Archived Workshops
Click titles below for workshop
details.
2007
Making and Thinking About Pots
with Julia Galloway
Pots and Possibilities
with Nick Joerling
She Knows Shinos
with Deborah Harris
2006
Playing with Fire:
Making Pots and Firing the Wood Kiln
A Hands-on Workshop with Mark Peters
Hybrid Vessels: Construction and
Surface
With Marty Fielding
Meeting the Glaze Challenge
A Short Workshop with Susan Filley
2005
Making Better Pots
A FOUR-DAY INTENSIVE WORKSHOP
with Cynthia Bringle
Handbuilt Pots: From Drawing to
Form
with Sam Chung
Pile It On! Low Fire Surface and
Form
with Ronan Kyle Peterson
Firing the Soda Kiln
with Leonora Coleman
Raku Firing Workshop
with Barbara McKenzie
2004
Firing with Soda
with Gay Smith
Terra Cotta Slipware-
A Personal View
with Victoria Christen
From the Wheel to the Table
A Weekend Workshop with Suze Lindsay
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This workshop will be structured around the firing of a soda kiln. We will make and green-glaze simple pots to fire in the kiln. We will explore possibilities of form and surface that utilize and are enhanced by the effects of a soda kiln. Various ways of manipulating the form and surface of freshly thrown pots such as squaring, ovaling, fluting, and faceting-will be demonstrated. Assignments will focus on strengthening the skill levels and personal aesthetics of participants. We will create well-made, aesthetically strong functional pots utilizing some altering techniques, while learning to pay attention to what we need to improve and enjoy our work. Timing in this workshop means that we will continue to make work while the kiln is firing and cooling. Note:
Depending upon class and kiln size, participants may be
asked to bring leather-hard greenware to raw glaze and
fire. |
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Gay Smith (Gertrude Graham Smith) is a
studio potter educated formally at Harvard University,
and informally at the Findhorn Foundation and Penland
School. She single- fires porcelain ware in a soda kiln
near Penland School in the Appalachian Mountains of
Western North Carolina. She has held
artist-in-residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation in
Helena, Montana and at the Penland School. Her teaching
credits include workshops at Penland School, the
Harvard Ceramics Studio, and the Findhorn Foundation in
Northern Scotland. Her work is represented nationally,
and can be viewed in various publications including
Functional Pottery by Robin Hopper, and
Working with Clay by Susan Peterson.
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This workshop combines demonstrations, slide
lectures and hands-on work, in the exploration of issues
of form and surface using colored clay slips applied to
red earthenware clay. Victoria’s demonstrations
will include the construction methods she employs to
create her lively forms. Working on the wheel, she makes
parts that are then combined in various ways. Colored
clay slips and commercial underglazes are applied to
leather-hard clay by painting and pouring, creating a
close relationship of form to surface. The workshop will
also use tiles to experiment with slip decoration
techniques. Victoria will concentrate on the individual
needs of participants throughout the week. |
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"I intend my pots to
function at several levels, both for myself and the
user. First, I strive to make everyday objects for the
home, pieces that individuals use in the supposedly
mundane activities of their lives. My cups, bowls, cake
platters, and containers, I hope, emphasize the beauty
and significance of these daily rituals. On another
level, I intend my pots to embody my own experiences,
attitudes, and values. My work is both thrown and
constructed, intuitive and patterned, self conscious
and flamboyant. It includes references to my seamstress
mother's use of patterns and tucks to make highly
functional creations infused with her own passion; to
my father's work as both a machinist and a maker of
folk art; to my own paradoxical desire for both order
and freedom; and to my pots as both
containers/dispensers of everyday materials and as
metaphors for the body as both receiver and giver.
While I do not intend others to share in all of these
meanings, I hope that the personal level of the work
will free users to perceive their own self in these
objects." -Victoria
Christen
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| Victoria lives in Portland, Oregon where she is a studio potter. She received her MFA from the University of Minnesota, and was a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation. She has taught ceramics at several colleges and universities including, Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota and Oregon College or Arts and Crafts in Portland, Oregon, and most recently, as a visiting professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her work is exhibited nationally and Internationally, and appears in numerous publications. | |
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A
Weekend Workshop with Suze Lindsay |
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During this two-day workshop Suze will demonstrate and discuss her approach to pottery form, which consists of throwing parts on the wheel, then taking them out of the round, stacking and assembling, while paying close attention to proportion and scale.Surface decoration is emphasized in Suze’s work, and she will demonstrate a variety of decorating techniques with slips on greenware, focusing on integrating surface and form. Additional discussions will cover the development of a personal style and aesthetic, including inspirational source materials, and observation of contemporary and historical pottery. Note: A slide presentation on Saturday evening, open to the public, will be the basis for further discussion of Suze’s making techniques, influences, and personal aesthetics, as well as her life as a potter. |
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| “Pots
are like people. Their form is described by some of
the same definitions—lips, feet and shoulders,
and their character and personality can be expressed
by being open, warm, generous, rotund, sensuous,
loose or jolly. My use of the vessel/female metaphor
lies in the subtle suggestion of figure in form.
