The Potter’s Wheel

for ten years, i’ve so much enjoyed having this little pottery studio in kew gardens. it is an absolute gem… weather your looking for a gift or admiring an artist skills… or taking a class… just perfect. the owner of this little studio, has become a friend over the years… you need to stop by and see just how welcoming this little place is !!! thanks grace !!! ed

A fun afternoon with the family! Thanks, you guys. We’ll have to plan a return excursion for the summer.

I wish I could’ve loved it. The experience was bad before I even can get to the studio. I bought a groupon for a date night for wine and pottery for 4. I called the studio for about 3 weeks trying to schedule before my groupon expires… First time I called someone picked up and said he will call me later and without hearing what I had to say (eg: my name, my number) he hung up on me AND he did not call back. Tried to call back the next few days and no one picks up. Call again and finally it went through and I tried to reserve for Saturday 8pm and this was a Thursday afternoon. They said they will check the schedule and get back to us. We wait and wait… Saturday comes by and still no call. No call to tell us they have space or they don’t have space for our reservation. This is completely unprofessional! I tried to justify their actions by saying they are all about art not making money. But as an establishment… and as one that puts up a groupon. They should atleast honor it. Not even that, they should atleast communicate with customers. This is very unprofessional! I can not believe all the good reviews. I am a big UnilocalER and I trusted Unilocal and bought the voucher due to the good reviews. I was left very disappointed. Good thing I was able to refund the groupon voucher, because I doubt they’d honor the voucher before the time it expires.
Peeps. Do yourself a favor and steer away from this place. Don’t even try Groupon. Maybe they treat their regular customers/​students better. But why put up a voucher if your customer service is THIS bad. Unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve had such a horrible experience with an establishment, BEFORE I even get to experience it. I was an art major in High School and really was looking forward to this, but I guess not.
Good luck to those who try this place. Hope you have a better experience than me.

I honestly wrote this months ago and for some reason it was only submitted now! I had a great time! Definitely 5 stars worthy!!! I am definitely coming back for further instruction and to make more great pieces in the future! They even have weekly classes you can enroll in! I loved it! great instruction!

I was a customer in this wonderful storefront ceramic gallery/​store long before I took the plunge into getting my hands wet with clay in the classroom/​studio in the back. That was the best thing I ever did for myself. The Potters Wheel has rapidly become my home. The is no other place like it in the world.
All the people (from the owner Grace, to the teachers, to the potters that work on their craft) are warm and friendly and giving of their knowledge in the art of pottery and I was ushered into the magic of creating clay art with personal attention and the contagious joy of ceramics and art in general.
Regardless of your desire to work with clay, you should visit this unique and special place. The one of a kind handmade pieces (very reasonably priced) that are for sale in the gallery will always provide the perfect gift and you will be supporting local artists in the process. In this day and age, where everything is made and mass produced in the east, it is nice to know that these places of refuge from the doldrums of the «normal and mundane» still exist.
But try your hand at the pottery classes too!!!

I have been a student on and off at the potter’s wheel for over 10 years. Contrary to the name, I do not use a wheel. Handbuilding is also taught and practiced there. I have studied with at least 4 of the teachers and have found exciting journeys into the clay w each teacher. The craft is both exciting and calming. It can take over as one strives to master the liveliness and spirit in the materials. There is a wonder in the range of creativity and expression given a humble mug, a platter, a votive candle holder, a serving dish, a vessel, a form. its endless thrill and joy of realization.
Grace, the owner, is a master potter who is never too busy to stop and give a hand with a problem, a glaze, a foot ring. There are classes several days/​week and there is workshop time. There is a gallery where teachers’ and some students ’ works are for sale.
check it out… its a great place to express your self, to buy a gift or just to learn about. Pottery, as well as basketry, is one of Man’s oldest crafts, an opportunity to create something beautiful as well as useful.
elayne

This business place has the kindest & knowledgable staff. I’m currently taking classes and they help you from start to finish. The prices aren’t bad at all once you register for a class

I came to the potters wheel on a date. Had such a nice time! Such a cute romantic activity to do with your boy friend or even just a friend. The woman who gave the pottery lesson was really nice, helpful and patient. She was so sweet about taking pictures of me and my bf. I definitely recommend this place.

