Paint & Sip in Artarmon

Swap the canvas for clay. On Dickson Avenue in Artarmon, Paint Clay Sip Sydney runs BYO pottery classes and private parties across two studios: a pink party room at number 27, decorated in a tropical holiday theme, and a green studio at number 53 used for wheel classes on weekday mornings and afternoons.

Groups bring their own drinks and snacks while a teacher shows them how to shape clay. Afterwards every piece is trimmed, glazed and fired to stoneware, so the mugs and vases people make can go in the dishwasher, oven and microwave.

Before you book the pink studio:

• Wheel throwing is the messier, more technical option, suited to two to fifteen people in a two-hour class.
• Hand building uses slabs and tools to make a mug, vase or planter, and is the usual pick for hens parties and team events.
• Groups of sixteen to thirty split in two and swap halfway through a two to three hour party.
• Private classes include two fired pots per guest, from $85 per person, and pieces can be picked up or posted.
• Children from eight can join a private class, so it works for a family birthday as well as adults.

Artarmon sits beside Chatswood and St Leonards on the lower North Shore. Artarmon station is on the T1 North Shore line, a bus from Chatswood station stops nearby, and parking is easiest after 5pm on weekdays and at weekends.