22 SEPT – 5 OCT 2019 NATURE TRADITION with Adam Field

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Nature Tradition
with Adam Field

September 22-October 5, 2019

In this two-week workshop Adam Field will demonstrate his methods for carving intricate pattern on a variety of wheel-thrown porcelain forms.  He will also demonstrate traditional Korean Onggi coil and paddle pottery techniques. From ancient Korean techniques, to innovative solutions for timeless problems, participants will develop a new perspective on creating and decorating functional pottery.  Participants will learn new skills for mapping out and carving geometric patterns in clay.  Generous discussions about studio practice, aesthetics, materials, ceramic history, and promotion and marketing strategies for the studio potter are certain to encourage individual discovery, growth, and development of fresh ideas.  Participants will gain the skills and confidence to create and decorate work in their own voice.


I am fascinated with antique artifacts, the way they can speak of mastery of lost peoples, places, and cultures. This inspires me to create works that both radiate history and capture my own place and time. I work toward a clean aesthetic that celebrates the masterful simplicity of antique Far Eastern pottery, while retaining the modest utility of colonial American wares. The surface of my pottery is meticulously carved with intricate designs that borrow from nature and incorporate the human touch. Much of the carving on my work is informed by pattern languages found in indigenous fiber art, such as Hawaiian tapa, Incan cordage, and Zulu basketry. 


Sunday, Sept. 22:      Welcome Dinner and slide talk
            Nature Tradition. Adam will discuss and share images and videos highlighting the inspirations, motivations, and influences that inform his work. 


Monday, Sept. 23:     Building blocks for a strong foundation
            Demonstration 1, A Fresh Approach: Step-by-step detailed techniques for  wedging, centering, opening, compressing, pulling walls, shaping, and finishing a thrown cylinder will allow students of all levels to fine tune their skills upon a solid foundation.
           
            Demonstration 2, Cups and mugs: Demonstrate a variety of cup forms on the wheel with an emphasis on exploration of rims, volume, interior space, handles, function, and feet.
           
            Afternoon: Open studio time, with plenty of personal tutorial support from Adam

Tuesday, Sept. 24:    Exploring volume and form on the wheel
            Demonstration 1, Throwing continues with demonstrations of full volume vases and covered jars using a double ribbing technique. Thrown lids and lid seats also demonstrated.
           
            Demonstration 2, Cups: Pattern layout, carving, trimming, cleanup, and finishing.
           
            Afternoon: Open studio time, with plenty of personal tutorial support from Adam

  
Wednesday, Sept. 25:           Plates/Platters/Bowls
            Emphasis on function and form. Designing for decoration and function.
            -Intensive decoration layout demo: using lasers for precision pattern layout.
            -Pattern layout for stretching carving patterns over large voluminous forms.
   
            Afternoon: Open studio time, with plenty of personal tutorial support from Adam


Thursday, Sept. 26:               Larger forms: smarter not harder
            Approaches to throwing smarter not harder to achieve larger sophisticated forms.
            Afternoon: Open studio time, with plenty of personal tutorial support from Adam


Friday, Sept. 27:                    Trimming and Finalizing Forms
            Bringing small and larger works to conclusion
            Continuing to develop and employ carving layout and techniques
            -Afternoon: Open studio time, with plenty of personal tutorial support from Adam


Saturday, Sept.28:                 Final Marks
            Final trimming, carving details for smaller works.
            Bisque kiln loaded for long candle and firing beginning at night.


Sunday, Sept. 29:                  FREE DAY     

            (Bisque kiln firing.)


Monday, Sept. 30:                 ONGGI Pots  
            Onggi from start of class to lunch, continued after lunch and into mid-afternoon. Large (150 liter) Onggi jar. Demonstration will have images and video from my time in Korea during my apprenticeship as well as live demonstration of Onggi method.
            Throwing large sectional forms: throwing floor, lower wall, and upper wall as 3 separate parts of the same pot. 
            (These works will be for practice only—not to be fired during the workshop)


Tuesday, Oct. 1:                    Glaze Intro
            Unloading bisque wares. 
            Beginning discussion of glaze possibilities, perfecting glaze application, etc.
            Continue working on (assembling) sectional large forms.  Finalize Onggi pots.


Wednesday, Oct. 2:               Glaze Day      
            A day of glazing.
            Decorative carving of Onggi vessels (optional).

