TESTIMONIALS:

We have been running the three month intensive professionalisation course  2-3 times per year since 2019. It is the first and only course of its kind in the world, and so far students have come from more than 40 different countries to attend. This is what our previous students have said about it:

2023 testimonials

2021 testimonials

Written testimonials:

The following testimonials have been taken from live video interviews with students who have taken our three month intensive professionalization course.

Q.1: Why did you apply for this course?

I was searching for something that would bring me in the direction of working with clay. For something that was a proper foundation, and was thinking of either doing a course in Switzerland for 4 years, or this course for 3 months. I was weighing up the two options to see what would suit me best for my current age, and decided it was definitely this course.
Elena, Switzerland
I was studying a morning class once a week in Cornwall in the UK, and felt like I wanted to progress a lot quicker than I was. This was the most intensive course that I could see, in a relatively short amount of time. I was actually looking for courses in the UK but then this one came up, and I thought hang on a minute, maybe I could move to Barcelona for three months, that would be quite cool! So I looked further into the course and I realised that there was really amazing course content. I decided to go for it, apply, and think about how I could move here, which all fell into place relatively easily.
Lucy, UK
I’m from Guatemala, and there are no ceramic courses like this there at all. What I learnt before were just very basic things. I wanted to expand my knowledge about hand building and ceramics in general.
Maris, Guatemala
I think at the time I was looking for something new. I was trying to explore my artistic side and I felt really called to try something 3-dimensional, and something with more texture.
Paola, Guatemala
Because I was thinking of doing ceramics for a long time. I was also into craft for many years and ceramics was a different area for me. I also wasn’t working at the time so it was the perfect moment.
Pauline, France
During the Covid-19 lock-down, I started taking ceramics classes and discovered that I like this. That I’m kind of alright at it, that this could be interesting! Then the world kind of exploded, and I thought, if I don’t do something now, it will never happen, so I’m just going to go for it. I was looking online and found a couple of other courses, then I saw this one, and I feel really excited about it when reading about it, so I thought, that’s it, why not, I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’ll just see if they’ll take me. And they did! So that was pretty cool. I thought, it’s a pandemic, let’s throw my life upside down because why not! And that was that really.
Lisa, United Kingdom

Q.2: What have you learned?

I think I haven’t even realised yet how much I learnt. Actually just thinking about me when I started, and me now, it is like 2 different people. So, a lot.
Elena, Switzerland
I learnt to be patient and I learned to explore different materials. To not be afraid. To just try and do it and see what happens. I learnt a lot of technical things as well. How to treat clay, how the different types of clay behave. To test, test, test, and just kind of play and explore with the material as well.
Paola, Guatemala
I perfected and re-learnt all the hand building and wheel throwing skills. I think I didn’t learn the techniques properly the first time. My previous teachers didn’t teach us how to pull the clay correctly, what we should focus our attention on, or what the correct hand positions were. So this course helped a lot because I re-learnt the right way. So now I’m much more confident with what I’ve learnt, just knowing that, now I really know how to do it.
Maris, Guatemala
Oh my gosh, so much! So much! Yes the course content is amazing, it’s above what I expected. I have documented everything really well by taking lots of videos so I can go back and revisit some of the ideas when I get back home. I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve learnt a lot about colouring, and glazing, and I mean, its endless!
Lucy, United Kingdom
A lot of things. Different techniques. To work in a more organized way. Lots of technical knowledge, and also how to work within a group.
Pauline, France
Oh my goodness, so much stuff! I mean from a purely technical point of view, many techniques that I’d never even heard of before, like nerikomi and neriage. I’d never had much experience of hand building so doing that was really great. It turned out that all my final projects pieces ended up being made by the coiling technique, so that was great. And the glazing, like a bunch of stuff that I’d never even really thought about. There has been a lot of information, a lot. Doing this course has reminded me how much I need and appreciate working in a group of people who are doing the same thing. People that you can bounce ideas from, talk about things and go ‘hey I’ve got this idea, what do you think, is it terrible?’ Just being in that kind of space where you’re with other like-minded people who are all going through the same kind of journey. Who you can talk and develop your ideas with. Sometimes getting other peoples point of view is really important. I don’t work well by myself because I get kind of stuck in this sort of whirlpool of ideas and so being able to ask, is this a good idea? was really, really helpful for me.
Lisa, United Kingdom

Q.3: What did you think of the team?

