Come down for the annual Wellington Village Holiday Shopping Night! 🛍️❄️
Twelve merchants have come together to bring store specials & treats and the street will come alive with Santa, Elves, Storytime and more! 🎅🏽❤️
We will have clay for you to come play with and ornaments to decorate. The perfect handmade gift for that person on your list that has everything!
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You can visit us at 1242 1/2 Wellington St. West Ottawa to purchase unique, handmade pottery by Canadian artists made using Canadian clay, during our personalized window shopping from Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Gift certificates are available for our pottery classes, workshops and camps and our pottery shop.
We do not currently offer shipping for our pottery products. When you purchase an item you can pick it up from our shop and studio, using curbside pickup from Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Hours of operation are subject to change due to the pandemic. Please contact us if you have any difficulties with your order, we'd be happy to assist you with your purchase!
We are normally closed for business during the holidays on:
December 25-26th and 31st and January 1st.
Thank you for supporting our small business during these times!
Hintonburg Pottery will join in the virtual TASTE of Wellington West festivities from September 14th through October 10th, 2020.
]]>Hintonburg Pottery will join in the virtual TASTE festivities from September 14th through October 10th, 2020.
We're offering personalized window shopping or online shopping with curbside pickup from Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
You can also support Hintonburg Pottery through our 'Pottery In The Pandemic – Keep Creating Together' crowdfunding campaign which runs until October 7th, 2020 with five per cent of proceeds going to Parkdale Food Centre:
https://crowdfund.ca/support-hintonburg-pottery-during-covid19
We're also accepting registrations for our Fall 2020 classes and workshops! You can book your space online or call us on 613-725-6909.
For more information about the TASTE event in 2020, visit their Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/WellingtonWestBIA/
Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Information:
https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/public-health-topics/novel-coronavirus.aspx
Participation from the local community at Hintonburg Pottery’s annual fundraiser for the Parkdale Food Centre (PFC) on Sunday, November 17th, 2019 swelled to three times’ the result of last year’s event, with proceeds amounting to approximately $1,500 from over 120 participants.
]]>Attendees were invited to try their hand at creating a unique clay pinch pot in exchange for donations, with all proceeds going to the local not-for profit charity with a vision of building healthier, more connected communities through good food and friendship.
“We are so happy with the response from our neighbours and neighbourhood to this event, our hearts are warm! The money will be used to help offset our rising cost of food,” says Deborah Abbott, Chair of PFC.
The Parkdale Food Centre's numbers are climbing every month: in October they had 1000 people visit their Food Bank, of which 387 were children. Those suffering from social isolation come to PFC for a safe and welcoming place, a warm meal or a cup of tea or coffee, to provide them with much needed friendship and nourishing, healthy food.
“The event Hintonburg Pottery hosted for us demonstrates they and other businesses can help play a part in making a change for our neighbours. It is a perfect example of how businesses and PFC can work together,” says Len Fardella, Parkdale Food Centre Board Member and Chair of the Fundraising Committee.
Pottery for Parkdale pinch pots will be professionally glazed and kiln-fired by Hintonburg Pottery Technicians on site and will be available for pick-up before the Christmas holidays begin. All participants were entered into a draw to win a 4-week Handbuilding Class at Hintonburg Pottery–congratulations to the lucky winner, Kristen Armstrong!
“We have been pleasantly surprised by the growing support for this annual event and our community’s ability to pull together to create a magical experience, while raising funds for a very worthy organization,” says Ginger McCoy, Potter and Owner of Hintonburg Pottery.