Vases have soft female curves and decorations that
imply clothing. Many of my forms are raised on a
pedestal-like foot that serves as a
‘skirt.’ My method of stacking various
volumes allows me to play with human proportions and
relationships. Altering a pot out of the round
creates contrasting angles that suggest hips and
waists. The use of line and pattern accentuates the
mood or nature of the pot, and can prompt its use for
specific occasions. The techniques I use when making
my pots allows me to create each one with a
personality of its
own.” -Suze Lindsay |
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Suze Lindsay received her MFA from Louisiana State University in 1992, after completing a two-year fellowship study at Penland School of Crafts. She was a resident artist at Penland School for 3 years, then settled in the area of Penland, where she and her husband, Kent McLaughlin, own and operate Fork Mountain Pottery. She has taught workshops at numerous art centers and universities, including Penland, Arrowmont School, Haystack Mountain School, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Ohio University and Tulane University.Ms. Lindsay’s work has been shown nationally in many exhibitions, juried and invitational; and in solo shows at Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO, and the Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. Her work is in the permanent collections of the George E. Orr Museum, Biluxi MS, Islip Art Museum, NY, and Kennedy Museum of American Art, Athens OH. |
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A FOUR-DAY INTENSIVE WORKSHOP January 5th - 8th,
2005 |
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Start the New Year right in this intensive hands-on workshop with renowned potter and beloved teacher, Cynthia Bringle. Give yourself the opportunity to be challenged and inspired, and prepare yourself to do your very best work in clay. Cynthia brings a lifetime of learning and experience to share with participants. Her focus each day will be on improving skills while paying attention to form and finishing. The entire workshop will concentrate on
the making of good work in clay. Claymakers studio will
be available exclusively for the workshop during Jan.
5-8, and participants may work as late in the evening
as they like. Participants will either use their own
clay, or purchase clay on site. Work completed during
the four days may be taken away unfired, or left with
Claymakers to be bisque-fired; firing fees will be
determined by volume. |
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| "A pot
is for daffodils, or it is a porridge pot, or a pot
for pills. Pots are to give away, to keep, to touch
and hold, to feel the curve of earth and sky. A pot
is a mood of many hues, but most of all a pot is to
use." --Cynthia Bringle |
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About the Artist Cynthia Bringle, a well-known and dedicated potter living in Penland, North Carolina, is widely admired for beautiful functional pottery as well as for her teaching and mentoring. Her association with Penland School has been long-standing, as is her deep emersion in the culture and history of the Southern Highlands. Cynthia began her journey in clay at the Memphis Academy of Art, followed by courses at the Haystack School in Maine with leading potters such as M.C. Richards, Toshiko Takaezu, Dan Rhodes, and Ed and Mary Scheier. She received a MFA degree from Alfred University, studying there with Robert Turner and Ted Randall. After Alfred she began teaching at Penland School and helping the director Bill Brown develop the ceramics program. Now she lives permanently in Penland and works at her studio which is a mecca for visiting artists and students. |
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How does a drawing of a pot become an
actual pot? This workshop will focus on creating
functional pottery forms (teapot, pitcher, vase)
from slab construction. The process will involve the
use of drawing as a foundation for the development
of form, and then cutting paper templates (derived
from the drawings) for the slab construction. Both
rolled and wheel-thrown slabs will be introduced. We
will have an ongoing discussion about the
interrelationship of form, function, history,
context, and process. This workshop is ideal for
those looking for a way to integrate drawing into
their construction process.
of information that it can contain. I am
interested in a pot’s ability to not only
contain physical matter, but also elements of history,
memory, familiarity, and suggestion. My desire is to
create pottery that reflects preciousness without
aloofness. The historical pots from China, Korea and
England have been some of my favorite and possess
eclectic attributes of formality, humor, animation,
and elegance. These are all qualities that I hope to
impart on my work.”