  
Thursday, Oct. 3:                  EXCURSION
            A visit to the Javanese big pot makers, plus and excursion TBD…
            (Glaze kiln firing.)


Friday, Oct. 4:                        Photography and Social Media
            An in-depth presentation on my approach to photography and content production for Instagram and Facebook (documenting the studio process)
            Unloading the kiln in the afternoon.
            Photography session.


Saturday, Oct. 5:                   Conclusion

            Final display and discussion of finished works.   Packing and concluding after a last lunch together.


4-17 AUGUST 2019 BIOMORPHICS: Natural Forms in Clay with Carol Gouthro and Cj Jilek

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BIOMORPHICS: Natural Forms in Clay 
with Carol Gouthro & Cj Jilek

August 4-17, 2019

The natural environment inspires Carol Gouthro and Cj Jilek during their world travels informing their unique biomorphic ceramic sculptures. Their work features animated forms and signature surfaces.
Join Carol and Cj in creating unusual and exuberant works in clay inspired by the island paradise of Bali.  Investigate methods and develop concepts to build your personal visual vocabulary. Explore a layered approach to the ceramic surface that evolves from wet clay through bone dry to bisque. Techniques will include hand-building with wooden drape molds, soft slab building, creating texture slabs, and one part segment molds for three-dimensional forms. Carol and Cj will also reveal a behind the scenes look at the engineering necessary to produce elaborate sculptural forms.  Surface practices will include the use of color, pattern making, texturing, carving, wax resist, stenciling, and sgraffito.  A beautiful two weeks of ceramic practice and island adventure!


First Week

August 4, Sunday  - 6:00 pm
Welcome dinner at Indus Restaurant with introductions. Carol and Cj will be sharing an overview of their own work and adventures. We will have dinner while getting to know one another.


August 5, Monday  (Daily Studio Hours 9:am – 5:00 pm w/ lunch provided)
Studio orientation: Participants will become acquainted with our beautiful studio home away from home. The artists begin with an overview of the processes they will be teaching during this workshop; they will discuss the similarity and differences between their practices. We will discuss the timetable for the coming two weeks and gather information about firing options with the Gaya studio.  
(*Not all large-scale sculpture will be fired.  If participants want large works to be bisque-fired when adequately dry, Gaya does offer this.  Participants will need to arrange for shipping works home independently: Gaya will put you in direct contact with their reliable shipping agent to do so. Only small-scale sculpture will be finished through the glazing process during the two weeks.)


And away we go….Carol will begin the workshop showing how she uses her Segment Mold Process to construct her unusual, segmented forms. Through her straightforward process using one segment mold we can manipulate and alter component parts to arrive at many variations and different expressions of form. You can review Carol's process that was published in Ceramics Monthly Magazine March 2018.  http://www.carolgouthro.com/ceramics_monthly_artcle_2018.pdf

In the afternoon, participants will begin by drawing simple shapes on paper and cutting paper templates, then proceed to sculpt solid clay into the wooden forms. (Materials will be provided) Next they will carve, facet the clay form and add bas-relief if desired. Carol will demonstrate this process step by step. By the end of this first exciting day participants will be pouring plaster on their prototypes to create their very own Segment Mold.



August 6, Tuesday 
In the morning we will unmold the forms, clean them up and begin to use them right away to create your sculptural form. Carol will show how to put the parts together, in addition to adding slips and texture to enhance form. 

In the afternoon, Carol will demonstrate how she cuts into her leather hard forms to create interior spaces with textures by creating and using texture slabs to add bas-relief.


August 7, Wednesday
In the morning, Cj will demonstrate her hand-building process for creating her unusual biomorphic forms.  Cj’s process is a hybrid of soft slab / coil building while integrating in pinch forms. Her forms are encompassed in carved and embossed surfaces, Cj will dive into her approach for developing the content of her work while getting the participants started on a form of their own. Participants will be lead in a maquette building exercise to spark biomorphic inspiration.

In the afternoon, everyone will take a field trip to visit the Bedugal Botanical Gardens in order to gain further inspirations for our botanically inspired forms. Carol and Cj will describe the lens in which each views botanical specimens in relation to the work they create.

August 8, Thursday
Inspired by our garden excursion, Carol and Cj will be encouraging the investigation of new surfaces for participants on small-scale pinch forms and maquettes.  These forms will be used to experiment with a variety of glazing techniques and discuss surface development.


