Kavita Pandya, the co-founder of Ochre Ceramics and Pottery, has been working with clay for 28 years and exploring the technique of Nerikomi since 12 years.
This intensive is about understanding basic techniques of Nerikomi using basic elements, lines and dots. Learn to construct your pattern block and create products out of it.
Within the vast creative possibilities that Nerikomi offers, she chooses to focus on the basic elements of lines and dots. This self-imposed restraint helps her stay rooted in simplicity and allows for exploration of subtle variations in form and rhythm that the technique brings.
Dates 1-12 September 2026 (Check in 1st Sepetember , Check out 12th September)
Slow Pottery Studio Location Velanga Orchard, Andhra Pradesh, India
Here's a guide to staying at our farm.
Accommodation & Studio Details below
Ceramic Artist /Facilitators Kavita Pandya
Level All Levels Welcome (Beginners must have basic skill and be able to make pots through handbuilding or wheelthrowing)
Duration 10 days
Maximum number of students per batch 9
Studio Hours & Materials
All days 10:00am to 5:00pm (workshop time)
Additional studio access from 5:00pm to 8pm
All materials will be provided
Note - If you'd like to sign up for two or three consecutive intensives you can stay with us at no extra cost during the break of three days. The studio will be closed in preparations for the next intensive.
Manual Instalment Payment Option
If you'd like to pay in two instalments, 50% to book now and 50% to be paid two months before the course starts, please email me at hello@slowpottery.com and pay via a manual bank transfer/UPI/ International bank transfer or use Wise.
The Intensive
Day 1 Introduction and presentation on brief history of Nerikomi. Understand tools and materials, start composing clay bodies.
Day 2 Learning to explore different lines and making pattern blocks.
Day 3 Explore and learn making pattern blocks out of dots
Day 4 Learn to do combinations of both elements to create new patterns.
Day 5 Compose and make product out of all blocks by using hump moulds.
Day 6 Continue compositions on different forms including sculptural forms.
Day 7 Learn how to finish Nerikomi surfaces, Biscuit Firing.
Day 8 Kiln Cools,
Day 9 Finishing and glazing loading / final firing
Day 10 Post firing finishing
Day 11 - Open Kiln
Artist Statement
'I have been working with the Nerikomi technique for the past ten years. What began as an interest in a method of pattern-making in clay has gradually become a language through which I express myself.
Over time, Nerikomi has grown into something intensely personal—a way to communicate my thoughts, emotions, and memories that are often difficult for me to articulate in words. Within the vast creative possibilities that Nerikomi offers, I choose to focus on the basic elements of lines and dots. This self-imposed restraint helps me stay rooted in simplicity and allows me to explore subtle variations in form and rhythm that the technique brings.
While these elements can sometimes feel limiting, they also push me to work in an embryonic, minimal style—one that encourages detailed observation of complicated patterns and forms. I’ve realised that this simplicity doesn’t take away from expression; rather, it allows different viewers to find their own connections and experiences within the work.
Reflecting on my practice, I often find traces of traditional crafts—pottery, handlooms, folk illustration—woven into my visual language. Much of my artistic sensibility has been shaped by my long involvement in the craft sector and my ongoing experiments with materials. These experiences laid the foundation for my personal visual vocabulary—one that I now continue to build on through clay.
My forms and patterns are inspired by familiar yet timeless motifs: mundane characters, everyday stories, and visual textures drawn from my surroundings. These are often the same elements I’ve seen repeated and reimagined across generations in communities that sustain rich craft traditions.
Living and working closely with artisans for 27 years has given me a deep appreciation for how simplicity, repetition, and variation can hold meaning in multiple ways across different contexts.
Nature, too, has been a constant presence in my life. I’ve lived amidst greenery for as long as I can remember, and that closeness to the natural world continues to be my greatest inspiration. I began my Nerikomi journey with birds, drawn to their form and movement, but the possibilities in nature are endless. I continue to respond to what I see around me—shifting seasons, falling leaves, moving insects—and bring those into my work.
What keeps this practice exciting for me is the ongoing process of suspense that the material and technique bring with it. Even with simple patterns, the work never feels repetitive. There’s a quiet sense of joy in evolving a form, in discovering something new within the familiar.
Nerikomi gives me space to reflect, to be present, and to keep growing—both as a maker and as an observer.
