Clay Workshop at Larson Gallery

This weekend I taught a clay workshop at Larson Gallery. We used coils to build vases, and occasionally sculpture, based on Jomon Pottery forms. 

a student's pot in progress

We had a good mix of adults and kids, about 20 people in total. Some people came with families, others  came along or with one other person. It was interesting to see how tables or families built similar work just because they saw each other working.

a family of potters

I talked to the kids about different stages of clay, showing them wet, leather-hard, bone dry and slaked clay. I also brought some examples of coil-built pottery and pictures of Jomon pieces (the images I shared last week on this blog). 

my daughter's portrait of the instructor

Monika Lemmon, a local artist friend, and my daughter both helped out with the workshop. My daughter helped set up and then helped eat the snacks and document the workshop. Monika and I walked around talking to students about what they were building and I showed them several techniques for using coils and applying textures to the wet clay.

a student preparing coils 

At the end of the class students were able to use underglaze colors or some glazes I had brought in. Surprisingly, at least to me, everyone chose to use the underglazes. After the pieces dry a bit, I will spray a clear glaze over some of the pieces.

finished work ready for firing and glazing

Some of the pieces were wet, so I left them at the gallery for a few days until they were dry enough to transport home. I will have pictures of the varied works for a later post. This week they'll dry until I'm ready to fire them and then I will bring the fired pots back to the gallery for students to pick up.

self portrait of feet, apparently

After she got bored making her turtle sculpture, my daughter absconded with my phone to take pictures. The pictures are highly entertaining, giving an interesting view of the world from her lower perspective. She particularly liked taking still life shots of chairs, granola bars and other stationary objects in the gallery.

the new art building is coming along well on the south side of Nob Hill Ave