La Meridiana: Two-week Workshop in Italy, October 2016

We were so excited to teach a two-week workshop at La Meridiana International Centre for Ceramics in Tuscany, Italy October 2-15 2016. Folks treated themselves to a claycation and joined us. We had a fabulous time!

Naked Raku, Mica Infusion and Related Bare Clay Techniques

Workshop Fee - 2300 Euro

The workshop fee includes the following: Tuition (6 – 8 hours per day, studio open 12 hours); All materials and firings; Lodging in double room (non-clay participants welcome at 1200 Euro); Welcome dinner and welcome breakfast; A freshly prepared Tuscan Lunch with wine on all working days; Wine and Gourmet tasting; Field trips

This will be a hands-on workshop exploring surface decoration and naked raku firing techniques. Participants will gain technical ceramics skills, as well as learn to use personal patterns, symbols and images to articulate their understanding of the world. During morning sessions of the first week, the Jacobson’s will demonstrate their methods of wheel throwing, slab construction, and sculpting vessel forms, mica clay infusion, and burnishing. Afternoons will be devoted to one-on-one guidance from Kate and Will as students practice technique and explore imagery.

Participants will have opportunities to work both independently as well as collaboratively. Excursions into the countryside will involve sketching and photographing images. In this way, we will gain a deeper understanding of how artists create a personal language in order to interpret and create visual manifestations of interior dialogues.

The second week actively engages participants in naked raku firings. After Kate and Will demonstrate application methods of various masks, a resist slip and sacrificial glaze, students will glaze and fire their own work. Ample time and materials will be provided for each student to complete several pieces.