EAGLEDALE POTTERY STUDIO
Eagledale Park, perched on a hill overlooking the south side of Eagle Harbor, is home to one of the Island’s best-kept secrets: the Eagledale Pottery Studio. An unassuming WWII-era cinderblock building, the BIMPRD pottery studio is home to an active and thriving community of ceramic hobbyists of all ages and abilities. From new students to experienced artists, there is a workspace for everyone.
ADULT CLASSES & STUDIO TIME
Classes
Whether you have time in the morning, evening, or Saturday mornings, the Eagledale Pottery Studio strives to offer classes during various times and days. Instruction in all skill levels of wheel throwing, hand building, and sculpture is available for adults who wish to expand their clay experience.
Studio Time
Designated workshop/studio time follows all scheduled adult classes, and we encourage folks to pack a lunch and make a day of it. To get the most from your lesson or to continue perfecting a new technique, workshop time is a beautiful, supervised opportunity to make progress.
Flexible Workshop Option
For those students currently enrolled in a class or workshop, we offer the seasonal “Flex Workshop” option. This multi-visit pass allows visits to any regularly scheduled workshop from any instructor on any day to continue honing skills or works-in-progress.
Open Studio
On Saturday afternoons, the Eagledale Pottery Studio opens its doors to anyone wishing to spend non-instructional time creating in a clay space. With a wide variety of clays, texture materials, tools, and equipment, this is an ideal option for folks with prior ceramic experience who would like to continue to create but do not have space to do so.
For equity and safety:
- High-volume production of pottery is not allowed.
- Only clay purchased at the Eagledale studio may be used and fired in the Eagledale kilns.
- Only Eagledale studio “house” glazes may be used and fired in the Eagledale kilns.
- Unusually large or bulky pieces may be charged an additional firing fee.
Psst! Young people aged 16 & 17 are welcome to enroll in any adult pottery program.
YOUTH CLASSES
Ages 7-15 have afternoon classes designed especially for them. Our patient, knowledgeable instructors and experienced volunteers genuinely enjoy the energy and music, and mess of introducing young artists to the creativity and imagination involved with the slippery, squishy, moveable medium that is clay!
SHORT-TERM CLAY FUN
Parent/Child Clay Play nights unite generations for two classes in creating and glazing clay art.
Adult Clay Play nights are designed to introduce clay skills for a specific project you can keep.
CERAMIC SKILL WORKSHOPS
Whether it is the heat and unpredictability of a Raku firing, the colorful chemistry of glazes, or a smoky day on the beach at a wood-fired pit, Eagledale studio offers ongoing opportunities for any interested person to take part in the fun. For many of these workshops, you may bring your ware or choose from “orphan” pots left at the studio – no need to be currently creating, just curious!
SCOUT & SCHOOL GROUPS
If you’ve got a Scout or other youth group looking for a fun and exciting experience, we have staff who will facilitate a tour and workshop! A fee of $200 covers 12 youths for two 2 ½ hour classes and all supplies. We’ve done our homework on what Scout groups of all ages need for their recognition, and we would love to help your group earn their following badge or patch! By arrangement, please get in touch with Shannon@biparks.org.
With prior approval, small school groups may purchase cone-6 studio clay and schedule firing time to create a pottery experience in their classroom, guided by a designated adult at that school. Price varies according to group and project size; please contact Shannon@biparks.org.
STUDIO OPEN HOUSE & SALE
Curious about what goes on inside those Eagledale doors? Please take advantage of our Open House and Sale days to look around, mess with some clay, meet the instructors, and maybe purchase a finished treasure for yourself or as a gift.
INSTRUCTORS
Meet Elena Wendelyn, an adventurous artist and “clay & coffee” owner. If her smile looks familiar, it’s because you may have seen her at a farmer’s market, the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, the Vashon Sheepdog Trials, or elsewhere where her traditionally brewed coffee and strikingly bold ceramic designs are found.
Meet Debbie Fecher-Gramstad, a semi-retired potter and figurative clay sculptor who just happened to settle in the Eagledale neighborhood; lucky us! Alternating her time between teaching and travel, her whimsical faces and extended pieces often show the use of paints and stains as a fun alternative to glazes. More about Debbie’s fantastic work can be found at Fecher-Gramstad.com.
Meet Stacy Landers of “Landers Pottery,” our keeper of evenings and weekends. She is no stranger to burning the midnight oil – or should we say wood? – and can often be found in the company of other regional and national clay artists minding the woodpile of an outdoor firing somewhere on the Peninsula.