Clay & Candlelight: Spring's First Pottery Workshop at Hartlot Happening

Turn towards spring with a set of ceramic candleholders made by your own hands.

Join us for our first creative gathering of the spring in the relaxed and inspiring space of Hartlot Happening.

There is something about this time of year, especially in Central New York — the light returning, longer and softer, the air carrying the first hint of warmer days ahead — that makes you want to hold on to that light and nurture it. To give it room to grow. That's the idea that gives rise to this pottery workshop, to gather, work with our hands, to create something from the earth for holding small flames. In our first spring workshop at HXH, we'll be making candle holders by hand — simple vessels, imperfect and entirely your own. A place for light to take hold as the warmer season finds its way back to us.

Guests will learn traditional handbuilding pottery techniques, including the process of rolling a clay slab, working with patterns and templates, surface treatments, constructing and shaping vessels, assembling and joining elements. The workshop is accessible to all and open to all levels of experience.

Hosted at Hartlot Happening

Sunday, March 22, 2026

10 AM - 1:00 PM

639 Hartlot Road

Elbridge, NY 13060

All materials are provided. We’ll close the afternoon with a seasonal lunch thoughtfully prepared by workshop hosts, with coffee and other earthy sips from Milkhouse Roastery.

After the workshop, your candle holders will dry slowly until ready for a first firing. Once bisque fired, your pieces will be glazed (a selection of glaze samples will be available during the workshop for you to choose from) and fired again. After the last firing, your candle holders are ready to pick up at Hartlot Happening. This process takes approximately 3 weeks from start to finish.

Reserve Your Spot

Meet your workshop facilitators

Lora Taub is a studio potter and the co-owner of Hartlot Happening. A transplant from Southern California, and documentarian by training, she turns to clay and the industrial and natural elements of her surroundings to create connections and a sense of place in Central New York. She makes handbuilt and wheel thrown utilitarian pottery for the table, home, and garden and all the spaces in between.

Becky Muir lives on a small farm in Borodino where she farms flowers and grows quince in all their glory, and tells the visual stories of her environment through photography. Her photographs invite viewers to notice the transitory and often exquisite beauty of blooms and branches foraged from farm, field, and hedgerow, in various states of emergence and fading.

Mike Foster is an artist whose understanding of and attention to growing and making is expressed in the really good coffee he roasts and shares with the community at Milkhouse Roastery in Marcellus. He shares with Becky an endless fascination and care for cultivating and collecting plants and local wild clay through their In The Hedgerow collaboration.

Register for Workshop

Gift cards for this workshop and future pottery happenings are available here.

Hartlot Happening is committed to being a welcoming space for all. We want this space to feel open to everyone who wants to gather here. The venue is mobility accessible, with concrete walkways throughout the property and an ADA accessible restroom on site. If you have questions about your visit, please don't hesitate to reach out.