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Events & Festivals
Weekend Pottery Workshop
Jun 28 - 29, Time: 9 AM - 4 PM
Location: Cobscook Institute, 10 Commissary Point Rd, Trescott
Event Fee: $200
+ optional Extras that range in price from $15.00 to $50.00 + optional lodging that costs $75.00 - $100.00 per night
Our Access Fund provides Sliding Scale Pricing for the event fee to residents of Passamaquoddy Territory, Charlotte & Washington Counties. Learn More about our Access Fund
In this 2-day workshop, artist Karissa Arnold will lead participants through a journey into forming functional vessels with slab construction. Students will learn methods of forming slabs, slip making, pattern design, stamping and embossing, and intermediate to advanced joining and shaping techniques.
Pre requisite: Completion of at least one Cobscook Institute 8-week class, or intermediate to professional level knowledge.
Thanks to a grant from the Windgate Foundation we are able to offer a 30% discount code. Use promo code "PotteryThirty" when registering.
By using our Access Fund we are able to offer this course for a total cost of $1,350. Our recommended fee for registration is $200 per participant. If fees total more than $900, all excess will go to support the Access Fund to make this and future programs possible. If fees total less than $900 before the start of class, there is a possibility the class will not run.
This workshop will be inclusive and supportive of all participants. Karissa will share her unique take on surface design with various textural imprinting tools, and her philosophy of making unique hand-formed ceramics where slight imperfections are seen as a positive quality that adds to the character of the piece.
SATURDAY: Morning
Immediately roll slabs so they can dry some while discussing the project and the process.
Intro to the class, safety considerations, slab forming techniques, intro to the slab roller, making reusable pattern design templates, “working backwards” from 3D to 2D, begin preparing slabs.
Lunch
Afternoon
Discussion of the behavior of clay slabs, how to minimize warping, embossing and stamping techniques, begin construction of vessels, individual assistance and guidance, Q&A.
SUNDAY:
Morning
From flat to curved - intermediate shaping techniques, paddling clay. Work on projects, individual assistance and guidance, Q&A.
Lunch
Afternoon
Finish construction of vessels, refinement and detailing, discussion and demo of glazing techniques of greenware and bisqueware.
Work will be bisque fired AFTER the workshop and can be shipped to participants for a $25 shipping fee. Please select this session if you want your work shipped to you.
Lunches are available for purchase. Please select this session if you want your lunch provided.
Potters can bring their own clay or pay an additional $50 for 25# of clay. Please select this session if you need clay.
Lodging is available on campus in Heartwood Lodge.
BIO: I am Karissa Arnold, a potter of 15 years and a ceramics instructor of 9 years based in Lexington, Kentucky. I am also a trained biologist, naturalist and vegetable farmer. These connections to the Earth and the natural world highly inform my work in clay. I enjoy making functional pieces that elevate our everyday experience to artful living.
I began my journey in pottery as a hobby through classes at a community studio during a transitional period in my life and career. I found wheel throwing to be a meditative, centering force that allowed for healing, growth, and artistic expression. My work is influenced by the natural world of the farm - plants, flowers and animals - and also the myriad of interesting textures and shapes found in the items collected in old barns through the generations. It is an ever-evolving experiment in the interplay of the shapes, textures and colors of the things that bring me peace and joy. That is the energy I wish to be transferred to those that experience my work.
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