Pottery Painting
At Florence & Milly we provide pre-fired pottery and supplies, so you can paint your own pottery and add personal touches with or without our guidance as a gift or keepsake.
If you are alone or in a group, a babe in arms, a couple on a date or a grandparent entertaining the family, all are welcome! And you do not need to be an artist to enjoy our extensive pottery activities. We have studio assistants on hand to show you how things work.
Florence & Milly supplies everything that you need:
Step 1
Choose from a great selection of pre-fired pottery forms.
Step 2
Pick & paint your own pottery using our non-toxic glazes and finishes. All the brushes, sponges, stencils, and supplies are provided. We give every customer a thorough demonstration before they start decorating and guidance throughout if needed. We usually allow up to 1 hour for painting. If you think you will be longer let us know when you book. Or you can always return another day to finish your piece, just pay a €8 continuation fee per hr.
Step 3
Leave your masterpiece to be clear glazed by us and fired in our kiln. Collect in 7-10 days from the studio. Just visiting? We can post your items to you for an extra fee. Pricing is generally €11-20 to Ireland or €15+ to UK & Europe.
Clay Handbuilding
Clay Handbuilding is a pottery making technique that involves creating forms without a pottery wheel, using the hands, fingers, and simple tools. There are no ends to its infinite possibilities and scope and here at Florence & Milly we offer you the opportunity to try it out.
Clay handbuilding starts at €18 per person and €10 per lb of clay thereafter, that includes drying out of the pottery made and kiln firing after 7-14 days before returning to the studio to collect your pottery. Once fired, your pots can now be painted, glazed, and refired for an additional €14 per person (not per item). So, for €32 you can hand build your own mug and personalise it for functional use!
Clay Wheelthrowing
One to one pottery wheelthrowing lessons on a kick Pottery wheel (not electric so you power the wheel) with our resident wheel pottery throwing Potter, Holly Parrow.
What you get:
The price includes all materials used in the session and includes firing & glazing of 1 pot of your choice. Extra pots will be reclaimed for studio use or can be left for firing and glazing at €18 per pot. We ask that under 16s are supervised at all times by their parent or guardian while at the studio. Everything will be spaced out – Covid 19 Safe. Sessions will last for the duration you have booked (including demonstration & clean up time at the end).
Cost: One person €50 per hr, Couples €90 per hr, Teens €45 for 45 mins, Child 8-12yrs €35 for 30 mins
Rent the use of the studio wheel by the hour
Pay by the hour to use the studio’s seated kick wheel or table top electric wheel. Tuition is not included in this session so you will need to know how to use the wheel already.
There is a kick wheel so you adjust the speed by kicking the pedal faster or slowing it down making it much easier to control. It is ideal for throwing and practice throwing.
It costs €30 an hour to use the wheel and this doesn’t include your time for cleaning everything down afterwards.
Some things to mention about renting the wheel:
- Where possible you are welcome to store your pottery at the studio while it dries, but at peak times when the studio is full of pottery you may be asked to take your pots away with you – so bring a box just in case.
- You will have the use of all the studio tools, wheel batts or whatever else you might need but feel free to bring your own along too.
- You will you need to leave the wheel, bats, tools and splash pan completely clean after use.
- You are required to cover the cost of any damage caused to the equipment that occurs while you are using it. This includes the wheel, splash pan, and any tools or wheel bats you might use.
Please note:
You will need to buy clay to use on the wheel (no Terracotta or red clays allowed). You can buy it directly in studio, where we stock 2 varieties of clay; white grogged or college buff that fire to both earthenware or stoneware temperatures. You will also need to cover the cost of firing any items you may want to put into the kiln after. You can find more info on that under Kiln rental.
You will need to arrange a time directly with Laura to come in and use it, during normal opening times and at a time when there are no classes happening.
For health & safety reasons:
Bring your own apron and a towel (clay is messy but it washes out). Tie back long hair, keep nails short, no skirts and remove all jewellery before using the wheel.
