Sarah Anderson
June 13th-15th 2025
Sgraffito Designs
9:30-4:30 Tuition $575; materials included
Discover the world of sgraffito surface designs in this three-day immersive workshop. It’s perfect for those new to ceramic art or looking to expand their pottery decoration techniques.
Led by Sarah Anderson, you will:
- Learn the fundamentals of sgraffito surface designs.
- Practice creating two-dimensional designs on three-dimensional clay surfaces.
- Experiment with color, texture, movement and other elements of the principles of art.
- Understand how to use negative and positive space to create illusions of depth, as well as working with clay at various stages.
We will start with simple sgraffito exercises with clay tiles and paper to collage our imagery and learn how to create a successful composition.
Participants are welcome to come prepared with leather hard pieces to use for their final sgraffito design.
Join us for a fun, creative journey into the world of sgraffito designs!
Instagram: SarahAndersonCeramics
Curt LaCross
June 23rd-27th 2025
Sculpting the Human Head
9:30-4:30 Tuition $775; materials included
Explore the innovative and unconventional methods used to fabricate striking life-like clay subjects during this five-day workshop.
Perfect for ceramicists and sculptors looking to elevate their figurative skills.
Led by Curt LaCross, you will learn:
- Innovative techniques for creating hyper-realistic human heads in clay.
- Methods for working with armatures in figurative sculpture.
- Fundamentals in facial anatomy, the construction process, and conceptual development.
- Advanced surface techniques for achieving lifelike skin textures.
- Unique post-firing processes to achieve strikingly cosmetic exteriors, working with resins, and post-firing surface treatment.
- Custom tool fabrication for portrait sculpture.
Create your own sculpted bust or wall hanging using Curt's groundbreaking techniques; and take your figurative clay art to the next level in this transformative workshop!
Website: Curt LaCross
Instagram; Thebulldozer
Chandra DeBuse
July 11th-13th 2025
Small Wonders: Hollow Forms and Surface Strategies
9:30-4:30 Tuition $600; materials included
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of miniature ceramics with this three-day workshop on creating and decorating hollow pottery forms.
Led by Chandra DeBuse, you will discover:
- Methods for creating hollow pottery forms through handbuilding with midrange white clay.
- Methods to transform your creations into spice shakers, spoons, vases, planters, wall hangings and ornaments as well as techniques in creating ceramic bells and whistles.
- Strategies for surface decoration using texture, underglaze color, and glaze.
- Methods for visual storytelling by designing unique settings for your creations.
Plus, learn to incorporate non-clay materials like high-temperature wire, neodymium magnets, and rubber into your ceramic creations.
Perfect for both beginners and experienced clay artists looking to expand their building methods and surface decoration skills to create charming worlds of wonder.
Website: Chandra DeBuse
Instagram: ChandraDeBuse
Michelle Gregor
July 28th-August 1st 2025
Improvisation in Figurative Clay Sculpture
9:30-4:30 Tuition $800; materials included
Immerse yourself in the world of Improvisation figurative ceramics with this five-day workshop. Perfect for artists looking to breathe life into their clay figures.
Led by Michelle Gregor, you will explore:
- Improvisational techniques for dynamic clay figures.
- Innovative methods to capture movement and gesture and vitality.
- Techniques to push past the common stumbling blocks of proportion, movement and balance.
- Techniques for constructing and hollowing small-scale maquettes and large-scale figures.
- Learn to break the figure down into basic components and use them to explore their potential for various poses.
- Special attention focusing on challenging areas such as creating heads and hands.
- Surface treatments using texture, underglazes, stains and underglaze pencils along with mark-making to strengthen and unify the form and develop rich surface effects.
Key workshop components:
- Live sculpting demonstrations
- Hands-on improvisational exercises
- In-depth slide presentations on figurative ceramic art
- Individual mentoring with Michelle
Elevate your figurative sculpture skills and discover new pathways to creative expression in clay!
Website: Michellegregor.com
Instagram: Michellegregor
Deana Bada Maloney
August 11th-15th 2025
Critters in Clay
9:30-4:30 Tuition $775; materials included
Unleash your creativity in this five-day workshop on expressive animal sculpture. Perfect for clay artists looking to elevate their sculptural storytelling skills.
Led by Deanna Bada Maloney, you will create:
- Textured relief tiles using basic construction methods and exploring sketching on the surface to understand form and practice.
- Sculpt a miniature bird: transform a ball of clay into a charming, feathered friend.
- Impressive large-scale animal sculpture using armature techniques.
Key sculpting techniques covered:
- Capturing animal anatomy and characteristics in clay.
- Incorporating storytelling elements and developing your concept and translating your vision into clay
- Alternative surface treatments using oxides and inks.
- Integrating found objects for unique, personalized creations.
Workshop highlights:
- In-depth demonstrations of relief and three-dimensional sculpting methods.
- Different armature approaches for varied sizes.
- Guidance on developing your artistic concept using reference materials and sketches effectively.
Come and bring your animal sculptures to life and the stories they tell.
Website: Deana Bada Maloney
Instagram: thebadacreative