Hintonburg Pottery opened in the spring of 2012 and is a little treasure nestled in the arts community of Hintonburg, featuring over 20 local and regional potters. Besides amazing pottery, their 'Earthen Vessels Clay Studio' offers classes, workshops, private workshops and seasonal camps for kids and adults. For more information, visit: https://www.hintonburgpottery.ca
The Parkdale Food Centre serves all of Ottawa with its programs and events. However, the food bank only serves the community bordered by Bayswater Avenue, Carling Avenue, Island Park Drive and the Ottawa River. They are located at 2-30 Rosemount Ave and the Food Centre is open 9-3 (Monday-Thursday) and 6pm-8pm (Tuesday only) each week. Their mission is to build healthier, more connected neighbours and neighbourhoods through good food, innovative community partnerships, and by challenging inequalities in order to create lasting impacts. For more information, visit: https://parkdalefoodcentre.ca
]]>Katherine's skillful knowledge and devoted practices are an inspiration to all of us here in the studio. It is a magical experience to watch her throw pots on the wheel. Her gentle and calming expertise is well received with all of our students ranging from beginner to intermediate.
My Mom encouraged me, signing me up for a pottery summer course at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre, when I was too young to work. She’s always been pushing me, she really liked being creative herself and did stained glass before she had kids, but found pottery to be more kid-friendly! As soon as I touched the clay, I knew it was what I wanted to do.
I won the Achievement Ceramic Award from John McCrae Secondary School and graduated from Sheridan College in 2012. I worked at Gleason Brook Pottery in Wiarton, as a production potter in Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and at Gloucester Pottery School for a few years, before joining Hintonburg Pottery as an instructor in 2017.
I started teaching Spin The Wheel workshops and was hired as an evening teacher for two years. I had a following and used to teach at night in different locations, but it was hard to travel across the city multiple times per week, so I also started to teach during the day.
In March 2019, I joined Hintonburg Pottery as the Lead Technician, which involves studio maintenance, kiln firing, glaze making, production pottery and class work that needs to be done. I also run studio potter clinics and teach a couple of adult classes each week–I feel I have a lot of knowledge to share.
I think I’ve kept a similar style: clean, classic and traditional. I have tried the 100 different looks challenge on Instagram to experiment with different styles and techniques. If I find something I like, I integrate it into my work.
My work is inspired by stuff I’ve learned in the past from workshops and classes and finding pots online I like on social media, usually through Instagram and Pinterest. When I find different designs, I try to recreate them myself so I can get out of my comfort zone in the ceramic world. As soon as you get stuck in one style, you’re recreating the same thing over and over as a production potter, so I like to experiment with my own work.
I have exhibited in the past, I do craft shows around three times per year during Spring and Christmas seasons. It gets my name out and I also put stuff for sale in the Hintonburg Pottery Shop. I have people who follow me to see when the next show is or who buy the same style repeatedly from me.
Tony Clennel was one of my instructors at Sheridan and Bruce Cochrane was also an instructor, who studied in Japan with artists there. I liked their styles, clean lines and the aesthetics of their pieces. They both introduced me to the concept of there being a purpose to a pot: a story behind how it is made and a purpose as to why we use it while eating and drinking. There’s a relationship between the pot and its’ purpose.
I believe there is a distinction between pottery and ceramics in that the former is more functional and made for everyday use and sometimes ceramics is sculptural or for viewing pleasure only. There is still a story behind both but for me to create, there has to be a use each time–a purpose.
I’m fun and joyful, I like to put on a show. I like to use easy to remember terms instead of instructions and have little tweaks to help people remember what to do, as the wheel has so many steps.
For example, I encourage my students to act like a baby dino to get their arms tucked in and supported for centreing on the wheel, to keep their bodies secure and positioned enough so they’re braced and in control and not swaying with the wheel and clay.
The joystick is when they’re coning the clay and bringing it up and down to get it centred. The other one I do is the flight attendant when pulling up the walls, to help with positioning it.
I want to give them a good foundation so their first piece can look really incredible but then I let them do it themselves the next few times to experiment a bit more. I start by showing them, followed by letting them struggle a bit, doing demos as needed, helping them refine their techniques and then we adjust accordingly.
As much as I want them to figure out the steps themselves, if I see someone is frustrated, I do more one-on-one time and talk them through it. Most students will pay attention to what others are doing and learn from them as well.