Collecting your finished pots:
Please be aware that sometimes clay fired items can break or at worse explode in the kiln. We try to control for these events, but it is not always possible. It is the charm but also the frustration of working with ceramics.
Please allow approx. 5 weeks for your pots to be dried, fired & glazed for collection. We will advise via email (remember to check your spam folder) when your fabulous creations are ready along with collection times. Storage space is limited so a speedy collection is appreciated. Unfortunately, we are not able to hold on to uncollected pots beyond 3 months. Collection is preferable or if you do not live in the surrounding area, we can wrap and post your finished pots to your home address at additional cost.
Ceramic Imprints/Outprints
Make your memories timeless with our ceramic Imprints/Outprints. An impression of a hand, foot or paw is made into clay as soft as butter, then it is shaped, dried, and fired in our Studio Kiln, hand painted by a studio artist and re-fired in the kiln for a second time, before setting into a custom-made frame or strung with a beautiful ribbon for hanging.
- 1 Hanging set €80
- 1 Set of prints framed box frame €90
- 2 sets of prints framed in A4 Frame €130
- 2 sets of prints framed in A3 Frame €160
- A2 framed €230
- A4 frame €160
- Family set & Custom frame deposit €250
- Family set overlapping A3 frame €200
- Single framed €60
- Single hanging €50
- Outprint single €80
- Outprint 1 set of prints €100
- Outprint 2 x sets of prints €180
- Optional add a photo, choose your own shape & colour & text
Kiln Firing
We rent kiln space but as a busy studio we recommend getting in touch ahead of time to check availability. Our Kiln is a Nabatherm toploader 140L. WE ONLY FIRE CLAY THAT HAS BEEN PURCHASED FROM OUR STUDIO. Please order in advance to ensure we have stock.
Prices are as follows:
Full kiln bisque 1100 €60
Half kiln shelf €20
Full kiln Stonefire 1200 €85
Full kiln glaze fire 1028 inc glaze €70
Glazing clear per item €3
Kiln Shelf €30
Firing temperatures:
Bisque fire: is 1000 degrees (full kiln loads only)
Earthenware fire: 1100 degrees (shelf & full Kiln)
Glaze fire: 1020 degrees (shelf & full kiln)
Stonefire : 1240 degrees (full kiln loads only)
Things Laura will need to know, so that she can pick a firing programme and temperature for your work:
- What type of clay you are using – Earthenware, Stoneware, Etc.
- What the suggested firing temperature of your clay is – this info can normally be found on the packaging of the clay
- Is this the first Bisque firing or the second Glaze firing
- How long your items have been drying for
- Any deadlines you may have for firing your work (not a preferred date to get it back but time restrictions)
You will need to bring your work to the studio, unpack it from the packaging and place on a shelf so that Laura can see how much there is to fire. You will also need to take your packaging and boxes away with you as the studio storage is limited.
All your items will need to have been wiped with a sponge to remove all of the glaze on the base and wax resist is fine too. Laura cannot double check your work before she loads it into the kiln – as it is too time consuming. If you have not wiped something correctly and it damages the kiln shelf you will be charged for a replacement shelf. The cost of a new shelf is €46.00 per kiln shelf. If you have items that need to stand on stilts, as you would like them to be glazed all over, Laura has some stilts in a variety of different sizes available for you to use, but if you have many items you may need to arrange to bring along extra stilts. You will not be able to stilt beads or items to Stoneware temperature as they can slump over in the kiln.
Laura will not put any organic matter or paper through the kiln. If you have used newspaper while building your pieces or have used leaves etc to make imprints into your clay work – all of this will need to be removed before your work can go into the kiln. Although paper and organic matter fire away they damage the kilns thermocouples in the process, also create a lot of smoke and ash.
Once your work goes into the kiln the studio accepts no responsibility for the results. It is a standard in Ceramics that breakages can occur during firing or loading, and glazes may not always come out as expected. It is your responsibility to test your glazes and build your pottery so that it will survive the firing process. Try to avoid bubbles while building your pieces, do not build elements of your work too thin, make sure your base is not too thick, dry your pieces slowly.