Sit down at the wheel and leave with two pieces made

The potter's wheel is a spinning plate on which you build a piece, using that spin. It's not a machine that does the shaping: your hands do that, and all the wheel does is make the wall rise evenly on every side, so you don't have to keep turning the piece round.

The scary step is the first one: centring. It means pushing the ball of clay towards the axis until it stops wobbling, and it depends more on sitting well and bracing your elbows than on being strong. With someone beside you correcting your posture, you'll get it in the first ten minutes, and from there the rest is a matter of practice.

There are two things the wheel won't forgive, and we warn you about both in the workshop: dry hands — the clay always has to be slippery — and long nails, which catch the wall from the inside and break it just as the piece was starting to go well.

Almost everyone who wants to try the wheel runs into the same thing: courses lasting several months, with a sign-up fee and a fixed schedule. This workshop exists for exactly the opposite — one Saturday from ten to twelve, you pay for that morning and that's it. If you get hooked, we can talk about a plan; if you were just curious, you'll have your answer and two finished pieces.

It takes place at Gede Studio, in Santa Eulàlia, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, on the edge of Barcelona and a short walk from the metro. You'll find the exact address and the stops on this website.

There are six places per date because there are six wheels, and each person needs their own for the two hours. That means someone can keep an eye on every piece and nobody spends the morning watching someone else throw.

They're two different ways of doing the same thing and the studio teaches both, so the question always comes up. The short answer: the wheel gives you round pieces with thin, even walls, and it's harder at first; hand-building gives you pieces with more character, with whatever you can think of stuck on top, and it works first time.

If what you fancy is the image of clay spinning between your hands — which is what most people picture when they think of ceramics — go for the wheel. If you want to make a chick, a little mushroom house or a mug with someone's face on it, go for hand-building: you can't make those things on the wheel.

And if you're coming with someone who can't decide, it's fine to split up: the two aren't always on the same Saturday, but the dates for both workshops are on this website and you can book them separately.