the atlas
pottery in queensland.
a working map of the south east queensland clay world: where to learn, where to buy materials, and where the makers surface. we keep it because somebody should, and because the studios listed here are neighbours, not competitors.
studios and classes
Where south east queensland actually learns to throw. Class prices and formats are covered honestly in our first class guide; these are the rooms.
aCeramics
west end, brisbane
anna russell's studio and shopfront in the heart of west end; locally made pieces and a fixture of the brisbane clay scene.
visitmas & miek ceramic house
morningside, brisbane
courses, studio memberships, weekend workshops, and group bookings in a cosy dedicated ceramic house.
visitmud 2 mug
morningside, brisbane
wheel throwing and hand building classes plus walk-in pottery painting, seven days.
visitmia ceramics
brisbane
maria barry's studio running regular ceramic classes for individuals and groups, with an online store of her own work.
visitfield trip gallery ceramic school
brisbane
family-run gallery and school; five-week wheel throwing blocks around $480, beginner to intermediate.
visitredcliffe pottery group
redcliffe peninsula
a long-running community group: shared kilns, workshops, and the friendliest entry point north of the river.
visitclay and materials
Real ceramics suppliers, not craft chains. A 10 kg bag of good stoneware runs $25 to $40; most of these also fire work by the shelf.
pottery supplies
milton, brisbane
brisbane's institution: over sixty years of clay, glaze, tools, and an in-house firing service. where most local potters' stories start.
visitpotters craft
brisbane, online
clay, glazes, and brushable colour with fast delivery across queensland.
visitthe clay shed
kunda park, sunshine coast
the sunshine coast's supplier: a wide range of clays and materials for everyone north of brisbane.
keane's ceramics, walker ceramics, clayworks
nsw and victoria, ship to qld
the big australian clay makers. most queensland studios throw their bodies; all three ship north reliably.
markets and where to buy
Handmade ceramics are best bought in the hand. These are the reliable places queensland makers surface, ours included from time to time.
brisstyle indie markets
brisbane city, seasonal
the handmade collective's markets: a reliable place to meet brisbane makers and their ceramics in person.
visitthe finders keepers
brisbane, twice yearly
the big australian design market's brisbane edition; the strongest single weekend of ceramics buying in the state.
visitdavies park market
west end, saturdays
the saturday institution under the figs; makers' stalls rotate, and good pots surface regularly.
clay in the queensland climate
Queensland gives potters one gift and one trap. The gift is warmth: reclaim dries fast, plaster bats work hard, and a wet studio day is rarely a cold one. The trap is the same warmth: summer humidity swings drying times wildly, and a piece that reaches leather hard in an afternoon in january can take three days in a wet february.
The local disciplines are simple: wrap work in plastic to slow it down rather than racing it, dry slowly and evenly away from fans and afternoon westerlies, and be stricter than southern potters about bone dry before bisque, because humid air lies about dryness. The full drying and firing logic lives in firing and cones and trimming.
And if you are here to buy rather than make: everything in our catalogue is thrown and fired in this climate, up the road in the samford valley. The brisbane page covers pickup and delivery.