I can tell as soon as someone comes in and starts the class if they’re not having a good day. I can also tell if someone is an engineer when they’re at the wheel! They are usually very good at the wheel.
It is very magical. The environment is relaxed but then you walk onto the street and you forget you’re close to downtown, in a busy city.
Once I am inside, it reminds me of being back on the East Coast in PEI, as it is so calming. Ginger (the Owner) is an amazing person, she’s great at listening to people and our clients and trying to improve things.
Everyone has their story and we all come together to make this place work. I’ve done production where it’s all about the numbers–very quantity over quality–but here it is more balanced.
There are always people coming in and out of the shop and studio, watching, asking questions and it’s a very open environment.
I always try to accommodate clients’ needs in order to support their work and have worked with visible and non-visible disabilities. One of my clients is non verbal and blind but when he is happy while doing his wheel work, he starts to giggle and that brings me so much joy.
I myself have been diagnosed with anxiety but when I am here and doing pottery, it is stress free and I love it. It gets me out of my bubble, and going to work every day makes me happy. Even if the kiln is broken and we’re running low on clay, everything can be fixed.
This place is part of my therapy...except for during the months of November and December, when it gets busier with production, sales and shows!
We provide all clay, tools and instruction in a warm and welcoming light-filled studio. Learn more and book your space online here or by calling 613-725-6909.
]]>Hannah Dykes is a self-taught potter who has taken classes at Hintonburg Pottery and McNabb Recreation Centre in Ottawa. She particularly enjoys teaching youth and introducing them to the unpredictable and exciting world of experimenting with clay.
She started out as a Hintonburg Pottery volunteer and studio member, moving on to teach Kids Summer Camps, After School Programs and Handbuilding and Wheel Classes and Workshops for all ages. As an instructor, she encourages her students to explore their ideas, embrace their pottery pieces imperfections and get muddy!
I’ve always been interested in the arts but something about pottery clicked for me. I had dabbled in other mediums but after I took my first pottery class, I couldn’t get enough of it. I love that I can learn what I want to learn in workshops.
In April 2018, I took my first class with Christine Chesser who is also an instructor at Hintonburg Pottery. I continued to take classes with Laura Sheppard at the McNabb Recreation Centre, and it was really nice as every wheel was different and a bit unique. I wanted to pursue pottery but their studio member waitlist is very long, so I decided to check out Hintonburg Pottery.
This place seemed so nice, open and wonderful, I love the feel of the studio and the warmth of the staff here. I think I was one of the few studio members who had never taken a class here.
In spring 2019, I started volunteering and then became a staff member. I’ve done summer camps at a recreation centre before but they were always more focused on activities than creativity.
I started offering handbuilding summer camps and now also teach Spin The Wheel evening workshops, teen and after school programs and wheel classes as part of the new Pottery Flex Pass.
I have more of an organic aesthetic - initially I was drawn to the wheel because it’s beautiful and symmetrical but I’ve always been drawn to nature and form. The female body often features in my work. Handbuilding provides a lot more freedom in my work.
It’s almost overwhelming the amount of inspiration you have access to via social media these days. I like to play with different glazes and shapes.
People sometimes say, “this isn’t your grandma’s pottery” but I really like vintage crockware and draw a lot of inspiration from the past. Sometimes my pieces are like my grandma’s pottery!
It was almost inexplicable, I checked it out as I had never shopped here before. It’s one of those places where everything seems to work in its favour - the right people and the right things happen at the right time. I wandered in and met the owner, Ginger, who is so friendly. I started to get involved as a studio member and volunteer, did my orientation and gradually moved on to becoming an instructor and staff member.
I have always been interested in working with youth and providing them with an accessible creative outlet. Art supplies and studio time can be expensive. It can be difficult to gain access to spaces in Ottawa, especially if they are affiliated with schools and you didn’t study there originally.
The city’s recreational centres are accessible but have such high demand. I have always wanted to create a communal and accessible art space and I can’t believe I have found this opportunity – Hintonburg Pottery really has that community feel I was looking for.