August 9, Friday
Drape/Drop Mold Friday - Carol and Cj both use custom-made wooden drape molds (also referred to as a drop molds) in their practice. They will both be demonstrating side by side showing how they use these wooden molds in their own work, a wonderful opportunity to see how two artists utilize the same technique with very different results. These molds are a fantastic way to make elements for sculptural forms or to create utilitarian forms. Everyone will have time to utilize the molds to make their own shapes and forms. Carol and Cj will show how to cut, alter, stack etc. these molded shapes to make many diverse forms.  


August 10, Saturday
In the morning, Carol and Cj will be working with participants to finish up the work they have made so far including all the techniques you have learned, plaster segment molds, drape molds, hand-building techniques, surface techniques included in the small-scale forms.

Early afternoon, Carol and Cj will dive into color with the goal of having pieces ready to bisque fire by end of day.  The artists both use underglazes in their work and they will demonstrate several underglaze techniques to incorporate color, and pattern into your work. Adding color at the leather hard and bone dry stage is an important way to add more depth to your work as it gives you another opportunity to stain on top of that color on the bisque. Carol and Cj will share their individual approaches to these methods in their demos using wax resist, sgraffito, wax inlay, shellac resist and more.

We finish up by loading a bisque kiln
BISQUE KILN firing begins at midnight (with Gaya CAC staff)

August 11, Sunday                FREE DAY
Will be a day off from the studio. Participants may explore the island, have a spa day, take a cooking class, or just relax and sketch poolside as they wish. (Participants will plan their own adventures this day; feel free to ask us for recommendations.)
BISQUE KILN firing


Second Week

August 12, Monday
In the Morning, The bisque kiln will be unloaded and results will be discussed as a group. Carol and Cj will continue to demonstrate creating surface depth with staining techniques as well as other glazing techniques to enhance the texture on your work.

In the afternoon, Carol and Cj will be working with participants to envision the migration of their ideas with the new skills they have been introduced to during the first week.  Participants will start larger scale forms using a combination of the various molds, hand-building and surface techniques.


August 13, Tuesday 
Everyone will be working side-by-side, enjoying the each other’s creative energy in the beautiful island studio. Cj will share her engineering strategies with internal structures for building complex forms that will be stable through a firing process. Carol and Cj will be working on their techniques simultaneously, as will all participants: lots to do!!

*Note: These larger scale sculptures will only be bisque-fired if the participants have made arrangements with Gaya, otherwise we will enjoy the freedom of working and experimenting without the demand of a finished product.


August 14, Wednesday
Another blissful studio day concluding with the loading of a glaze kiln.
GLAZE KILN firing begins at midnight (with Gaya CAC staff)

August 15, Thursday
Full day of studio work.  Concluding projects.
*Note: participants can work on larger pieces until the very end of the workshop—large pieces will only be fired when the studio judges them adequately dry (this could be weeks after the workshop concludes), and when the studio can fit them into their firing schedule.
GLAZE KILN FIRING

August 16, Friday
Another Adventure Day! 
BAMBU INDAH river pool/jungle exploration

August 17, Saturday
Workshop wrap-up! Unloading of glaze kiln, critical discussions and conclusion. 
We will share a final lunch and depart by 2:00pm.

 
*All lunches will be served daily noon-1pm family-style in the studio mezzanine.
**Details listed in this preliminary schedule are subject to change; a finalized version will be included in participant welcome package.


v  For further information on the artists and their processes you may follow them on the web or contact them directly with questions?

Carol Gouthro
Facebook: Carol Gouthro
Instagram: gouthrocarol
carolgouthro@comcast.net

Cj Jilek
Facebook & Instagram: Cj Jilek
cjjilekartist@gmail.com 

7-20 JULY 2019 THE ESSENCE OF CRYSTALLINE: Forms, Formulas, Firing with Ginny Conrow


email us at gayacac@gayaceramic.com for more details!


