Language
Portuguese, English
Duration
2h30 / 1 day
Difficulty
Beginner
Next Date
07/05/2026

Free ceramics workshop in Vila Nova de Gaia at Cer’Arte, installed in the heart of the historic Cerâmica de Valadares, a space that carries generations of Portuguese ceramic craft in its walls. This session has no moulds and no rigid rules, just clay, your hands and the freedom to discover what the material wants to become. You choose what you make, whether a functional piece or an abstract sculpture, and the only guide is your own creative instinct. All clay and tools included and pieces ready for collection two weeks after the workshop.

The session covers the three fundamental hand building techniques in a relaxed and exploratory format: pinch pot for building form directly from a ball of clay, coil building for adding height and volume, and slab construction for flatter and more architectural forms. You also learn how to prepare and handle clay properly to ensure your piece holds its structure, and how to add texture and identity through touch alone. The atmosphere at Cer’Arte is one of genuine sharing and total creative freedom, rooted in the historic energy of a space that has been shaping clay in Vila Nova de Gaia for generations.

What you’ll learn

🏺 Pinch pot technique for building ceramic form directly from clay

🏺 Coil building for adding height, volume and structure to your piece

🏺 Slab construction for flatter and more architectural ceramic forms

🏺 How to prepare and handle clay to guarantee the structure of your piece

🏺 How to add texture and creative identity to clay through touch and expression

What’s included

🎨 All clay and tools needed for the full session

🎨 Full guidance from the Cer’Arte team throughout

🎨 Drying, firing and finishing of your piece after the workshop

🎨 Collection of your finished piece approximately two weeks after the session

What you leave with

A ceramic piece built entirely by your own hands in a space with genuine ceramic heritage, fired and finished and ready to collect two weeks later.

We are Cer’Arte, installed in the heart of the historic Cerâmica de Valadares in Vila Nova de Gaia. We were born in December 2024 with our focus on the purity of ceramics, and have since expanded organically to embrace textiles, wood, painting and all forms of expression where the human hand is the primary tool. We believe art should not be experienced in isolation. Cer’Arte is a space dedicated to creativity and to encounters between the craftsperson and the enthusiast, between ancestral technique and contemporary vision.

Takes place in Vila Nova de Gaia at Cer’Arte. No prior ceramics experience needed. Pieces ready for collection approximately two weeks after the workshop.