The question that decides what you book is how much you want to make from scratch. Painting a finished piece takes no skill and suits any group. The wheel is messier and asks more of you. Hand-building sits in between. We run all three within ten minutes of each other in North London, so here they are side by side, with prices, plus two free ideas for the days you would rather not spend anything.
Paint a ready-made piece (easiest)
At Studio 136 in Kentish Town you choose from over 300 ready-made pieces, sit down and paint. A session is two hours, there is no experience needed, and daytime sessions are open to all ages, which makes this the one for families and mixed groups. We glaze and fire your piece, and it is ready two to three weeks later, food-safe if it is a mug or a plate.
From £23 per person all-in: a £5 studio fee plus the piece you choose. On weekday afternoons and Sundays you can walk in; Saturdays, book.
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Sit at the wheel (most hands-on)
Ten minutes down the road, Studio 221 in Camden on Royal College Street is our making studio, with wheels instead of paint shelves. If you have always wanted to try throwing a pot, start with the 1-hour wheel taster at £30, or the introductory taster at £45 for an hour and a half. A tutor stays with you the whole time. Ages 10 and up.
Hand-build from raw clay (no wheel)
Studio 221 also runs Hand-Build & Decorate workshops at weekends, from £32 for two and a half hours: you shape a piece by hand, then decorate it. It is slower and calmer than the wheel, and a good choice for a pair of friends who want to talk while they work. Can’t decide? The hand-building and wheel taster (£45) does both in one session.
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Free: sketch on the Heath
Take a notebook up Parliament Hill and draw the skyline, or carry on across the Heath to Kenwood House, the Robert Adam house at the top, with a Vermeer and a Rembrandt on its walls. Neither costs anything to sit in front of with a pencil.
Free: Camden Arts Centre
On Arkwright Road, near Finchley Road, a contemporary art gallery with a café and a garden that also runs its own courses. Worth a look before you decide what you want to make.
Which one is for you
A group with mixed ages or a first date: paint at Studio 136. Something you will be proud of, and you do not mind clay on your clothes: the wheel at Studio 221. A calm afternoon with one friend: hand-building. On a budget this week: the Heath, and the rest of our cheap things to do in North London.