They were all lovely. They were all incredibly experienced, all very talented, very kind, very generous with their time and expertise. Obviously the bulk of the teaching was through Corrie, but also learning things through the assistants, the staff, even just through talking to other artists who have come to share their process and ideas and their work. It’s been very enlightening and yes, really great! It was a real privilege, to be in this space of expertise and talent.
Lisa, United Kingdom
There was one main teacher, Corrie, and some others for the masterclasses. I was happy with all of them, because they all took time to teach us very step-by-step process, that was nice.
Pauline, France
I thought that they have a wealth of knowledge. The amount of experience that they have is something that you can’t get easily in a book, and I think that just the guidance with the process was very valuable.
Paola, Guatemala
Oh I enjoyed them very much because they were so different. Everyone had strong points, and all together it was a really great learning experience.
Maris, Guatemala
Really supportive and approachable and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed having a mixture of having Corrie as the main teacher, and then having other artists coming in and teaching us their skills as well. And all the technicians were amazing and really helpful.
Lucy, UK
People were really really helpful. Everyone was just trying to find a solution and work on things. There was never a NO, and this was something that I really appreciated a lot. Whoever you asked, whatever the question, even if it was something a little more personal, or more theoretical, or just about the course, we were never told ‘no you’re not allowed to do this’. It was always ‘yes, this is my opinion, and maybe it won’t work, or maybe it’s not the best idea to do it this way, but you can try it’. So this was something that I really appreciated a lot.
Elena, Switzerland

Q.4: What did you like the most about the course?

The idea that you have a space from Monday to Friday. That you can enjoy what you want to do, in a new city. Just the whole thing really. And just trying to be in the moment as much as possible, you don’t really think about anything else, you’re just here. Even if it’s just like a little bubble for three months, you’re just here, and you don’t have other things to do, other work, there is no space for anything else, so you just enjoy what you love doing.
Elena, Switzerland
Just having three months to be creative. Having that space and time to dedicate to creating and to my art was amazing. Not having any distractions with work and being able to properly immerse myself into the course, was fantastic. Being able to just leave all my equipment and pieces out, and come back to them the next day. In the UK, because my previous course was only once a week, I had to pack everything away, and then would kind of forget where I was at, it just felt really disjointed. So having the space and the time.
Lucy, UK
I have to say what I enjoyed most was making my final project pieces. I think it just pushes you to go further when you are doing something that you have a vision for. It pushes you to go further, to get over some fear and boundaries that you might have had. You learn in the process while you’re doing something that you’re excited about. And also the community I think was amazing. I met a lot of wonderful people here, and working in a group with like-minded people was really an incredible experience, besides also being in Barcelona which is an amazing city in itself.
Paola, Guatemala
Two things. Firstly, being able to be in such a creative space with so many creative people and having the freedom and space to be able to just make. To follow an idea through, that’s something that is going to be really difficult for me when I go back to London. Because obviously I’m going to need to focus on paying my bills. So to be able to have this space, and the freedom to do a project that is entirely conceptual and may not even lead anywhere (but that’s not the point, the point is to be able to follow the ideas, and to follow the process) that’s been amazing to have the ability to do that. And secondly, the people. All the people who I’ve come in contact with. People on the course, the other coworkers, everyone who’s been here have been so supportive, and kind, and generous and lovely, its been a real honour and a joy. I just pinch myself every day and I think, how lucky am I, to be able to come and do this.
Lisa, United Kingdom
I liked lots of things. But probably that we could be free in the afternoons so we could test and do things in our own way and experiment with the techniques we saw, this was really good. We had a lot of time to learn, but also a lot of time to make tests and do what we wanted to do, and this was really appreciated.
Pauline, France
Just the whole experience by itself. Just being in the studio 24/7, it was like, now I know.. that this is what I want to do. It was like a confirmation of what I was looking for.
Maris, Guatemala

Q.5: Would you recommend this course?

Definitely! Yes, I mean I think I said at one point that I would just love to start the course again! Or just have one more month to keep on working on the things that I actually learnt. So for anyone who doesn’t see ceramics just as a hobby anymore yes, because I think it’s really really intensive, I would say yes, definitely.
Elena, Switzerland
Yes, I think the content is amazing. And being able to stay in Barcelona, getting to know the local community and living my normal day to day life like a local here has been fantastic. Three months actually goes by really fast. It’s enough time to be able to immerse yourself into the course, but also to be able to go back and slot into my kind of life back in the UK relatively easily. It’s the perfect kind of time scale I’d say, three months. Yes, I’d definitely recommend the course, for sure.
Lucy, UK
Yes, if you have a lot of energy! Yes, if you’re into ceramics, yes of course. Because it’s a small amount of time, three months. And you can go to a lot of places, but I think if you really want to go into ceramics you also have to work a lot.
Pauline, France
Yes, I mean I feel like if you have a calling for ceramics, then it’s a perfect place to start
Paola, Guatemala
It’s a complete ‘go though’ of all the steps. If you really want to know about ceramics and have a general idea and the knowledge it’s the perfect thing, the perfect course to take.
Maris, Guatemala
Absolutely, yes, I would recommend it 100%!
Lisa, United Kingdom

Other written testimonials: 

I’m really happy that I got accepted to the course, and happy how it turned out! My classmates were wonderful and I learnt a lot. Corrie was very kind, supportive and taught us a lot. I feel like my skills, knowledge about ceramics has improved immensely, and I have to start practicing on my own now. It feels like I gained the basic knowledge for having a studio of my own and although I still need to improve my skills, I am more confident now. The course was well organised and all the masterclasses taught us a lot. Thank you Corrie and all the assistants!

Miia, Finland