Clay Workshops at Penland
Penland School of Craft offers clay workshops of varying lengths taught by visiting instructors in our well-equipped studios. Class topics include functional and decorative pottery, wheel throwing, handbuilding, clay sculpture, glazing, and salt-, soda-, and wood-firing. Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
Register for Workshops
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
The summer scholarship application is closed.
We are currently accepting scholarship applications for spring workshops; the deadline is 11:59 PM ET on April 3.
Regular enrollment for spring workshops begins on May 1.
Please read this note about our session schedules.
Clay Spring Concentration
March 5 – April 28, 2023 (8 Weeks)
Justin Rothshank
Decals, Soda Firing, and Pottery
This workshop will cover a variety of throwing/production techniques with earthenware and stoneware, and you will learn how to transfer your imagery onto ceramic work using decal, stamping, and layering techniques. We’ll cover image preparation, printing and transferring decals onto greenware and glazed pots, layering decals, commercial decals, and firing temperatures for various types of decals. We’ll fire all kinds of kilns, including wood, and we’ll specifically experiment with electric and soda kilns. We’ll talk about business for the studio potter, including daily production, marketing, and efficiency. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Touchstone (PA), Arrowmont (TN), Harvard Ceramics (MA), Baltimore Clayworks; co-founder of Union Project (Pittsburgh), Michiana Pottery Tour (Michigan, Indiana), and Indiana Clay Conference; collections: High Museum (Atlanta), Frick Museum (Pittsburgh), San Angelo Museum (TX); author of Low Fire Soda and Ceramic Decals: New Ideas and Techniques.
Clay–Spring Short Session
April 30 – May 5, 2023 (4-studio days)
Hitomi Shibata and Takuro Shibata
Making and Place
In this workshop we’ll explore wheel-throwing, slab construction, and handbuilding to create simple utilitarian pottery: yunomi, mugs, bowls, and plates. We have been making handmade pottery with wild clay for many years, and we’ll share our approach to natural materials and how we combine our material ideas with traditional Japanese techniques. This workshop will inspire your creativity and help foster new ideas for your work. We’ll use cone 10 red stoneware and white slips. We will fire some of the pots to cone 10 test in a gas kiln to show the whole process and the results; the rest of the pots will be bisque-fired to take home. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Hitomi: studio potter; member of International Academy of Ceramics; teaching: Penland, Haystack (ME), Peters Valley (NJ), The Art League (VA), East Carolina University (NC); exhibitions: The Clay Studio (Philadelphia), Old Church Pottery Show (NJ); publications: Wild Clay (Bloomsbury).
Takuro: director of STARworks Ceramics (NC); member of International Academy of Ceramics; teaching: Penland, Haystack (ME), Peters Valley (NJ), Longwood University (VA); residencies: Peters Valley (NJ), Cub Creek Foundation (VA); exhibitions: Blue Spiral 1 (NC), The Clay Studio (Philadelphia), Old Church Pottery Show (NJ); publications: Wild Clay (Bloomsbury).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 1
MAY 28–JUNE 2, 2023
Rich Brown
Throwing with Intention
This workshop will be a deep look into throwing functional pottery. With a focus on the mental preparation for throwing, we’ll aspire to being present and intentional as each piece is created. Students will learn about throwing repetitive forms efficiently, and we’ll consider how to use pottery for self-reflection and for learning to be intentional with life as well as with clay. We’ll make cylinders, bulbous forms, and bowls. Bisque fire only. Beginning level. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Pottery32 (GA), Clay by the Bay (San Francisco), Saville Studio (GA); Clay Challenge 2022 residency (WA); exhibitions: Louisiana State University Glassel Gallery, De Sousa Slay Gallery (GA), Eutectic Gallery (Portland, OR), Clay to Table (online); representation: Clay Art Center (NY), Mark of the Potter (GA).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 1
MAY 28–JUNE 2, 2023
Bill Griffith
Handbuilt Pottery: From Flat to Form
Using soft clay slabs and several different handbuilding techniques, students will create a variety of functional pottery forms, including mugs, tumblers, pouring pots, vases, and platters. Students will also create their own texture stamps and rollers for making patterns and designs on their pots. We’ll emphasize craftsmanship and creating good forms. Although we’ll discuss glazes and their applications, we’ll bisque-fire only and spend more time on the making. This workshop is especially designed for students new to handbuilding and teachers who want to expand their pottery making skills. Beginning level. Lower clay studio.
Studio artist; former administrator at Arrowmont (TN); teaching: Arrowmont, Peters Valley (NJ), Idyllwild (CA), