There’s a workshop coming up in Tenerife on 17th April that caught my attention. Kurinuki. It’s a Japanese technique for working with clay that’s about as far from a pottery wheel as you can get.
The idea is simple but requires real patience. You start with a solid block of clay and carve inwards. No spinning, no throwing. Just hands, tools, and the gradual removal of material until the form inside reveals itself. Think sculpture in reverse.
What is Kurinuki?
The name translates roughly as “to dig out” and that’s exactly what it is. You take a block of clay, sometimes quite a large one, and hollow it from within. The process is slow and deliberate. Walls need to stay even. The base needs to support whatever you’re making. Get too enthusiastic with the carving tool and things can go sideways fast.
What makes it visually interesting is what it produces. Because you’re carving rather than shaping on a wheel, the results have a rougher, more immediate quality. Fingerprints, tool marks, slight asymmetry… these aren’t flaws. They’re the point.
That connects it to wabi-sabi, the Japanese philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence. A perfectly symmetrical, factory-smooth bowl has its place. But there’s something in a hand-carved piece, where you can see every decision the maker took, that sits differently.
The Workshop: Kurinuki & Usuzukuri with Jorge Villarroel
The session on 17th April brings together two techniques. Kurinuki, as we’ve covered, is about carving inward from a solid mass. The second technique, Usuzukuri, is the art of building thin-walled ceramics. A different kind of discipline entirely, one that demands a much lighter, more controlled touch.
Jorge Villarroel is leading the workshop. If you haven’t come across his work yet, it’s worth looking up before you go. He has a particular sensibility for ceramics that feel intentional without being over-finished.
Who Is This For?
Honestly, it’s not just for people who’ve done pottery before. Kurinuki doesn’t require you to know how to use a wheel. In some ways it’s more accessible because it’s fundamentally about carving, not throwing. If you’ve ever done any kind of carving or whittling, you’ll find the instinct translates across.
That said, it’s not a passive experience. You’ll come out of the session with something you actually made, something genuinely unique, because no two kurinuki pieces ever look the same. That’s rather the whole philosophy.
And that’s what makes this worth your Saturday. Tenerife has plenty of cooking classes, wine tastings, and yoga retreats. Workshops where you slow down, use your hands, and come home with something that will outlast the visit are a bit rarer.
If you’re the kind of person who collects experiences over souvenirs, and you’d rather make something than buy it, this is worth a look.
The workshop takes place on 17th April.