Make something unruly.
Handbuilding projects for beginners, made at home one piece at a time. Highland cows, wonky bowls, mugs with opinions. Each project is a complete thing on its own — pick one, make it, keep going or don’t.
Printable clay templates. Print, cut, make.
Downloadable templates and guides for people who’d like the shapes sorted so they can spend their attention on the clay. As these go live they’ll appear here.
Each one is marked Kiln-fired clay, Air-dry clay or Kiln or air-dry. Air-dry clay is for decorative pieces only: it isn’t food-safe or waterproof, so anything that will hold food, liquid, a candle or a plant needs kiln-fired clay.
TemplateCalm Pebble Bowls – Handbuilding Pottery Template
Printable templates for handbuilding a set of pebble bowls, with the shapes already worked out so your attention can stay on the clay.
Slab templates: mugs, tumblers & animals
Cut-out paper templates for slab projects, with the fiddly geometry already done. Pair them with the project guides or use them on their own.
Three shapes a project can take.
Every project is standalone and beginner-friendly, and every one carries a Mindful Clay idea somewhere inside it. They arrive in one or more of these forms, and the shelves below are filling up.
Project guides
Downloadable step-by-step guides. Photos, plain instructions, what can go wrong and why that’s fine. Print it, prop it on the table, get clay on it.
Templates
Printable cut-out templates for slab projects — mugs, tumblers, animals — so the shapes are sorted and you can spend your attention on the making.
Mini-classes
Short recorded sessions you can follow along with, clay in hand. One project, one idea, under an hour. Pause whenever the cow needs attention.
Highland cow projects. Inspired by chaos.
The slightly chaotic heart of Unruly Clay. Hand-built, full of personality, and the single best project for learning that imperfect is a feature. Some look sweet. Some look mildly concerned. Yours will look like yours.
Project guidecomingMake Your Own Highland Cow
Hand-build a shaggy Highland cow from a simple pinched clay form — expressive horns, unruly fringe and as much personality as you can give her. The Mindful Clay idea inside: tolerating imperfection.
In personHighland Cow Workshop
Prefer to make your first cow with someone in the room? The in-person workshop is the original version of this project.
Pinch pots, bowls & mugs. Useful, loosely speaking.
The classic handbuilding projects, each one carrying a Mindful Clay idea. Start with the pinch pot — it’s where everyone starts, and it’s where attention lives.
Project guidecomingThe Pinch Pot
The simplest thing you can make from clay, and the best place to notice where your attention goes. One ball of clay, two thumbs, no tools required.
Project guidecomingThe Textured Bowl
A slab bowl pressed with whatever’s to hand — lace, leaves, the end of a pen. Swap “is this good?” for “what happens if?”.
Project guide + templatecomingThe Wonky Mug
A slab-built mug with a handle that will not be straight. Designed to be used every morning, wonky rim and all.
Recorded mini-classes. Short, clay in hand.
Follow-along recordings for one project and one idea at a time. Shorter than a course, longer than a reel, and nobody can see your rim.
Clay Reset
For when you’ve got an hour, a lump of clay and a head full of noise. One simple make, one prompt, and permission to leave the phone in another room.
First projects landing soon.
One email when the first templates and project guides go live. Nothing in between.
Waiting for the Mindful Clay course instead? Join the course list →
Want the thinking behind the projects first? Read about Mindful Clay →