About The Ceramic Artist
Kavita is an alumnus of Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, and The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is the co-founder of Ochre Ceramics and Pottery. In her 28 years of working as a ceramist, Kavita’s works have been displayed on various national and international platforms, including Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, Ceramic Congress, Indian Ceramics Triennale among others.
As a ceramic artist specialising in the Nerikomi technique for over 12 years now, Kavita’s work stands as a testament to the fusion between different elements of culture and techniques. The meticulous, laborious and deliberate layering of diverse clay shades and textures creates numerous patterns and possibilities, becoming her language of expression.
Studio Facilities & Environment
The Slow Pottery studio is situated in Velanga Orchard, surrounded by mango trees. Our focus on natural light and airflow creates a minimal, inspiring space for our students. The local Kerala tile roof and glass tiles provide shade and brightness, even in the hottest months.
We have an electric wheel for each student, one electric kiln, a small kitchenette with unlimited freshly ground coffee, plenty wedging tables to spread wide with projects along with a restful chai spot to catch a break during long work hours. Ample shelves, stoneware clay, all materials required for each intensive is a given.
Hoping the studio fosters inspiring intensives and nurtures a space where creativity, ideas, and positive energy flourish.
Farm Stay & Accommodation - Velanga Orchard
Velanga Orchard is located in Andhra Pradesh in a village known as Jambuneradipalli, a mango orchard, skirting a reserve forest at the foot of a hill with a couple of lakes nearby. Surrounded by shrub forests endowed with over a 100 species of birds and animals.
Here's a guide to staying at our farm.
The Stay
- We have individual cottages for single occupancy, a shared accommodation for double occupancy.
- The cottages are built using vernacular design, local material and vintage aesthetics. The space is surrounded by neem, coconut, teak trees, under the canopies of mango trees, with the hill at the back and lush green all around.
Single Occupancy Private Cottage
Living space: Single bed with a side table, a study table and chair, Storage space for your belongings, with some décor elements.
Kitchenette: Kettle, hot plate, basic utensils, mini fridge, a clay water dispenser, basic cutlery.
Private bath & small patio
No air conditioners
Our common space for students has a laundry room for DIY Laundry, a dining where all meals including evening snacks will be provided, all day coffee & tea stations, a hang out space, library/study.
*The design of furniture varies in all cottages.
Double Occupancy Shared Cottage
Living space: Two Single beds with a side table, a study table and chair, two storage space for your belongings, with some décor elements.
Kitchenette: Kettle, hot plate, basic utensils, mini fridge, a clay water dispenser, basic cutlery.
Attached bath & small patio for two.
No air conditioners
Our common space for students has a laundry room for DIY Laundry, a dining where all meals including evening snacks will be provided, all day coffee & tea stations, a hang out space, library/study.
Here's a guide to staying at our farm.
Fees
Inclusive of the course, firings, materials & tools, studio time, valuable time with guest teacher, stay, wholesome home cooked meals and snacks, farm activities, tax for the entire duration of the course.
Double Occupancy Shared Cottage - Rs.71,000/-
Single Occupancy Private Cottage - Rs.81,500/-
Manual Instalment Payment Option
If you'd like to pay in two instalments, 50% to book now and 50% to be paid two months before the course starts, please email me at hello@slowpottery.com and pay via a manual bank transfer/UPI/ International bank transfer or use Wise.
To Register
Book your slot through this link
Once the payment is made, we will get back to you with a welcome mail. If you'd like to chat about the course, the stay, travel, schedule a call or more, please write to us at hello@slowpottery.com and I'll personally get back to you within one working day.
Cancellation Policy
- If you cancel before and on the 1st July 2026, we will provide you with a 100% refund.
- If you cancel between the 2nd July to 20th July 2026, we deduct 50% of the total fees as cancellation fees and refund you the remaining paid amount.
- Post 20th July 2026, we will not be providing any refund.
- In case of International payment refunds, the customer bears the transfer fee. It will get automatically deducted by the payment gateway.
- If your case of medical emergency informed at-least a week in advance, we can consider rescheduling the course (upon providing proof) Refund is not possible. Less than a week, we will not be able to help you.
- Due to any reason, you have to leave during the course, we won't be able to give you a refund or reschedule.
- We follow this policy without any exceptions.
- We take three to four weeks to process the refund.
Hope to see you soon!