2020 Soda Fire Session I: 2 weeks
Friday, July 17th -- Friday, July 31st
OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
1 SPOT LEFT
Topics covered vary depending on the individuals enrolled in the workshop but can include the basics of getting started on the wheel--centering, learning to throw functional forms as well as more advanced topics like altering thrown pots, learning to throw larger pots, developing your own glazes using natural materials in your environment, and so forth. We work with a couple of different stoneware clay bodies we purchase pre-mixed, glaze it raw (i.e. no bisque fire), and single fire in a soda kiln to cone 10 using propane as fuel. Further, we have recently built a soda kiln that we can fire, depending on the desires of the participants and time constraints.
In addition, we have a raku kiln for doing some extra firing while waiting for the big kilns to cool at the end of a session.
Class sizes are small (we limit the residency to 6 participants) so there is ample opportunity for one-on-one interaction with the instructor(s). Positions are filled first come first serve with deposit.
Emphasis is on meeting the individual student at his or her skill/interest level and working from there.
2020 Session II: 2 weeks
Community Building through Clay
OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
Wednesday, August 5th --
Wednesday, August 19th
In this two week session, Elaine Parks and Goedele Vanhille will be both teaching in the studio and cooking in the Hotel for the participants. Studio time will both cover hand-building and throwing techniques.
Elaine will be demonstrating coils, handmade and extruded to make open forms exploring sculptural possibilities. Other hand-building techniques of pinch and hard and soft slab will be introduced and if there’s interest we can explore that further.
Goedele ‘s focus will be on all aspects of wheel-throwing from centering, opening, shaping to trimming, handles and lids.
With this workshop, we will be exploring community building with a-work-for-tuition exchange. Every morning we will dedicate 4 hours ( a total of 40 hours for the two-week session) to facility maintenance. We are upgrading, with an eye to keeping the historic character of the school alive. This work may include helping clean up the kiln yard, working on the kiln shed and repainting the outside of the Hotel.
Goedele and Elaine are interested in helping students build skills with clay, so everyone in the session feels they can come to this retreat to gain better competency and understanding of clay as a material.
With the work-exchange, we hope to reach people willing to help keep the community spirit of over 50 years of the Pottery School alive.
The price of this session is $1,200.00 instead of the full tuition of $1,750.00
