Dasong Ceramics
Let’s time-travel back to traveling days shall we? 2019 one of my travel location was Seoul.
I spent a week there with some friends. And one of my best activity was signing up for a Ceramic Class. While we travelled in a group, I had planned some solo activities since not everyone were interested in the same stuffs. As an artist myself, I found this really cool ceramic class on AirBnB Experience (I was also contemplating on attending a Gayageum class as well 🤩 but it was a little too expensive for my budget and I was short on time.)
Dasong
Dasong Ceramics is a pottery studio opened by two best friends named Kim Dahae and Song Hanna. Combining their names, they brought Dasong to life in a super cute studio
I booked my class on a quiet week day, so it turned out that I was the only student ☺️ It was quite nice because it felt like a private class plus you get to really talk to the masters. Once stepping through the entrance, you will be greeted by a cute a little patio (which I strangely did not get to snap a photo in the end). The owners are such sweet ladies! They gave a quick intro and tour around the studio and we were quickly settled down by the long table in the main room.
A first demo
Dahae-nim did a first demonstration on how to work on your ceramic. Somehow, it was very easy! It wasn’t the traditional spinning wheel pottery that I was expecting. The ceramists had already prepared everything— by working with moulds that can easily give your final product it’s proper shape.
Dasong’s Creations
ONE
Flatten out the dough into a nice layer
two
Roll out the dough, so that it’s as big as the template
three
Cut out colored pieces of dough to create your desired patterns and illustrations 😚
The Workshop
The workshop was a 3hour session (if I remember correctly) to make a plate + 2 chop sticker holder. While watching the demonstration, it only took the masters like 5-10mins to complete a plate. In the beginning, I wondered how would i spend 3hours making a plate 😂 However, 3hours flew by! In fact, I think I spent more than 3 hours at the studio…
It all looked pretty simple until you have to do it yourself and then you contemplate a gazillion years on what motif I wanna do 🥲
It took like like a good 10 minutes and then I had this light bulb moment to draw out a sunset illustration…
dasong ceramic class | Seoul
cleaning up the mess
First cut
Trimming the plate
A practice session before engraving the words onto your plate!
Like a memory keepsake I thought it was fun to put my name along with the studio’s name.
the final step: Flipping the mould over
and watch the new plate come to life 🤩
That flipping moment was a suspense for all of us. I wasn’t sure if I’d succeed. But it turned out all right 🤗
Part 2 —
There goes the making of the main plate. Now that I think back, I should have made something more abstract 😂It would have been easier to fit all the other plates at home. So then, part 2 continues with the remaining amount of clay and the colored ones. It’s a repeat of the first few steps.
Roll them nice and flat, cut out a base circular shape, and add in patterns (which I decided pretty quickly), re-roll (flatten them), wet and clean up a little and voila! No mould is needed, since it’s flat 🤩
The final pieces
And voila! I spent 3hours (maybe a little more) making a plate and 2 chopstick holder. Overall the workshop is so much fun~ You get to talk to the owners, learning bits of the korean culture and their artsy scene. South Korea has so many cute / niche brands like theirs, filled with so much passion! It was a super fun 3hour workshop! If I had more time and cash, I would have loved to make more plates! So please take note to change more cash because their studio doesn’t accept foreign credit cards for payment 😭😭
Hello from the ladies behind Dasong
3 weeks later
The ceramics had to be fired up in the kiln, so you can’t really get them back immediately. Instead, it' will be mailed to you (at an additional cost). You could also choose matte or shiny varnish for your ceramics as well. I originally asked for a matte look, but I guess the ladies were too busy and forgot about my request 😢
Tadaa!
New ceramics for the home 🤩
Be sure to check out their IG @dasong_made! While their site may be fully in korean, the owners speak rather good english! If you like anything, just DM them and they’d be more than happy to ship to you if you would like to purchase anything 🤗
