The Melville Mud Room

The Melville Mud Room Experience the benefits of clay, have fun and explore your imagination. We create using hand-building

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a b...
22/06/2026

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a bowl from clay, learn something about clay work and have some rest and relaxation in a creative and social enviroment.
No experience necessary

Date: 3 July 6-9pm R700 pp
DISCOUNT: use the code BOOKTWO on checkout and only pay R600 each!

Enquiries:
[email protected]
Booking link (in bio)
https://melvillemudroom.co.za/product/first-friday/

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a b...
25/05/2026

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a bowl from clay, learn something about clay work and have some rest and relaxation in a creative and social enviroment.

No experience necesary
Date: 5 June 6-9pm R700 pp
DISCOUNT: use the code BOOKTWO on checkout and only pay R600 each!

Enquiries
[email protected]
Booking link (in bio)
https://melvillemudroom.co.za/product/first-friday/

This winter, we’re doing things differently.Our beginner hand building course still teaches you all the fundamentals — b...
21/05/2026

This winter, we’re doing things differently.

Our beginner hand building course still teaches you all the fundamentals — but we’re learning them by making drinking vessels. Cup by cup, technique by technique.

Over eight Saturday afternoons (2pm–4.30pm), you’ll make:

Pinch pot cups with a handle and foot

Soft slab mugs with a handle

Soft slab cups with darted feet

Tea bowls

Continuous coil rolling cups — no join, no seam

And more, using a range of pinching techniques plus Nina’s expert slab methods

You’ll finish with a collection of hand built, decorated, glazed cups — all yours to keep and drink from.

And because it’s winter: our studio now has new heaters. It’s cosy, warm, and waiting for you on Saturday afternoons.

Bonus: Kate will also demo her monoprinting techniques — so your slab drinking vessels won’t just be well made. They’ll be uniquely, beautifully yours.

Duration: 8 Sessions

Schedule: Starting 6 June (2pm to 4.30pm)

Cost: R2100 per month (R4200 in total)

Level: Beginner

Step into the world of glaze chemistry and surface effects in this hands‑on, small‑group course firing to 1120 °C in an ...
15/05/2026

Step into the world of glaze chemistry and surface effects in this hands‑on, small‑group course firing to 1120 °C in an electric kiln. Over 5 weeks of 2‑hour sessions, you’ll learn how to mix your own glazes from raw materials and create exciting surfaces like volcanic “fat lava”, satin mattes, double‑dipped overlaps and textured glaze chips – all tailored to a home‑studio setup.

Who this course is for:

Potters who can already make and bisque‑fire their work, but feel unsure about glazing.
Beginners who want to move beyond commercial bottled glazes into mixing their own.
Home‑studio ceramicists working at around 1120 °C in an electric kiln.

You do not need any chemistry background – everything is explained in plain, practical language.

What you’ll learn:

By the end of the course you will be able to:
Understand what a glaze is, how it melts at 1120 °C, and how different materials affect colour and surface.
Read and record glaze recipes, mix small test batches, and sieve and store glazes safely.
Use line blends to systematically test and refine your glazes.
Create special‑effect surfaces, including:
Volcanic / crater textures (decorative “fat lava”‑style glazes)
Satin and semi‑matt surfaces
Double‑dipped overlaps and controlled runs
Layered “glaze chip” and break effects on texture
Keep a glaze notebook so you can repeat your results and continue experimenting confidently after the course.

Course Details

Dates: Weekly from 4 June for 5 weeks (5 sessions) 17h00 to 19h00

Cost: R3000

Venue: Melville Mudroom, Melville, Johannesburg

Spaces limited to 8 participants.

Email [email protected].

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a b...
01/05/2026

Each First Friday of the month the studio opens to the public for a once-off three hour session, where you will make a bowl from clay, learn something about clay work and have some rest and relaxation in a creative and social enviroment.

No experience necesary
Date: 8 May 6-9pm R700 pp
DISCOUNT: use the code BOOKTWO on checkout and only pay R600 each

Enquiries
[email protected]
Booking link (in bio)
https://melvillemudroom.co.za/product/first-friday/

Workshop 5: Raku, Horsehair, Feathers, Sugar & ObvaraA workshop where you make the marksThis is the raku workshop where ...
29/04/2026

Workshop 5: Raku, Horsehair, Feathers, Sugar & Obvara

A workshop where you make the marks
This is the raku workshop where you don’t just hand your pots over to the kiln and hope. You’ll place feathers and horsehair onto your pieces, lower them into obvara, watch sugar do its thing — and choose where the marks go. The fire is generous, but so are you. It’s hands-on, full of surprises, and unexpectedly fun.
Bring up to four pots for firing.
All skill levels welcome — burnished bisque available if you don’t have your own.
24 May 2026 • 10:00–13:00 • R950

To book or ask questions: [email protected]

Clay in therapeutic practice workshop seriesModule 5: Found objects and the clay vessel What objects bring to the workWh...
27/04/2026

Clay in therapeutic practice workshop series

Module 5: Found objects and the clay vessel

What objects bring to the work
What happens when we let a found object — something chosen, carried, kept, picked up, returned to — meet the clay?

In this fifth experiential workshop, we’ll explore how found objects shape and shift the work we make in clay. Objects bring history, texture, association and weight; clay receives them. Together we’ll look at what emerges when these two materials meet, drawing on current writing in art therapy on the use of found objects.

For clinicians, art therapists and helping professionals interested in introducing object work into their practice, safely and meaningfully.

3 CPD points • R1400 • Max 8 participants • 3 May • 10:00–13:00

Are you up for the challenge to design and build the Mudroom’s most creative candelabra?Think branching, towering, twist...
23/04/2026

Are you up for the challenge to design and build the Mudroom’s most creative candelabra?

Think branching, towering, twisted, delicate, absurd, functional or purely sculptural – if it can hold a flame (or pretend to), it’s in. We will guide you through the making process, from first sketch to final firing, so all levels are welcome.

Your candelabra can be:

functional and table‑ready

sculptural and theatrical

quietly poetic or utterly ridiculous

All entries will be displayed at our end‑of‑year exhibition, and a well‑known artist will choose the ultimate award.

Submit your candelabra by 6 December, when our exhibition and student raku firing will take place.

Are you ready to light things up?

•2026 WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE•Weekly classes are R2100 per month and include all materials, firings and guidance. We hope ...
21/04/2026

•2026 WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE•

Weekly classes are R2100 per month and include all materials, firings and guidance. We hope to see you soon!

For bookings and enquiries, follow the link in our bio

14/04/2026

Curious about what monoprinting is?

Monoprinting on clay is a one-of-a-kind printmaking technique where colored slip or underglaze is painted onto a surface and transferred onto leather-hard clay. It allows detailed, painterly imagery—often worked in reverse—to be transferred onto slabs.

Our next workshop is monoprinting on clay, with international print-maker
Check out our pinned post for details!

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