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There’s something so therapeutic about working with your hands and creating something special. If you’re in the mood to try a new creative outlet, why not give pottery classes a shot?

Over the weekend, I joined a Throw & Paint workshop at Maimojie Studios near Sunway Giza in Kota Damansara to find out what pottery making is all about.

The small and intimate class was led by Mai, who opened her studio about three months ago.

She shared that her forte was painting but she tried ceramic art as a challenge as she wanted to work on something that’s “more 3D.” She got into pottery-making a year ago and slowly self-taught herself while working as a student assistant in another pottery-making studio.

Mai said she has always been creative and grew up in an artistic family. Her father works as an art lecturer and she was delighted to discover that her grandmother also does pottery.

She decided to start a small, intimate pottery-making class because she believes it provides participants with better supervision and guidance.

What happens in a Throw & Paint workshop?

The Throw & Paint workshop session is beginner-friendly. Mai would demonstrate and guide the whole class through the process of preparing and shaping the clay so that it doesn’t crack when it’s baked and hardened in the kiln later.

Mai first showed us how to control the speed of the pottery wheel using the pedal controller. It’ll take first-timers like me a few tries to get a hang of it but it wasn’t difficult.

Once that’s down to pat, each person gets a lump of clay to create their masterpiece. Mai would guide us on how to shape the clay into a cone before flattening it into a lump again.

The process is repeated twice to remove air bubbles within the clay. If there are any air bubbles in the clay, the mug or plate you make might crack during the drying process.

The process of shaping the clay cannot be rushed and requires patience, concentration, and fine motor skills. You can’t squish or hold the wet clay too hard and you can’t be too gentle either. The good thing about working with clay is that you can always start over if you’ve made a mistake.

The next step depends on what clay object we want to make. For beginners, they can try their hand at making a mug without handles and that’s what I did.

To make a clay mug, I had to create a hole using my thumbs on the lump of clay. During the process, we would occasionally “clean up” the centre of the hole with a mini sponge to suck up excess water.

When the mug-shaped clay was wide enough, it was time to shape the height of the mug’s walls. This process requires the delicate skill of “pinching and pulling” the clay in a slow and gentle upward motion. It’s another process that can’t be rushed through.

The process to make a plate is similar: we would make a hole in the centre of the clay but also do a pulling motion towards us which will gradually flatten and widen the clay lump.

Once we’re happy with our masterpieces, Mai would help us remove our creations from the pottery wheel and dry them using a heat gun so they could be painted later.

When the clay mugs and plates were dry enough, we got to paint them using ceramic underglaze. The clay would dry white so keep that in mind when you’re designing your artwork on the clay object you made.

Mai said the clay mugs and plates can be collected from the studio after about a month because it takes that long to dry and bake in the kiln. Workshop participants will be contacted when their masterpieces are ready to be picked up.

All in all, the Throw & Paint session lasted about three hours but time flew by without me noticing as I had lots of fun.

Mai also holds Character Cup workshops and Ceramic Magnet workshops. For those nervous about making a full mug or plate for the first time, the Ceramic Magnet workshop is a good starting ground and perfect for children.

The workshops are recommended for ages six and above. Since the Throw & Paint workshop is a low-seat activity, it’s best to avoid wearing skirts or shorts. Aprons and required materials are all provided in the studio.

If you’re interested in clay workshops at Maimojie Studio, head over to the official website to book your sessions here.

Maimojie Studio

Address: 7-3, Second Floor, Jalan PJU 5/9, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 (above Enliven).

Business hours:
Closed on Tuesdays
Wednesday-Monday: 10am-6pm

Instagram: @maimojiestudio

Website: Maimojie Studio

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Maimojie Studio: Where Making A Clay Mug & Plate Becomes Pure Fun [Review]