Clay WorksStudios

Clay Works Studios operates from Solway House on the former Crichton hospital campus in Dumfries, where potter Chris Taylor teaches wheel-throwing to students ranging from complete beginners to working ceramicists. Taylor trained in ceramics at the Royal College of Art before moving from Devon to Dumfries in 2017 to set up the studio with his wife, Lauren Gray. Courses run as intensive two- and four-day blocks alongside weekly evening classes and one-off taster workshops, with small group sizes allowing individual instruction at the wheel. Studio membership gives more experienced makers access to equipment and kiln firing outside course times. Taylor's own practice focuses on thrown pieces with textured, unusual surface finishes. The studio takes part in the region's Spring Fling open studios event each May.