Sam Chung received his M.F.A.
from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and
his B.A. degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield,
Minnesota. He also studied ceramics at the
University of Minnesota for one year and was a
resident artist at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in
Snowmass Village, Colorado. Sam has exhibited and
presented workshops throughout the country. He is
currently Associate Professor of Art and Design at
Northern Michigan University in Marquette,
Michigan.
students will have hands-on work time
and participate in a group project of assemblage.
Throughout the workshop, Ronan will provide
individualized instruction and feedback. This
workshop is suited to students with some experience
on the wheel. All completed work will be
bisque-fired, and students will have the option of
glaze-firing later when work is ready.
“I often take
walks with my wife and our dogs in woods near our
house. On these walks my eyes often have a hard time
straying from the ground beneath my feet. The layers
and layers of fallen leaves and tiny movements of
insects and bugs fascinate me and transform the
already animate world around me into a creature
teeming with color and texture. The seductive layers,
tiny movements and visceral textures create a constant
panorama for the eye to follow, finding new paths to
see and retracing older ones to find new discoveries.
I hope to relay some of this color, movement, and vast
layering of texture and pattern in my ceramic
objects.”
Ronan was recently among 13 ceramic
artists chosen by Ceramics Monthly Magazine as a
2004 Emerging Artist; he has just received a 2005
Emerging Artist Grant from the Durham Arts Council.
His work is featured in Lark Books’ 500 Bowls
and High Fire Glazes. He teaches regularly at
Claymakers in Durham, NC and exhibits his work
locally and nationally.
We’ll start with 4 days
at Claymakers’ studio, making pots
appropriate for this type of firing. We will work on
the elements of good form such as
shape, balance and proportion. We will also explore
surface treatments appropriate for
wood firing such as texture, pattern, slips and
glazes. Some of the forms we will concentrate on are
pitchers, jars, bowls and cups. Our 
focus will be to find out what
makes a good wood fired pot. There will be
plenty of discussions and demonstrations. After 4
full days of learning and making, the finished pots
will be left for bisque-firing.
Mark Peters
maintains a studio in
Bakersville, NC, where he makes and fires his work
in a wood kiln. He has taught numerous
pottery-making and kiln-building workshops, at
Arrowmont, Penland, the Odyssey Center, and most
recently a kiln-building workshop at Cedar Creek
Pottery in Creedmoor. Mark received his MFA from
the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN., and
his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design,
Columbus, Ohio. His work is exhibited nationally,
and is included in a number of publications,
including Ceramics Monthly, Functional Pottery by
Robin Hopper, and 500 Bowls and 500 Teapots, from
Lark Books.
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Hybrid Vessels: Construction and
Surface We will focus on “hybrid” construction of functional forms and enhancing form with surface design in this workshop. Marty’s demonstrations begin on the wheel, but the greater portion of his time is spent assembling pieces away from the wheel. He alters pieces immediately as they are lifted from the wheel to accentuate the soft nature of the clay, anduses slump molds, ribs, and knives to reshape round pots intopersonalized forms. We’ll have ample time under Marty’s guidance to make our own pots using his techniques. We’ll also discuss ideas about enhancing forms through surface design, using wax resist and layering glazes; a slide presentation will add material for discussion. High fire stoneware will be the clay of choice, with glazing designed for reduction or atmospheric firings. |
 
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Marty
Fielding became
captivated |
"Utility,
beauty, and
evolution hold me in a persistent
relationship
with clay. The inherent usefulness of pottery
carries a long precedent as a palette for
expression. My approach to working with clay
evolves incrementally as I investigate
the balance between function and aesthetic.
Shapes and designs build upon
themselves and new versions of form and
decoration permeate the body of work and refresh
the process. 
by clay as an
anthropology major at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. His study of ceramics
continued as a student and teaching assistant at
Penland School of Crafts. Fielding’s work
has been included in invitational and juried
exhibitions such as Strictly Functional, Endless
Variations - Shino Review, and the International
Ceramic Journal Editor’s Symposium in
Beijing, China. His pottery is sold via craft
galleries throughout the U.S. “In Tune with
Marty Fielding” appeared in the
November/December 2003 issue of Clay Times. In
2004 and 2005, he taught advanced ceramics as
visiting professor at Ohio Northern University.
