Who is The Clay Teacher?

Be assured, we are a locally owned Edmonton family business, we are not a franchise. Our knowledge of clay comes from over 50 combined years of hands on experience. It seems to us that if you want to hire a clay teacher, experience with clay should be of the utmost importance. That's why it is important to look closely at a person's qualifications. Here is a bit of history.

Cindy Clarke or "Mrs Clay" has potted all her life, first as a child with clay from her mother's garden in Dawson Creek British Columbia, then in elementary and high schools and finally as a profession. Cindy and her husband Jim Willett, "Mr. Clay", own and operate Out of the Fire Studio. Re-located in August of 2001 from Edson to Edmonton,Alberta, Canada, the studio is the home of all types of wheel thrown and hand built pottery items. Out of the Fire Studio is licensed as a major home based business by the City of Edmonton and is listed as a vendor by The Edmonton Public School Board.(Vendor number 1045099) Insurance coverage and police checks are current and as required by the Edmonton School Board.

Cindy has taught pottery making to students at all age and proficiency levels and has a special bond with school age children. As The Clay Teacher she teaches to elementary class rooms in the school system with demonstrations of wheel throwing on a real potter's wheel and then supplies direction in hand building curriculum based projects. She also is available for workshops to demonstrate wheel throwing and hand building for personal development days and in secondary classroom situations.

Jim Willett accompanies Cindy and as Mr. and Mrs. Clay the couple present an energetic, fun filled, informative workshop enjoyed by all ages! As well as over 15 years of clay experience, Jim has over thirty years of instrumentation and electrical experience in industry and is available for electric kiln evaluation and repair.(Jim also has five grandchildren who now range from one to twenty one, so he has a few years of experience with children!) Cindy and Jim can assist you in getting your old kiln running and teach you how to fire it.

Cindy is featured in a video for beginning potters called "A Down to Earth Look at How We Make Pottery"   and it is available for sale here In June of 2011 The Clay Teacher released a six DVD set of project building lessons in workshop form. Over 25 of our most requested workshops are presented in easy step by step format. More information is available on our Clay for Schools website.

See Cindy throwing on the wheel on YouTube!

and visit HowToMakePottery.com for more pottery making information and videos!

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Email Out of the Fire Studio

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EPSB Vendor #1045099