Clay Workshops
2012 Clay Workshops - Full Listings Now Available!
2012 Spring Evening Workshop
January 23 - March 19, 2012 (Monday evenings for 8 weeks, 6-9pm; No class March 5-SPRING BREAK)
Handbuilding & Wheel Throwing Techniques in Clay
Bryce Brisco
Fee: $300
Skill Level: Beginning-Intermediate
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Description:
This class is designed for various skill levels from beginning to intermediate, and will include basic wheel throwing, altering techniques, and handbuilding. Instruction will be customized as much as possible for each participant.
Bio: Bryce Brisco hails from rural northwest Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas, earning a BFA degree in painting, then earned his MFA in ceramics from Ohio University. He focuses on functional woodfired stoneware.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2012 Weekend Workshops
May 11-13
Animal Sculpture
Nan Jacobsohn
Fee: $300
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Materials Fee: $65 (includes armature system for class plus instructional CD)
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.theclayhorse.com
Description: Sculpting animals can present unique challenges, especially for the standing pose. Participants in this workshop will be introduced to an exciting and foolproof approach to supporting vertical gestures.
Bio: Nan Jacobsohn earned a BA in Art Education from Pasadena College, CA and an MLAS from Vanderbilt University. In 1996, Nan began working as a full-time studio artist as a sculptor in clay. Her work is represented in galleries throughout the Southeast.
June 1-3
The Fearless Sculpture
Shadow May
Fee: $300
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.shadowmay.com
Description: What do you get when Japanese architecture meets Fred Flintstone ceramics? Bold, organic, fresh-looking pots. Whether a beginner touching clay for the first time, or an advanced artist wanting to take your work to another level, this class will give participants a new perspective on how to approach clay. Learn to be fearless with your exploration in form and design, to look at clay from a sculptural point of view, all while using a potter's wheel to get open and closed forms for altering. Students will use the wheel as a tool to achieve a form, and incorporate basic handbuilding and slab techniques to reveal a unique, fresh look in their work. The class will throw out slabs by hand and learn how to fold, bend and encapsulate air within them for altering. The class will use minimal tools to accent and manipulate their work for a primitive yet sophisticated look.
Bio: Shadow May is a self-taught, award-winning ceramic artist residing in Chattanooga, TN. He is a recipient of Make Work, ArtsMove, and CERF grants. Shadow teaches workshops nationally and has been published in Ceramics Monthly as well as Clay Times. He has exhibited his work nationally in over a hundred juried fine arts shows and recently assisted in the Ceramics Department at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
June 22-24
Build It, Slip It, Scratch It
Shoko Teruyama & Matt Kelleher
Fee: $300
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.shokoteruyama.com ;
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.mattkelleher.com
Description: This is an earthenware handbuilding class for participants at any level interested in the diverse genres of pottery from tableware to vessels for sacred places. Demonstrations and projects will focus on using bisque molds as a beginning and soon turn to more complex attachments, altering, and refining techniques. The emphasis will be placed on surface treatment through slip application and sgraffito decoration.
Bio: Matt Kelleher and Shoko Teruyama are working potters in the mountains of North Carolina outside the small river town of Marshall.
June 29-July 1
Introduction to Surface Design
Susan Moore
Fee: $300
Skill Level: Beginning
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.addledhillpottery.com
Description: This workshop will focus on enhancing the surfaces of students' ceramic work, exploring color, patterns, texture imagery, and design.
Bio: Susan Moore is a potter and graphic designer. To her, making pots and designing is about discovery and finding inspiration in the beautiful and simple things around her.
2012 One-week Workshops
*OPTIONAL: One-week workshops are available for 1 TTU elective credit hour; credit hour fees are in addition to workshop fee. For more information about credit hours, please click here.
May 20-25
Build & Burn: Mold-Making, Sculpture & More
David Scott Smith
Fee: $500
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.davidscottsmithceramics.com
Description: This workshop will begin with students making clay molds from indigenous textures (plants, tree bark, insects, etc.) and using these molds throughout the week in hand-built projects and the creation of forms for plaster molds. The students will learn to use their molds for both press-molded projects and slip-cast forms. The instructor will demonstrate how to mix and use translucent porcelain. At the end of the week, the class will experiment with the raku-firing process; students will end the class with both translucent porcelain work and raku-fired pieces.
Bio: David Scott Smith received his MFA from Louisiana State University, and has exhibited work throughout the Northwest, New England, and Louisiana. He currently teaches Ceramics and Design in Kalispell, Montana.
June 10-15
Large-Scale Ceramics: Bigger Than Me
Aaron Lee Benson
Fee: $500
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Description: Go big! In this workshop, participants will learn to build large-scale ceramics, six feet plus. The focus will be on how to solve issues related to drying, warping, cracking, and installation of pieces this size. The philosophy and theory of scale will be discussed.
Bio: Aaron Lee Benson is a sculptor and Chairman of the Art Department at Union University. Commissions include Chicago, Nashville, Key West, and Sydney, Australia.
July 8-13
Color & Line
Rimas VisGirda
Fee: $500
Skill Level: TBA
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Description: Students will focus on using underglaze colors on earthenware with wax-resist and wax-inlay techniques (for a black outline). Other line-making techniques will also be covered, as well as applications to tiles, vessels, and three-dimensional forms. Topics to be covered include line character, pattern development, narrative imagery, underglazes, engobes, and china paints, as time permits. Participants will produce a number of sample tiles for future reference, and are welcome to bring bone dry greenware or bisqued pieces of their own design to work on during the workshop.
Bio: Rimas VisGirda has exhibited his work, given workshops in ceramics, and lectured internationally. He has taught at colleges and universities on the west coast and in the Midwest since 1973. He has retired from full-time teaching and currently teaches occasional workshops and maintains a studio in Champaign, IL.
2012 Intensive Workshop in Clay*
*OPTIONAL: This workshop is available for 3 TTU elective credit hours; credit hour fees are in addition to workshop fee. For more information about credit hours, please click here.
July 24-August 10
Making & Wood-Firing Pots Using Local Materials
Daniel Johnston
Fee: $1750
Skill Level: Beginning-Advanced
Instructor Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; www.danieljohnstonpottery.com
Description: In this class students will find natural, local materials and learn to refine and mix them into clay bodies and glazes. Students will enjoy class demonstrations as well as one-on-one instruction using an electric potter’s wheel and wooden wheels from Thailand to create a range of functional work. Thai large jar construction techniques will also be taught. The class will create and compare pots using traditional techniques from the American South and traditions used in Southeast Asia. The workshop will culminate with a ‘once-firing’ for raw-glazed pots, allowing students to learn how to load and fire a large wood kiln. The class will analyze the aesthetic results of the wood-firing and local material use.
Bio: Daniel Johnston is a potter in NC who focuses on refining local clays to make large wood-fired jars and functional pots. He began making pots at the age of 16 in Seagrove, NC, later apprenticing with Mark Hewitt. Daniel continued his studies working in England and Northeast Thailand. Daniel has lectured at the Freer-Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian as well as taught workshops at Penland School of Craft and Texas A&M. His work is in many permanent museum collections, and he currently works in his NC studio making and selling over 100 large jars a year.
**Workshop check-in is Tuesday, July 24, 2012; class begins Wednesday, July 25 @ 9am.
Evening Workshop / Fall 2012
Detail about these workshops will be posted as soon as the information becomes available