Marty currently lives and works in a nineteenth
century farmhouse outside Potsdam, New York. To
learn more about Marty and his work, visit his
website, |
A
Short Workshop with Susan Filley: Sunday,
December 3rd, 2006 Who among us has not experienced "glazing anxiety"? In this four-hour workshop Susan will demonstrate a number of glazing techniques on a variety of forms with the goal of making our glazing an easier and more successful process. She will point out pitfalls and how to avoid them. She will also discuss different types of glazes, covering the basics of glaze materials and composition to help demystify the process; handouts will be provided as a guide to testing and experimenting with glazes on your own. |
JULIA GALLOWAY:January 3-6,
2007 |
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Julia has been Artist in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation and at Anderson Ranch. Her work is exhibited nationally and is included in the collections of the College of William and Mary, the Archie Bray Foundation, and the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian. Publications include Ceramics Monthly, Art and Perception and Clay Times. ‘The Ceramic Spectrum’ by Robin Hopper and ‘The Art of Contemporary Pottery’ by Kevin Hulch. You can learn more about Julia and her work at www.juliagalloway.com. |
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Fee of $350.00 includes 25 lbs. of clay, and bisque firing. A non-refundable deposit of $75.00 is required with registration. The $275.00 balance is due by Dec. 22, 2006. Call Claymakers, (919) 530-8355, to register. Space is limited to 15 participants, so do not hesitate if you wish to attend. |
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A Demonstration Workshop Beginning with
round pots coming from the wheel, Nick will push, cut,
coax, and stretch those forms. Why alter pots? Tom Spleth
has nicely observed: “As work departs from thrown
forms that typically refer to pots and pottery, it gains
the ability to describe form
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| Nick Joerling is a full-time studio potter who has maintained a studio in Penland, NC since the mid-1980s. He received a B.A. in History from the University of Dayton, Ohio, and an M.F.A. in Ceramics from Louisiana State University. He has taught in craft programs nationally, been widely reviewed and exhibited, and is represented in public and private collections. |
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Fee of $140.00 includes continental breakfast on both days, and Friday evening reception and slides. Cost of slides and reception alone is $6.00. Refunds for withdrawal will be made before February 1st, less a registration fee of $20.00. |
I am interested in pottery that is joyous; objects
that weave into our daily lives through use, pots that
decorate our living spaces with character and elegance.
Teapots celebrate our drinking tea; a pitcher
decorates a mantel when not in use; a mug with
slight texture inside the handle allows our
fingers to discover uniqueness. In making cream
and sugar sets I am curious about their own
inherent dialogue; the set itself is reminiscent
of close conversations, and their ritual
celebratory use.
in nature, suggest the vulnerability
of the figure, and express the asymmetry found in
human experience." The focus will be on utilitarian
pots but some liberties will be taken with that
notion too. Various ways of making handles, lids,
and spouts will be demonstrated. Slides and
demonstrations will form the backdrop for lively
conversation about everything from making a living
to making pots personal. Process is paramount, humor
emphasized, taking chances
encouraged.
I make pots as much from a drawing
sensibility as a pottery one. Daydreaming with a
pencil. Not drawing as rendering but simply
doodling, then working hard to get that drawing to
function. Profile line is therefore a strong
attraction, a strong dictate, as are the smaller
spaces within spaces. And of course that sense of
animation. My pot reference is most often you and
me, our bodies. It's where my cues come from: dance,
people seated on a park bench, the cleavage that
forms on the inside of a bent elbow. But I want to
stay in the pot's world--too literal and the pots
seem deflated. In my studio what I hope for are pots
that have qualities of sensuality, compassion, humor
and risk.DEBORAH HARRIS:
SHE KNOWS SHINOS
A Shino Firing Workshop
Saturday June 2, 2007, 10:00 to 4:00 (bring lunch)
Saturday June 23, 2007, 10:00 to 4:00 (bring lunch)
Sunday June 24, 2007, Optional Firing day
Tuesday, June 26, 2007, 6:00 to 8:00 Unloading the kiln
Inspired by the "American Shino Master" Malcolm Davis several years ago, Deborah Harris has made shino-glazed porcelain her signature work. This historic Japanese glaze has unique properties; in this workshop, Deb will share techniques for manipulating carbon-trap Shino successfully and to maximum effect. Students will learn forms, application and firing requirements to create the unique and elusive effect of this wonderful glaze.
This short work shop will cover three weekend days in June. The first day will be a discussion of Shino glazes followed by a throwing demonstration emphasizing forms that best facilitate carbon-trapping. There will then be a three week pause to allow students to make and bisque their work for the firing. Our second Saturday will cover glaze application and manipulation followed by loading the reduction gas kiln. Sunday we will fire the kiln using a Shino firing schedule (this is optional, and of interest to those who do their own gas firings). The kiln will be unloaded and work evaluated the following Tuesday evening - over a cup of tea perhaps. For intermediate students with some wheel experience. (25 lb. of clay will be provided, and open studio access; additional materials fee if using grolleg porcelain)
Cost: $125.00