At the wheel

Pottery is a great stress-buster for our present times, say experts, aiding self-worth, imagination and creativity. We list potters and studios whose work will want to make you get your hands dirty

Karishma Rodrigues

Picking up her skills at Clay Station Art Studios, Bengaluru, Rodrigues has been working with clay for 10 years. She started the pottery studio A Lil Bit of Everything in Mumbai to teach, rent out kiln space to budding potters as well as work on retail orders. At the studio, they work with different clay bodies, techniques and foodsafe-glazes, and besides big production orders made as per the client’s preferences, they make colourful, quirky and customised pieces influenced by movies, books and television, while experimenting with new ideas. They ship all over India and conduct classes. To celebrate Rodrigues’ 10th year in pottery, the studio is hosting #thepotterybarter, two-hour trial sessions on appointment for people to try their hand at clay and understand the process of pottery.
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Follow: @alilbitofeverything.pottery, Instagram

Hina Desai

Desai, who has been learning pottery since 1992, started Geo Pottery in Fort, Mumbai, in 2005, after the birth of her daughter, with the primary aim of teaching the art to children. In her classes for adults and children, Desai offers a basic introduction to pottery and its various techniques. She makes terracotta pots of heights ranging from six inches to four feet, decorative trays and sculpture. They ship all over India.
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Follow: @geo_pottery, Instagram

Leela Chakravarti

Pic/@LEELAPOTTERY, INSTAGRAM

Chakravarti is a marine biologist-turned-potter who is based in Devon, UK, from where she ships her products worldwide. Her page is filled with soothing pottery videos, as well as striking images of wild clay pots, vases, apothecary jars, lamps, plates with motifs of crabs and anemones, butter and cheese domes and berry bowls, most in rich, earthy colours and dreamy greens, greys and blues, and with shapes and motifs inspired by the sea and coastal life. 
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Follow: @leelapottery, Instagram

Nikita Dawar

Slow Pottery is a school in Bengaluru inspired by the philosophy of slow living. They offer workshops and beginner, intermediate and advanced level courses, along with online sessions on wheel throwing and short recorded workshops on making clay masks, coral tiles, dahlia bowls, coiled baskets and fluted bottles using 
basic hand-building techniques. They sell 
pottery through their online shop and deliver across India. 
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Follow: @slow pottery, Instagram

Jigisha Patel

Patel started The Tiny Clay Inn studio in Andheri in January this year, and says that after quitting eight jobs by the age of 27, she realised that the 9-5 system of work didn’t work well for her mental health. At the studio, however, she found herself working for 10 hours straight. She enjoys making donut vases. Keen to listen to people’s stories, has been offering in-person classes at the studio. The thought of making things that become a part of people’s homes and lives, she says, is what drew her to the craft. 
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Follow: @thetinyclayinn, Instagram

Andretta Pottery

This is India’s oldest pottery studio located near Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. The Andretta Pottery and Craft Society was set up in 1983 by  potter Mansimran Singh and his wife Mary. The society runs residential courses for potters, and Andretta’s pottery is sold at outlets across India.   
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Follow: @andretta.pottery, Instagram

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