MIDDLEBORO — The Pied Potter, better known as Rick Hamelin, will offer two pottery workshops at the Middleboro Public Library on Saturday, May 13.

The program for adults ages 18 and older, “Time to Spout Off: Teapots From Around the World,” will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. This workshop is a celebration of the similarities and differences experienced with many cultures by way of a pot of tea.

The history of teapots will take place on the potter's wheel. Hamelin will introduce the audience to teapots from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Brown Betty teapots, ring teapots, teapots filled from the bottom, and a surprise animal teapot will all be made on his wheel.

A freshly made pot from the potter's wheel will be passed from person to person, with the chance to feel a dry and wet pot as it rotates on the wheel. Attendees also will make their own pinch pots (a cup made from a ball of clay by pinching the clay with the thumb and finger) and take home the unfired piece.

The “Fantasy Clay Figures” program, for tweens and teens, ages 11 to 18, will take place from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Participants will watch a short pottery wheel demonstration and also learn how to make a pinch pot and then alter it into a dragon with coils, pads and slabs. 

Space for both programs is limited so registration is required. Call the library at (508) 946-2470 or, for the adult program, email Libby Fox, reference and adult services librarian at lfox@sailsinc.org, and for the teen program, email Young Adult Librarian Chris Dargelis at cdargeli@sailsinc.org.

Hamelin has been potting since 1976 and became committed to learning about the historical redware potters after learning of the Colonial and Early American industries that existed in his native Central Massachusetts.

These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Middleboro Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Support was also provided by Friends of the Middleboro Public Library.