I’m a total wallflower, I’ve always absorbed everything that is going on around me. I previously worked in retail for a really long time but I found it very draining. Being an instructor, working primarily with youth, is a better fit for me as it is more balanced with my personality.
The quote “Be who you needed when you were younger” has always really resonated with me. I recently revisited this concept–as I am now a pottery instructor working with an audience I am passionate about helping–and thought, “Yay, I’m finally becoming it!”
We provide all clay, tools and instruction in a warm and welcoming light-filled studio. Learn more and book your space online here or by calling 613-725-6909.
]]>We're also accepting registrations for our Fall 2019 classes and workshops! You can register in person at 1242 1/2 Wellington St. West in Ottawa, book your space online or call us on 613-725-6909.
For more information about the TASTE event and a map of participating vendors, visit their Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/WellingtonWestBIA/
]]>One pottery class turned into two–then three, then four–with Evelyn deciding to leave cubicle land to pursue her journey working with clay. As an instructor, she hopes her passion and joy for the craft is contagious for her students and encourages them to explore their curiosity and creativity.
I graduated during the recession in 2009 and took a summer clerical position with the government working for an assistant deputy minister. It quickly turned into “the golden handcuffs” as I worked to pay off my student debt...think long hours, being on call.
I am a very hands-on person–I think I should have trained as a tradesperson–and what was originally a hobby in order to be more creative in 2014, turned into an opportunity to use my background and interest in environmental art. Clay can be recycled, it’s not wasteful to create with. At Hintonburg Pottery we don’t put clay down the drain, we do not waste water and leftover glaze is repurposed to create a ‘mystery glaze’.
When I came into the shop in the spring of 2018, I was in the midst of a bit of personal turmoil. I was going through a divorce, I had a new home and when I walked in, Ginger spoke with me about my background, experience and asked if I’d be interested in working part-time.
By that point, I had paid off my student debt, I had my own car, no kids, I felt privileged and like I could make the leap from corporate life into a more creative life.
I don’t like to use the very formal term of “artist”, I find Fine Art can be elitist but potters are relatable, down to earth and focused on functionality.
In the beginning, I was making things I liked for myself and everyone got a piece of pottery as a gift. My corporate coworkers started asking about the mugs and cups I used at work and over the past few years I started selling them.
I used to do more handbuilding than wheel work but teaching has improved my technique and I am learning from others.
My very first pottery teacher has her own studio at Charleston Lake. She once told me a story about going to the bank and meeting with a lender who told her she wouldn’t make a living from her art. It started a fire in her to prove him wrong. I am still friends with her, she calls me her “clay baby”.
I like that Hintonburg Pottery does well as a business and encourages others to be creative. The culture is great and Ginger really mentors the instructors to be better and improve.
I really like the aspect of teaching people. The education system often teaches you there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do them. As a society, we sometimes demand perfection. I want my students to not be afraid of “doing it wrong” or doing it differently and to learn from their mistakes.
Clay has a way of humbling you. At any moment, you can have a bad throwing day and you have to respect the clay. Don’t come in with high expectations, you may not be able to make a pot after only one studio session. It’s the equivalent of taking one guitar lesson and thinking you can play a concert.
Teachers can push you further to try new things, so I encourage my students to be willing to take a risk and get out of their comfort zone. Weird is still cool in pottery, glaze can transform a piece and make it gorgeous.
I have lots of students who struggle with the making but the glaze forgives what they were focused on. We focus on fun over perfection in my classes.
The sense of community. For example, most people don’t know this but Ginger offers free monthly lessons to a local women’s group, who can’t afford to take classes. There’s a sense of openness and everyone who works here is happy. It is a great space, everyone who comes in leaves happy.
I used to be scared to take risks–like quitting a secure job with benefits to join a pottery studio–but now I am all about pushing my students to take more risks.
We provide all clay, tools and instruction in a warm and welcoming light-filled studio. Learn more and book your space online here or by calling 613-725-6909.
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