Throw in porcelain, decorate with slips and oxide…. a gorgeous course with Adam Frew. This course is for potters with some throwing experience that want to refine and improve their throwing techniques and experiment with expressive mark making techniques.
Adam Frew makes clean, elegant pots. He is a potter based in rural Northern Ireland. He works in porcelain, creating thrown functional and large one-off pots. During his studies at Belfast Art College, Adam spent time at the historic Winchcombe Pottery sparking a love for production pottery, and in Finland with Judy Makela. Upon graduating in 2004, he undertook a two year apprenticeship with Lisa Hammond at her Greenwich based pottery where he gained the experience and confidence to set out on his own. Adam moved back to Northern Ireland and was resident potter at Flowerfield Arts Centre for 12 years. He and his family moved to Aghadowey in Co.Derry with the intention of creating a larger studio space beside their home. Following a very successful crowdfunding campaign which part financed the renovation of an old barn, Adam now works and teaches from his own purpose built studio.
“I make clean, simple forms on the potters wheel that subtly show the makers hand in order to imbue a sense of life in the work. I enjoy the spontaneity of throwing, the speed of production and I seek to reflect this energy in my mark making. My marks are continually evolving, I am interested in contrasts; sharp lines, crayon scribbles, brush marks, sponged back sections. It is this ongoing investigation that invigorates my making.”
The emphasis of the week will be on using the potter’s wheel to make a variety of thrown porcelain vessels. Students will be guided through the basics of throwing porcelain and also turning (finishing) pots. Adam will demonstrate his various decoration techniques and students will be encouraged to be experimental in their approach. There will be flexibility in the teaching allowing students to request specific demonstrations or help with a particular technique.
You will decorate your thrown work when it’s dry before it is bisque fired, it will then be fired after the course and finished with a transparent glaze and couriered to you (or you can collect it from us).
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This course is for anyone that has an intermediate level of experience throwing on the wheel in any clay that wishes to advance their throwing technique and in particular work in porcelain.
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SUNDAY
5-7pm Residents Arrive
7.00pm Non residents arrive
7.00pm Welcome Drinks
8pm Dinner
MONDAY-THURSDAY
8.30am Breakfast
9.30am Tuition
1.00pm Lunch
2-5pm Tuition resumes
7.00pm Dinner
FRIDAY
8.30am Breakfast
9.30am Final tuition session
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Course ends
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We have onsite accommodation. You can book in as a resident and stay with us, or a ‘non-resident’ if you wish to stay elsewhere or if you live nearby.
More information here
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Residential
£942 + VAT includes tuition, accommodation and food from arrival on Sunday through to departure after lunch on Friday.
Non-residential
£695 + VAT include all tuition, welcome drinks on Sunday and lunch from Mon-Friday.
These costs include all your clay for practicing during the course. Any work that you wish to keep will be charged at £7/kilo to include firings and glazing - see more on this below.
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The focus of the course is on process and learning rather than producing work. If there are a few items that you’d like to keep at the end of the week you can either leave that with us for firing and glazing or you can take it home with you to glaze and fire.
Taking your work home to fire
If you decide to take them work with you it’s charged at £5 kilo.
Firing and glazing for you
If you’d like us to bisque fire, glaze and glaze fire for you You will be charged £9 per kilo.
Getting your work
You can collect the work or we will courier to you. Courier charges will vary depending on where you live and the volume of work, average costs are approx £35.
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We are located in Devon between Totnes and Dartmouth.
Our postcode is TQ6 0JA
Driving
We have plenty of free onsite parking.
Trains
Totnes is nearest station then we can arrange lift shares or send taxi details. We are about 20 minutes from the station and costs approx £35 each way.
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A max of 6 people will be on the course to allow Adam to give everyone enough time and attention.
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Food is a key part of an immersive course at Coombe. Meals are taken at a long shared table with the other participants either inside in the cooler months or outside in our courtyard when the weather is warmer. Our onsite chef caters for you including all/any dietary requirements. We grow our own vegetables and keep chickens for fresh eggs daily. For those that enjoy wine, we have a fantastic wine merchant who supply us with a small range available to buy onsite.
![ADAM FREW - PORCELAIN THROWING RESIDENTIAL [£1, 1304 inc VAT] JUNE 2026](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8369cf32838066ecfc21b6/1732725117821-Q7S7ZDF2DIOA1SPV6WRR/Adam+Frew_1.jpg)
The total price for this residential course is £942 + VAT (£1,130) including all your food, accommodation and tuition.
At the point of booking/adding to cart, you are asked to pay a non-refundable* deposit of £150.
The remaining balance (£980) is payable three weeks before the course starts (either by bank transfer, cheque or card over the phone)
*Non-refundable and non-transferrable. Please read our full Terms & Conditions including cancellations.
![ADAM FREW - PORCELAIN THROWING - NON-RESIDENTIAL [£825 inc VAT] JUNE 2026](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e8369cf32838066ecfc21b6/1732725116888-YSHC2ZUO14EM7LBG09D7/Adam+Frew_5.jpg)
The total price for this NON-residential course is £687 + VAT (£825) including welcome drinks, all your lunches and tuition.
At the point of booking/adding to cart, you are asked to pay a non-refundable* deposit of £150.
The remaining balance (£675) is payable three weeks before the course starts (either by bank transfer, cheque or card over the phone)
*Non-refundable and non-transferrable. Please read our full Terms & Conditionsincluding cancellations.