About the creator
Hi, I'm Nico. I make a lot of wobbly pots.
I've been throwing since 2012 and teaching since 2017, mostly people who had never touched clay. I still cut my own pots in half when something feels off, and I still get glaze runs on the kiln shelf.
Mudroom is the class I wished my students could take between Tuesdays: the lessons in order, a reason to sit at the wheel together, and someone who looks at the pot you made and tells you one thing to try next.
Nico
Fourteen years, roughly in order
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2012
First class at a community studio
Forty bowls that term. Two survived. He still has one of them.
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2016
A secondhand wheel in the garage
Bought for $350 from a retiring art teacher. It's the wheel in every lesson.
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2017
Started teaching evening classes
Six years of Tuesday nights at a community studio, mostly with absolute beginners.
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2019
First free video
A seven-minute centering video filmed on a phone. Free videos still go up every other week.
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2022
Opened the membership
For people who wanted lessons in order, live sessions and feedback on their own pots.
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2026
Six courses, four live sessions a week
Still filmed in the same garage, now with better lights and a quieter kiln.
The garage studio
One secondhand wheel, a small electric kiln on its own circuit, two shelving units of pots in every state, and a phone on a clamp. Every lesson is filmed here, usually on a Monday, and edited by Wednesday for a Tuesday release the week after.
This month Nico is making lidded jars for the February member show, and testing a celadon that keeps crawling on the rim. You'll see both in the glaze clinic.
How I teach
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Cut pots in half
A cut pot shows you exactly where the wall is thick and where it's thin. It's the fastest teacher in the studio, and it costs a pound of clay.
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Practise small and often
Ten minutes, three times a week, beats one long Saturday. Hands learn by repetition, not by willpower.
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Crit is something you ask for
Feedback only helps when you want it. In Mudroom, nobody critiques your pot unless you say so.
Things I won't do
A lot of online courses are sold with promises. Here are the ones you won't hear from me.
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Promise you'll sell pots or make a living from pottery. Some members sell; most don't, and both are fine.
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Recommend tools for a commission. There are no affiliate links anywhere on this site.
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Run countdown timers or fake "only 3 spots left" banners. The Mentorship cap is real and stated plainly.
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Make you call or chat with anyone to cancel.
Come make something with me.
Start with six free lessons, or join from $12 a month. Questions first? Email hello@mudroomclay.example and Hattie or I will write back.