*sigh* It is with regret that I have to write the following un-​glowing review. For full disclosure, I had purchased a LivingSocial deal.
I could not be more excited to go since I had wanted to try this for quite some time. My experience started out wonderful. Grace (the owner) personally gave me a private lesson. Who wouldn’t love that? She was patient in explaining each step and even as I took my turn at it. The only disappointment was that I had to wait a few weeks for my little «cup/​bowl» to be fired and glazed… but I understood that was the process and waited patiently.
After four weeks (then six weeks) had passed, I still did not receive a call that my pottery was finished. I called and called and called… yet still, it could not be found. The responses: «We will look for it», «It should be here», «It should have been finished», «(We) will continue looking», «(We) will call you back»
With each call and response, I felt more and more rejected. I suppose this is how it feels to be rejected but not know. Although it was for a very short time, perhaps seeing my little «cup/​bowl» again as a beauty was never meant to be. I will hope and wait for them to call me back with the news it is found. However, with the continued diminishment of my excitement, I guess I should just let go of the little «cup/bowl»…it just takes time…

I came here with Miss Sarit and (pictures pending of the finished projects) we made some pretty kick-​butt bowls! My intention was to make one solely for nachos — as influenced by the fatboy in me I did as I was told since he has considerably larger mass than I and has been known to get a little crazy when there is a lack of spicy jalapeño cheese abound.
The lady was very kind and gave us a lot of personal attention when we first started off including a very thorough demonstration of techniques, tips of the trade and all the good stuff so we could be awesome. After that, she kept an eye on us, but did not hinder our creative abilities; she really let us take control of our own project and encouraged us to follow whatever image we had in our heads.
We had a blast here! I thought mine was going to prolapse, explode or worse! However it actually came out pretty cool! After you’re done, you remove it from the spinning thingy and smooth it out, then they let you pick colors for them to put on it (some kind of glass enamel? I don’t friggin know!) I picked a cool Mexican-​type color since it will be for nachos /​dips and whatnot. Creativity? Ha! More like practicality… Helllooooooooo nachos!

Bought a Groupon for an hour-​long lesson. It’s a very friendly environment, fairly open space with a few work benches. There are pieces for sale at the front of the shop and they are are very unique — take a look if you have a chance!
Even though I came late on a Sunday and I could see that Grace was tired, she was very enthusiastic and gave a great lesson. My friend and I were newbies — she walked us through the entire process and then helped us through each step. We had a few laughs when my finger dug into my clay, and when my friend’s clay flew off of the wheel. We also got to choose colors for our finished pots!
Make sure you call ahead for an appointment — I had to do so at least a week in advance and only got a late Sunday spot. The only downside (for me) is that it’s a pretty far walk from the E&F subway stop.

I was very disappointed with the service and class. I passed by this establishment so many times and had always wanted to try a class. I was excited to find a groupon for it and bought one quickly. When i first called to find out about the availability I had to leave a vm. It took days to receive a call back and a message was left on my vm. I found I had to walk in to get any information. That should have been a big clue of what was ahead.
The owner told me that a class was starting that week and I felt a little pressured to go ahead and get in it rather than wait for another series. The class was advertised for absolute beginners but I did not find it to be beginner friendly at all.
The teacher seemed to know what he was doing but had poor teaching skills. There was no command of how to translate the information to someone else. I sat in the class with another student who seemed to have some knowledge of the medium and it always seemed to me that my questions were an annoyance. I didn’t ever know why I was doing whatever it was we were told to do. Quite frankly he seemed more interested in making his own items during the class.
I didn’t appreciate the personal feedback on my visible anxiety over the situation either. Being told, «Why are you so worried?» and «Why do you feel it has to be perfect?» I felt were cop outs and a deflection from actually taking responsibility for the poor teaching. I constantly felt behind, unsure and deflated. It didn’t appear that my feedback on this situation was welcome and after I did attempt to convey my thoughts to the owner, I noticed a difference in how I was spoken to from the owner afterwards and it wasn’t pleasant. Perhaps it was her «subtle» way of attempting to make me absolutely for sure never want to try another class even with a different instructor?
On my last day there I was able to listen in on the owner’s class and I did so intently even though I was not in it… although I had asked if I could come to a make up class as I had missed two because of my work schedule. Clearly she knew she had that session but never offered it to me. Instead I was told to come in early for studio time. Terrible attitude and customer service for sure. But to be fair, what I did hear sounded like decent instruction from her to those particular students and I wondered if I had started with her from the start, would the relationship between us have turned out differently as I most likely would not have 1) had to ask so many questions to understand what I was doing and 2) not felt I had to «complain» about the instructor.
Nevertheless, these things should be welcome and not met with disdain. Clearly she could have told me to come in when that beginner class she was teaching started so I could have had a real make up class.
I would NOT recommend this for someone with zero knowledge as I had walking in. If you have some baseline this may be an option for you. Furthermore, it seems like the people that patronize this establishment have been doing so for years and have their little group mentality and comfort zone. If you are good at breaking into these types of well-​established social circles easily, then this may not be an issue for you. I did not enjoy it.
One comment that really stuck out was when I mentioned to the owner while discussing how to make up some class time, was that I very much enjoyed the glazing process of choosing the colors and would love to learn much more about that. But even that was met with a snotty and passive aggressive remark, «There are other places where you can go and paint if you like that.»
WOW! Just wow. Damned if I did and damned if I didn’t.
Too much like high school group mentality in this shop for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out of HS and I wasn’t happy about experiencing it with the honor of paying for it.
I really wanted to like this. And I kept doing my best to think that maybe something was going on in these people’s lives that made them upset that day and not to get upset with them. But after the first class it was obvious that there was attitude issues.
I did find one instructor very nice, who came over and she took the time to show me how to do the task I was given. I forgot her name. She was very helpful, kind and I completely understood what I was supposed to do when she explained it, however she was not my teacher and not expected to help out. I wish I took her class from the start.
Tip to owner: A question is not negative. It’s a question. It’s a opportunity to help someone and even learn about how you might help a newer person who sees the process very differently from how you do as a pro. We both know you had a sour attitude toward me, which was unwarranted. I would never want anyone who hired me to feel so badly about how I treated them. You didn’t seem to care.

