Natalie Smith shares her newfound love of pottery with Glasshouse Journal:

There is something very soothing about spending your Saturday mornings wrist deep in clay; and, especially if you are stuck in a 9-5 rut, making things with your hands. Real things you can touch, share, admire and eat from.

Turning Earth is a homely, welcoming space – a recent course there left me with a shelf-full of a rustic forms and a desire to make more.

Over a month of Saturdays, friends learnt the art of the pottery wheel, forming bowls, plates and vessels with our hands – and making a huge mess along the way.

Beginning with shaping and moving through to firing, colouring and decorating and glazing, we ended up with some beautifully imperfect pieces and a newfound admiration for the everyday home wares we used to take for granted (do you know how hard it is to put a handle on a mug? I do now and my morning coffee hasn’t been the same since).

Turning Earth is a beautiful collective-run ceramics studio under the railway arches in Hoxton. They offer courses for different levels over the course of a month or three. You can find more information by visiting their website and Facebook page.

Ceramics and photos by Daisy Cooper. You can find more pictures of her work and contact her via her wordpress.