LOAM Clay Studio

I've taken a few classes with Loam, all of which were very fun & had great end products! Handbuilding classes with Jess are super fun & very beginner friendly. Our date night on the wheel class was also amazing! We had a great instructor, and the group of us had a hoot!

Meh… not great. . Took a friend for her birthday and did the “date night on the wheel” package for roughly $200 after tax. This includes a demo by the instructor, clay and a wheel each for two participants. Each of you also get to keep what you make. This felt like a very independent/serious/quiet activity…I remember there being many moments of complete silence... not exactly the most fun environment to celebrate a birthday (my bad). I think if there was music going in the background, or if the instructor was more engaging with the group/excited about the workshop, it would’ve helped to create a warmer environment. What most won’t realize, is that you **only have two shots at making something with your clay**. You’re given two clumps of workable clay at the beginning of class. My understanding is that this clay has been worked in such a way that they’re completely solid throughout (no air pockets etc). So .. if your piece splits or becomes too thin in some areas, it’s unusable. Surprising right?! Mild errors can be patched up with the help of your instructor, but you’d be surprised how easily it is to get to the point of no return. This was my first time working with clay on a wheel.. and to be fair, i didn’t come as prepared as I should have. I had longer nails at the time, which required me to cover the tip of my index finger when used. This did make things a little trickier. Despite intently listening to the demo, both of my clay pots split or became very thin early on in the class. I spent the rest of the class just playing with the clay basically, which was also fun.. That being said, I don’t fully understand LOAM limiting the workable clay… can’t the clay I “broke” be recycled into the good stuff again anyways? It would’ve been nice to keep trying throughout the class instead of just killing time. Especially as a newbie, one mulligan wasn’t enough. I acknowledge I know nearly nothing about this stuff though.. so there is probably a good reason.. but, it was stilldisappointing. At the end of class, you’ll be given the option of different glazes which LOAM will coat your piece in for you. There’s no painting etc like other studios. **You’re also asked to clean your area***, which took a good 10min to wipe down the wheel, table and clean your brushes. For a $200 experience…. I was less than thrilled about this. We were just eager to get out of there.

My husband and I attended our first ever pottery date night class a few evenings ago. A wonderful experience! Our teacher was excellent! She gave us a quick 5 minute demo explaining every step. She was very supportive helping us along the way if we wanted or needed help. We would love to go back. Great location, free parking. We attended our class from 6-7pm on a Friday. There were 6 of us in attendance that evening. Love the small class size. Very roomy space, bathroom on site as well. Can't wait to pick up our creations in a few weeks!

I went to a mug and slip transfer class a few months ago. The class itself was fun, but the mug I ended up with was quite disappointing. They warned us that the shape and size of the mug may be altered in the kiln. So I was expecting a bit or warping and possible size change. I was not expecting the image of the mug to be completely ruined. I was glad I looked at it before I left because they did not mention the “screw up” to me when I picked it up. When I asked them about my ruined image, they said that their glaze must have interacted badly with the slip colour I chose. They provided the slip colour, so basically they were saying “my bad”. I am assuming that they did not know about it, but I was never offered a refund, partial refund, or another class. Instead, they tried to “fix” it, which honestly made the image look worse (which I didn’t think was possible). Overall, for a fairly expensive class, I was disappointed that I ended up with a very ugly looking mug. (the picture shows the end product. Unfortunately, Google won’t allow me to upload the video of what it looked like before the firing in the kiln).

Had a really good experience did date night class with my wife we had lots of fun they had some wine and even had some choices of beer the teacher was really great I highly recommend for couples to try it out 👍👍👍

My girlfriend and I came for the loam date night. It was so much fun, and our bowls turned out great considering we hadn’t done this before! Call a couple weeks after you go to see if your pieces are finished—loam emails went right to our junk folders.

Loam Clay Studio has been my studio for over 3 years now. Loam's new location is a spacious, bright and equipped with 17 wheels and large tables for handbuilding. The staff are always pleasant to be around and so helpful in sharing their unlimited knowledge with not only new students just starting out but many accomplished ceramic artists as well. The options for creating are limitless - you can sign up for a 1 hour session, or a 6 week class..... to becoming a Loam Studio Renter with so many options in between. Loam is my second home and I hope you come by and visit! ~Anne Attached is the glaze board and it's awesome!!!

I organized a private class for my partner and I and it was wonderful! Very easy to organize and they were very accommodating to our schedule. The teacher was very good and we ended up with 5 pieces, which they beautifully finished and glazed for us. We had a wonderful experience, highly recommend.