Making Course 07 · Studio course
Pottery —
Wheel Basics
Six Tuesday evenings at the wheel. You will centre, throw, trim and glaze real pots — and take home up to four finished pieces, fired in our own kiln.
- Starts
- Tue 10 Nov
19:00–21:00 - Where
- Studio 2
14 Kirkgate, Leeds - Runs
- 6 weeks
12 places max
6 left of 12 places on the Tue 10 Nov batch
This batch starts in
Counting down to Tue 10 Nov 2026, 19:00. When it hits zero, this batch is in session.
Six evenings.
Twelve wheels. One kiln.
Wheel Basics is Meridian's longest-running course, built for complete beginners and for anyone whose last throw was at school. Studio 2 has twelve wheels, so nobody shares, nobody watches — you are on your own wheel from the first ten minutes of week one.
Each session is two hours with a short break at the half. Tom demonstrates one skill, then you practise it with him moving wheel to wheel. Class size is capped at twelve so every student gets hands-on correction every week — that cap is the course, and it is why batches fill.
Everything is provided: clay, tools, glazes, aprons and kiln firing for your course pieces. Finished work is ready to collect three weeks after week six, and we email you the day it leaves the kiln.
Studio 2 on a Tuesday evening — twelve wheels, natural light, one kiln at the back.
The six
weeks
Same shape every week: ten-minute demonstration, then the wheel is yours. Open a week to see what you will do — and what you leave with.
Preparing clay so it behaves, then the core skill everything else stands on: centring. By the end of the session you will have opened and raised your first cylinder — it will be thick, it may be wonky, and it will be yours.
You leave with: a thrown cylinder, kept for trimming in week 4.
From the centred lump to a vessel with even walls. Knuckling up, pulling in stages, judging thickness by sound and touch. You'll throw a run of beakers and pick the best two to keep.
You leave with: two beakers with even walls, drying for week 4.
Opening wide instead of tall: bowl forms, curves and rims. How to support a form that wants to flop, and how to stop at the right moment.
You leave with: a wide bowl, shaped and finished at the rim.
Leather-hard work on the wheel: turning foot rings, signing bases, rescuing pieces that dried unevenly. This is the week pots start looking deliberate.
You leave with: your week 1–3 pieces, trimmed and signed.
Pulling handles from a lug of clay, scoring and slipping joins that survive firing. Turning your best beaker into a mug — the join is the whole lesson.
You leave with: a handled mug, joined and drying.
Wax, dip, pour: the studio's six glazes and how they behave. You'll glaze your four chosen pieces and load the kiln with Tom, learning what a firing schedule actually does.
You leave with: four glazed pieces in the kiln, ready in three weeks.
Batch schedule
Pottery — Wheel Basics · Studio 2
| Starts | Day & time | Teacher | Places left | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 10 Nov 2026 | Tuesdays · 19:00–21:00 · 6 weeks | Tom Okafor | 6 of 12 | Booking |
| Tue 12 Jan 2027 | Tuesdays · 19:00–21:00 · 6 weeks | Tom Okafor | 12 of 12 | Booking |
| Sat 16 Jan 2027 | Saturdays · 10:00–12:00 · 6 weeks | Tom Okafor | 12 of 12 | Booking |
| Tue 02 Mar 2027 | Tuesdays · 19:00–21:00 · 6 weeks | Tom Okafor | — | Boards Tue 19 Jan |
Every batch is the same 6 weeks, the same teacher, the same fee. Later batches board on the 1st of the month, two months ahead.
Full course fee
£228
or 3 × £76 monthly — the same total, no extra cost.
- Clay, glazes, tools and apron included
- Firing for up to 4 finished pieces included
- Extra firing £3 per piece — only if you make more
- 15% concession for full-time students & over-60s
How paying works
-
1
Enquire — we hold your place for 48 hours
Send the form below. We confirm your place by email within one working day, and it is held for 48 hours while you pay. No payment is taken from the form itself.
-
2
Pay in full, or start instalment one
The confirmation email carries one payment link. Instalments leave your account monthly on the date you choose; the last one lands before the course ends.
-
3
Changed your mind? The rules are printed
Full refund up to 14 days before your start date. Inside 14 days, one free transfer to a later batch. If we ever cancel, you choose: full refund or free transfer.
Your teacher
Tom Okafor
Tom has thrown pots for fourteen years — first in a community studio in Manchester, then as a production potter making tableware for restaurants. He still makes the mugs Meridian's café corner drinks from; check the base for the stamp.
He teaches the way he was taught: one skill at a time, demonstrated once, then practised until it sticks. His students' most-quoted review is also the shortest: “He never says good enough — he shows you the fix.”
Tom's other batches on the board
- Tue 24 Nov Ceramics — Glazing & Finishing · Studio 2 · 4 weeks · £164
- Sat 28 Nov Pottery — Hand Building & Sculpture · Studio 2 · 5 weeks · £195
- Sat 28 Nov Glazing Saturday (workshop) · Studio 2 · one session · £35
- Sat 05 Dec Hand Building Taster (workshop) · Studio 2 · one session · £28
Good to know before session one
- Aprons are provided. Clay washes out of most clothes; wear something you like less than your pots.
- Short nails centre better. If yours are long, Tom will show you the knuckle technique instead.
- Arrive from 18:45. The studio opens fifteen minutes early; wheels are claimed in arrival order.
- Collection in 3 weeks. We email when your glazed pieces leave the kiln — bring a bag, we provide the wrapping.
Enquire for
this course
Two minutes, no payment taken. We reply within one working day (Mon–Sat) and hold your place for 48 hours.
Pottery — Wheel Basics
- Next start: Tue 10 Nov · 19:00
- Studio 2, Leeds
- £228 or 3 × £76 · 6 places left
Prefer to talk? Call 0113 496 0000, Mon–Sat 09:00–21:00.
Enquiry received
You're on the list.
Reference ENQ-0000
We reply within one working day (Mon–Sat).
Your place is held for 48 hours from our reply. If you don't hear from us, check spam — or call 0113 496 0000 and quote your reference.