ABOUT
The concept of creating a pottery school came out of the notion that downtown Albuquerque needed a bright and beautiful, fun filled place where students could unleash their creativity in clay.
We aim to provide a welcoming space where ALL people, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, or sexual preference, can come and let their hair down, laugh and make some friends while exploring their maker side. Our classes are the perfect activity for those working in high stress jobs; we can help you exercise your right brain (or exorcise it if need be)!
We offer many classes in which you can focus on wheel throwing or hand building or try your hand at both. We provide all the tools and equipment you need to get started at our school and clay is available for purchase as well. All you need to get going is you. And maybe some coffee.
Come have some fun with us!
Hi, my name is Tamara. I am the “brains” behind Burque Throwdown. After a 20 year career in healthcare I decided to follow my true passion and become a full-time artist. I love clay and cannot get enough of throwing pots! It’s always a fun challenge and always interesting. Although I’ve had some formal training in ceramics at UNM, my skills have been honed through hours and hours of obsessing over my work. For the past several years I have been selling my work through local growers markets, holiday markets and custom orders.
What I bring to each class is my love and enthusiasm for clay. I hope my enthusiasm will be infectious and help others channel their creativity. My aim is for each class to be super fun so that every student goes home feeling like they got their creative juices flowing and they are proud of what they accomplished that day.
I have loved working with clay ever since I began taking classes as a kid. Through years of children's book publishing, mothering, and teaching middle school, I slipped in and out of clay phases at universities, private studios, and on my own. Now, with kids grown, I'm elbows deep in the mud full time, happily creating in my home studio and selling pots and sculptures at markets around town.
Never really much for the precision and repetition of throwing pots, I have always gravitated toward hand building, leaning into the slumpy, lumpy characters that emerge as I work the clay. I am fascinated by the way clay can capture the tiny nuances of gesture that create personality – even in a shape with no ears, eyes, nose or even proper feet. Starting from a box or a sphere or, quite honestly, a shape that shows no hope of ever fulfilling its own destiny, I poke and prod and layer and prune until each piece begins to emerge as its own entity. A slump here. A twist there. How about some arms? And suddenly a new individual is crying or laughing or getting snippy right there on my table.
I can’t wait to help you discover your own style in our classes
here at the studio!
My name is Michelle and I will be teaching wheel throwing at Burque Throwdown. I have been working with clay for the last 9 years and it truly is my passion. I am skilled throwing on the wheel but am one of the rare potters that likes to do both! Clay has no boundaries or limits and I’m so excited to teach you all what it has to offer.
I grew up in California, have lived in Nebraska, and have now called New Mexico home for the last year and a half. I have been wooed by this land of enchantment. I love to garden, take nature walks, travel and eat.