As spring slowly arrives in Montreal, we’re in the mood for a change of routine, and for spending more time outdoors – but for those who are firmly clinging to the city’s asphalt and would rather die than get out of Montreal to spend the weekend with sambas in the mud, getting your hands in the clay is an act of total communion with nature.
The Sip & Clay workshops of artisan ceramics brand MONOKIINI offer an evening that’s part film and gossip night with friends, part technical pottery class. Because debriefing the week over pink lemonade and transforming a ball of clay into a cup, plate or bowl that you’ll (proudly) use every morning is one of the best ways to spend your Friday evening.
It’s getting dark on Friday evening, and MONOKIINI’s workshop is on the third floor of a semi-industrial brick building in Villeray. We’re almost late, and by the time we arrive, the best scenes from Sex and the City are already playing on the big screen, and the participants in tonight’s pottery class are already seated around white paper-covered tables, in front of aperitif trays and little cloth pouches containing the tools needed to shape the clay.
There’s plenty of laughter, and time to chat over pink lemonade before the workshop begins. No one will be judged by the curve of the handle on their polka-dot mug – and the MONOKIINI organizers are so positive and energetic that you feel entitled to be creative with confidence.
They explain the techniques to be used to make a bowl, a cup, a plate… On the wall, there are photos of the brand’s designs, for inspiration. Some have opened pinterest and look for inspiration in their saved moodboards. For the first ten minutes of cutting and shaping our ball of clay into something that looks like crockery, all you can hear is Sex and the City, because everyone is focused, in the zone.
What’s more, you can ask for advice and help, because pottery is a serious business after all.
We’ve got two hours to shape and paint our creations, and the workshop is long enough for us to take our time, and to catch up on each other’s news and gossip – a big plus, because you can also concentrate on your work and listen to each other’s gossip.
At the end of the workshop, we leave our creations – which will be air-dried, then fired, glazed and annealed, like real pieces of crockery. They won’t crumble in the dishwasher, and we can keep them for (hopefully) ever. We’ll pick them up in 4 to 6 weeks.
We left after finishing the lemonade and eating the maraschino cherry at the bottom, and not only quite satisfied with our new pottery skills, but with the feeling of having spent the proverbial perfect evening with friends. And outside, it’s spring.
MONOKIINI offers the Sip & Clay workshop with a theme – a film – each month. In March, it’s Sex and the City and in April, it’s The Devil Wears Prada.
Themed pottery classes are $79.99, and Sip & Clay workshops without film screening are $65. You’ll have to check the dates on the MONOKIINI website here, but the workshops are on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays.
Enjoy your workshop!