Terrapotter Studios: the home of North Melbourne’s clay community

Terrapotter Studios is a sanctuary for ceramic enthusiasts, where both beginners and seasoned potters can explore their creativity in a welcoming North Melbourne space.

The journey began three years ago when the flagship Terrapotter Studios opened in South Melbourne. Since then, owner Cassandra has led her team and the brand from strength to strength.

As the studio’s popularity grew, the opportunity to expand and create a dedicated space for the North and West Melbourne community was too good to pass up.

“I love it here so much, it’s such a great neighbourhood and I really like the feeling of it being not quite the city, and also not quite suburbia,” Cassandra told North West City News.

Cassandra's own path to ceramics was anything but conventional. While completing her master’s degree and working a lab job where she “never saw the sun,” pottery began as a casual hobby.

“Admittedly, I didn’t like it at the start because I was not intuitively good at it, which unfortunately discourages people from liking things,” she said.

“I stuck with it because I really liked the person who was teaching me, and then I grew to like it a little bit more as my skills developed. Not long after I started, I actually ended up leaving the job at the lab and the place that I was practising at was hiring.”

“I thought, ‘some money is better than no money at all,’ so I started working from the ground up; from janitor to assistant, then teacher and manager.”

Though owning her own business had never been more than a “childhood dream,” Cassandra took a leap of faith and opened Terrapotter Studios.

Now, alongside her team of four, she runs introductory classes, term courses, and open studio sessions from her North Melbourne space on Victoria St. Visitors to the studio will also be greeted by Cassandra’s beloved studio dog, Sam.

“We offer two main types of classes. The first is like a taster class where people come in for two hours and essentially just get a feeling of what it’s like, then the other type we run is a term class which is more tuition-based,” she said.

“Studio time is something we offer where people can practice what they've learnt in class or they can work on personal projects. Some students that have been with me for three years, and at some point, they phase out of the guidance that we offer in term classes, so they work on their own thing in open studio.”

Cassandra’s favorite part of running the studio? Many things, but above all, creating a space where people can embrace pottery as an escape from the demands of everyday life – just as she once did.

“I think my favourite thing is just being able to offer a place for people where they can unwind from the stress of their work week, or they can feel a sense of accomplishment in developing this new skill,” she said.

“I love coming in and seeing my team work really hard and feel like they really enjoy the place that they work because they're being taken care and seeing us grow every year.” •