About Us
Julie Martin founded Shaw Street Pottery in January 2020. It is a quaint and comfortable private pottery studio located behind her house, in Toronto's Little Italy. A bright, comfortable, sweet space for potters of all levels. Beginner and intermediate potters learn and gain experience with a variety of techniques with Julie's friendly and attentive approach, in small group setting or in one-on one lessons. Experienced hobbyist and professional potters can rent the space by booking our studio sessions or glazing sessions, or those who make pottery in their own space can get their work fired in our kiln.
The studio is never crowded, always welcoming, comfortable, and clean. Adjacent to the Fred Hamilton park, surrounded by many trees, we can open our garage door with access onto a deck - and potters can work outside whenever weather permits! This is a very special and rare feature for a downtown Toronto pottery studio.
Email Julie at shawstreetpottery@gmail.com to book an appointment and come by for a visit!
About Julie Martin : Julie had her first encounter with pottery as a teenager, under the amazing guidance of ceramist François Laliberté at Studio Terre et Feu, in the lovely village of Cap-Rouge near Québec City. This perfect introduction to clay art left a deep impression on her. After many years focusing on music and music instruction, Julie pulled out her clay tools and began to re-build her artistic portfolio. She studied with various wonderful and masterful ceramists here in Toronto, learning new techniques, improving her skills and reviving her love of the art form. While accessing space at a local studio over a number of years, she developed her own style, involving wheel, hand building and decorating/glazing skills. However, finding that opportunities to work with clay at other studios were limited, Julie purchased her own wheel and kiln and, for a couple of years, continued working with clay in her own basement studio. During this time, she saw an opportunity to share her love of pottery with others in the community and began developing a concept for a backyard studio. The brand new studio was built in her own backyard in 2019 - and is now the home of Shaw Street Pottery!