a piece they will be proud of.
Hobby Ceramics is the art of decorating bisque ceramic pieces with glazes or stains. Many techniques and different types of paints are available.
Pouring the liquid clay
into a plaster mould
Our kilns reach a heat of
over 1200º C and the
firing cycle will often take
24 hours allowing for the
kiln to cool down
The ceramic piece is created by pouring liquid clay (slip) into a Plaster of Paris mould. Most moulds are made in the USA but a few are now being manufactured in the UK. The slip is allowed to dry and the piece removed from the mould. At this stage it is called Greenware, is grey in colour and extremely fragile. It then has to be cleaned up by hand which removes any imperfections. Some complex pieces are assembled from a number of separate moulds.
Village Ceramics differs from most ceramic studios in that we pour most of our pieces ourselves. This means we have a huge range available and if a piece is not on the shelf we may be able to specially pour it for you. We do also supply imported Italian bisque - particularly plates because they're better at it than us!
The next stage is to fire the piece in a special kiln to a very high temperature. This takes some hours followed by a further day to allow the kiln to cool down. After it has been fired the ceramic pieces becomes bisque and are white in colour and less fragile.
The ceramic piece can now be decorated using a wide range of glazes and stains. If using stains the piece is ready as soon as it is completed but is not as durable as glazed pieces. Stains are used for ornaments, lamps and items that do not require washing. When glazes are used we add a further coat of glaze before firing the piece in the kiln again.
Your finished piece will usually be available for collection a week or two later.
Once the piece has been fired your handy-work will last forever - providing you take care not to drop it! It is possible to wash it but we do not recommend using the dishwasher.