I called this place a few times and left a message with my phone#, but no one ever called me back! Very unorganized!

LOVED IT! It as my first taking a pottery class. Went on a date and had a private teaching class with my date. I wanted to do the spinning pottery class but she recommended since I was a novice pottery handler, she suggested I start with hand moldable.
I loved the teacher/​owner, Grace. Step by step modeling instructions. It was soo relaxing that it only seemed like a few minutes past when I was done with my piece. I think we might of gone over our hour session but she was rushing us. She saw how I was really getting into it.
Other women that go occasionally were very friendly and down to earth. They offered cookies and fruits because its part of their ritual.
Slight downfall. Do I really need to wait two-​three weeks for my mug to my glazed and fired up? :(I’m sure itll be done sooner.

This was my first time spinning pottery and it was so much fun! They have 2 options — spinning on the wheel (like in the movie Ghost) and hand moldable option.
My friend and I had bought a deal on Zozi. We had gone on a Friday afternoon, which was great because my friend and I were the only people there and it was like getting a private pottery spinning lesson :)
Grace, the owner was our instructor. First she showed us how she kneaded the clay to get as many air pockets out of the clay as possible. She then went through the whole demo on how to use the wheel and the different techniques we would be using in making our bowls. Once she went through the demo and made it look super easy, we were up next to put in to play what we had just learned.
It def wasn’t as easy as she made it look or how you may have seen on TV or in the movies :) You have to constantly keep your hands wet by dipping your hands in to a bucket of water. Also if you mess up and pieces of clay separate from the main piece, it has to get discarded and you can’t simply add it back, so, as a beginner, you can potentially wind up with a much smaller product than you began with.
Maybe it was beginner’s luck, but we seem to have gotten the hang out if and we had a finished bowl in about 30 minutes or so. Afterwards you’re able to choose a color to have your piece glazed once it has been baked/​fired. That process takes quite of bit of time (2 – 3 weeks) and was an additional $ 10.
Grace was extremely patient and a great teacher, although, as a beginner, I think I would have preferred to practice each technique as she demonstrated each one as opposed to having learned how to make the bowl from start to finish and then trying to remember how to do each thing and what each technique was called after the fact. But we still had a great experience and came out with great bowls in the end.
It’s been about 2 weeks since we were there and I can’t wait to pick up our finished bowls to see what the final final product looks like!
PS — they offer classes, by skill level, over a 7 week course. For $ 315 you get a 7 week course that meets once per week for 3 hours and they supply all the materials and will bake, fire and glaze your pieces. It’s a little pricey but I am considering it because I really enjoyed my experience there and love the idea of having pieces in my home that I created myself :)

I bought an online deal for a 1 hr lesson for 2 people and I was super excited to redeem it. I always wanted to try using the wheel to make something — seems so relaxing!
I called and easily made an appointment. You either can choose to learn how to use the wheel or handbuilding. Grace (the owner) starts the lesson by demonstrating how to make a cup. She makes it look so easy! Then she sets up your station and she re-​explains the steps to you as you try it out yourself. She’s incredibly patient and a great teacher. She never makes you feel like a big clay mess. At the end, I actually made a cup! It wasn’t the nicest cup — but I made a CUP from a giant clump of clay! All under 1 hour too! — super exciting!
We paid an extra $ 10 to get our wonderful works of art glazed and fired up, which I can’t wait to pick up in 3 weeks! yippeee!
There are also pieces for sale in the front of the studio. I am def interested in signing up for classes so I can perfect my skills. Wonderful and warm atmosphere for such a relaxing hobby.

A great place to exercise your creativity. I’ve often passed by the potter’s wheel & marveled at the pieces for sale. Now I am a student of the studio trying wheel throwing and hand building techniques. I learn something new every session & look forward to seeing the finish product of my efforts. If you’ve never attempted anything like this, don’t let that keep you away! The instructors are great at explaining the process but also give you room to be creative & make your own improvisations. Love love love this place!

A gem! A great spot to learn or practice pottery. The Potter’s Wheel offers classes for kids and adults, beginner to advanced level. They do both wheel throwing and hand building. They provide a great community for local artists to be creative and sell their wares. I would recommend The Potter’s Wheel to anyone who wants to try their hand at pottery or purchase a one-​of-​a kind gift.

Potters Wheel is a great learning studio for the beginner and advanced student. The staff is friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is very positive.