The Essence of Crystalline: Forms, Formulas, Firing
with Ginny Conrow
                                      
July 7-20, 2019

Swoon into the flowery blooms of a crystalline glaze and come home with all the detailed notes in hand on how to make the magic happen in your own studio.  With a lifetime of experience in clay, crystalline glaze expert, Ginny Conrow, will lead this two-week immersion into all the minutiae of the crystalline process.  Beginning with finding the most suitable forms to carry the glaze, participants will be guided in throwing, altering, trimming and hand-building to suit.  Then the alchemy will be completely unveiled with a rigorous break-down of everything from glaze formulation, to choices of brushed or sprayed application, and firing in either oxidation or reduction.  Finally, essential attention will be paid to the post-firing finishing of the works: removal of pedestals, etching, and striking.  No detail will be omitted, though of course, some alchemy will still remain: the gorgeous spontaneity of crystal formations within the layers of the glaze itself…  Get ready for big ahhhhhhs!
This 2-week workshop will focus on the magic of crystalline firing: the glazes, firing schedules and effects that make each kiln opening an exciting surprise! While the workshop will focus on firings, both oxidation and reduction as well as post fire effects, we’ll also explore the particular qualities of porcelain, stretching, altering, joining, and cutting the clay using both throwing and handbuilding to create pieces that accentuate the crystalline glazes. This workshop is suitable for all levels of throwing abilities and all levels of glaze work.

Sunday, July 7             Welcome Dinner                    Moksa Restaurant
6-8:30pm
Introducing ourselves, who we are as potters and what we hope to learn. A powerpoint presentation of the history and evolution of my forms and surfaces.

Monday, July 8     Preparing to glaze….                  GCAC
Introduction to the studio, making ourselves at home.
Making pedestals and catcher trays, planning the glazes, preparing the glazes.  
Glaze demonstrations - Spraying, brushing, dipping and combining techniques. Using both micro and macro crystalline glazes. Students glaze just a few of the pieces they have brought, both finished pots and small test pieces.
(Some pre-bisqued test pieces will also be provided for each participant.)



Tuesday, July 9                         Glazing and Making                            GCAC
Continuing previous day glazing  and conversations about glaze and firing techniques. 
Clay demonstrations, both throwing and slab built.
Load kiln.  (Firing begun at midnight)

Wednesday, July 10               Oxidation Cone 10                 GCAC
Fire first kiln as high fire oxidation, monitoring firing to set specific holding temps according to Crystaline firing schedule.

Demos continue: altering, combining forms, trimming the pieces.  Participants start their own pieces.

Thursday, July 11                   Glittering Inspiration                       
John Hardy Jewelry factory and showroom tour
Afternoon: More clay demonstrations. Continued making.

Friday, July 12                          Unload                           GCAC
Unload first kiln and observe/discuss results, plan next glazes..
Post-firing attention: Finish bottoms. Do a vinegar soak.

Saturday, July 13                     Post-Firing Firings                GCAC
Do a post fire reduction firing (up to 800C and fast cool)
Do a Strike Firing (another lower temp oxidation re-fire with fast cool)

Finish WET clay work.

Sunday, July 14                        FREE DAY                                    anywhere Bali

Monday, July 15                       Final Details on Greenware                  GCAC
Any final trimming, etc. on greenware.
Spray and paint encapsulated stains on greenware and bisque.
More glazing for the next kilns.
Load and bisque finished pieces.

Tuesday, July 16                      Exploring Flora, Fauna & Culture           
Excursion: visit to Tabanan Butterfly Park and Batukaru Mountain Water Temple; lunch overlooking the Jatih Luwih, the famous UNESCO heritage rice terraces.
BISQUE KILN FIRING
Wednesday, July 17                             Full Glaze Day                           GCAC
Unload bisque and dive into glazing.
Load two kilns:
              one for Cone 10 Oxidation (large kiln)
              one for Cone 10 Reduction (small kiln)


Thursday, July 18     Oxidation Cone 10 Firing  GCAC
Fire second high fire oxidation, monitoring firing to set specific holding temps according to Crystaline firing schedule.
Tour of Gaya Ceramic production studio (1hr)


Friday, July 19            Reduction Cone 10 Firing                GCAC
Fire small kiln as cone 10 reduction, monitoring firing to set specific holding temps according to Crystaline firing schedule.

Unload results from Cone 10 Oxidation.
Attend to post-firing clean up and finishes.


Saturday, July 19      Unload and Conclude                         GCAC
Unload and finish the last pieces.
Photograph and pack after a small exhibit of our work while considering the results of all the various glazes and techniques!
Final lunch and farewells.