I love making pitchers! I also believe it one of the more personal objects one can attempt. It can be a very complicated form to attempt and resolve. Balancing the handle and the spout can be tricky! Lets talk some techniques!

This is a class that will discuss and demonstrate coil building an assymentrical form, a cut spout method, and a hand built/pinched handle. We will talk all bout this object and all the ideas one should consider when attempting a pitcher.

Each tray/trasket is started with a slab of clay. I create a footprint for the piece I am creating. I will use a stamping technique to create a texture for the glaze to react with later in the process. From there I then coil and pinch the form to create the soft yet structural walls that create the piece I am working on.

These forms are full of life and energy. Pinched and cut handles, coil built walls with cut edge technique, foot print templates, roulette texture application. These can be made in almost any size arrangement.

Cake Plates

I was invited to participate in a dessert show. Which gave me the wonderful new challenge of creating work that was treat specific!   What is a dessert show without a cake plate.  As I am  not drawn to frilly design, I researched cake plates. I was drawn to the victorian style of cake plate, less pedestal more connection to the table more of a frame for the cake than a massive table ornament.  This is my interpretation of a cake plate, fun, colorful and festive. These sit tabletop on feet. I love playing scale, individual cake sizes and party size cakes.

This lesson includes, discussion on scale, design with reductive and assertive elements, added feet, shrink slab explanation, coil and slab building options.

Per requested a whole class on handles and feet. We will explore all the vessels I put handles and feet on. Pulled, pinched and cut techniques will be explained and explored. Also techniques on non clay handles, bent rubber coated wire and bailing wire and epoxy solutions.

Not all planters are created equal. This is a newer exploration for me given may new addiction to house plants. Let’s chat about the do’s and don’ts with ceramic planters. ( I can share what I have learned, and the plants that have suffered!) This lesson will include hand built and thrown elements, and cut decoration, and applied feet.

Video available

This lesson will explore cups and mugs.  What’s the difference you ask? Come to class to find out!! I will demonstrate and discuss coil building and soft slab construction, two foundations of hand building. I will also spend a good amount of time demonstrating and talking about how to make a “good” handle.  This class is an excellent place for beginners to start and for advanced makers to revisit these concepts and skills.   As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects. 

Working with Hard Slabs.

This lesson is a request demo from my book. Let’s play with hard slabs. This subject takes some practice and some patience and a few trick and tips. I’ll discuss some of the pitfalls and troubles that abound with hard slab building. Also define the terms and protocols and why we might choose to work with clay at its most unworkable! I’ll demonstrate how I go about it and some work arounds and tips I have discovered. This will be a long class(2hrs) in which i demonstrate various methods of this technique. Bonus- I will also discuss adding feet to an object the do’s and don’ts :) 

As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects.

BOWLS Bowls BOWLS

What’s in your bowl?  After mugs, bowls are my go-to useful object in my home. So simple but sometimes so difficult to get right.  And what is a hand-built bowl? Not all of us are competent on the wheel or at the moment have access at the moment. Hand building bowls is a really wonderful way to flex your coil building skills (the sky is the limit), use your 2-D pattern making ideas to  a 3-D soft slab built bowl.  I will demo both coil building and also talk (demo) making and using templates to create 3-D bowl forms. Bonus- Let’s add a foot ring and talk(demo) trimming! 

As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects.

Plates Plates Plates

Plates (another lesson from my book) such a fun project and can be as simple or as complex as you want. A wonderful project to practice decoration and glazing ideas. For this lesson I will talk and demonstrate some ways I go about making simple hand built plate forms. Lots of discussion about reductive and additive decoration processes (surface treatment and adding foot ring). I will demonstrate making your own roulettes (texture tool) and in the moment mold making (design) that can be made into bisque molds. I will also demonstrate how were make slabs that survive and don’t warp on us. Bonus - I foresee a lot of problem solving conversation and talk on how to avoid some common pitfalls with making plates.

As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects.

Piercing, Cutting and Design - Video

This lesson will be exclusively about how I design, cut and pierce different objects. Piercing is something I use for both functionality and design.  I have work for years on how to do this successful, but I know it can cause you trouble. We will talk clays, times (temperature of clay) to pierce, to glaze or not to glaze, do’s and don’ts, tools, layout and design with all the objects I have in the image section.  If you really want to get a grip on piercing this is the lesson for you!

As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects.

Throwing

For those of you who are curious about wheel throwing, and/or have access to a wheel this is for you. Most of the same principles in my hand building are also applied to wheel throwing in a slightly tweaked way! The wheel is where I started my clay journey and is often that romantic notion most people have in their brains about ceramics. I will demonstrate how I approach throwing, cups/mugs/bowls (sm/lg). I’ll focus on how to build your skills, trimming, scaling up in size, how to work on throwing consistent forms. I will also talk a bit about body mechanics- and how important it is to a throwing(and hand building) practice. Gotta keep our bodies working!

As with all my lessons the goal is to add skills to your making tool box and to also challenge your brain with idea and concepts to think about while making in the realm of functional objects.

I am so excited to jump back into teaching after being so focused on making work the last few months. I have been daydreaming and thinking about what I want to share with you. I am hoping you will join me for this two day, virtual 4 hour event. There will be lots of making and lots of talking.

I will demonstrate some of old standards as well as introduce some of my new work, slab building, coiling, pinch pots and some reductive shaping skills (think candlesticks or scoops). I’ll demonstrate using templates and how to create your own. I have been working for the past year to develop new forms, and where I began with my investigation into a new glaze surface.

What I really would like to dive into with you is how to work towards developing a voice in clay, or we can call it a style. What goes into that, mentally and physically? When do you know you have arrived at your destination? How long does that take? Is it important to working in clay?

I have been working for the past year to develop a new body of work, and new glaze surfaces. This has had its ups and downs and I want to share that journey with you. In the world today it can seem like new work can appear from nowhere. Not true, lets talk about it.

Video recording will be available for one year.

This 2 hour class will cover all things candles - candle sticks, votive holders, candelabras and all the various in between. I’ll begin with how I got started in this investigation for my new book and where it has led in my own making practice. Demo will include, slab building construction and discussion on shaping and building solid. Also carving and piercing will be demoed and discussed. Extra care will be given to how to assemble these tricky pieces and coming up with the size for the candle cup construction. This is an advanced level object. Some are easier than others to make but be prepared to be challenged.

What does a bowl mean to you. It is for serving a salad or a dinner meal in? Does it need to stack or can it stand alone.

In this class I want to talk about the bowl/diner/serving dish. This form is so much fun and equally frustrating. What is the perfect bowl. I will be showing how I am exploring this ancient form and how it is developing in my own studio, in a coil built wall and slab foundation. With all the added accoutrements, handles and bobbles will be discussed and demonstrated.

Video will be available after the live class for viewing up to a year after purchase.

This 2 hour class is for all you folks who love working with slabs or are newly interested. This class will feature projects from the new book, scoops, candelabra, and matchsticker as well as a cup form (not pictured). This class will show different ways to use hard and soft slabs to create a variety of objects and different ways to texture and refine the slab objects. We will also discuss clay handling, cracking issues with slab projects and how to prefect your slab making technique.

Video will be available after the live class for viewing up to a year after purchase.