Ceramics Workshops

In this course, students will work closely with figurative sculptor Kelsey Bowen to create clay figures that tell a story. Techniques covered in this workshop will include coil building, gesture, expression, and the use of objects to build a narrative within a 3-dimensional sculpture. The workshop will begin with the introductory techniques of sculpting the human figure in clay and move through the process of adding details to develop meaning. Kelsey will demonstrate the wet clay processes used to create her own work including anthropomorphic figurative sculpting, texturing, creating clothing with clay, and other detail-oriented sculpting techniques.

In this 3-day workshop, students will create a 8.5’’x11’’x1’’ plaster slab from a swatch of low-relief fabric or section of clothing. Students will learn a transfer technique using their plaster slab by adding layers of colored slip to create a textured soft slab of clay. After the soft slab of clay has been created, students will learn basic soft slab building techniques to turn their slab into a cup/mug or leave it flat to create a tile. Students will come away from this workshop with their very own plaster slab of fabric texture and a new technique to take their surface designs to a whole new level.

Students will set up and pour their plaster slab on the first day, learn how to transfer texture onto their slab of clay on the second day, and practice transferring their slab and soft slab building on the third day. This workshop is for students who consider themselves intermediate makers. Previous slab building experience is highly recommended.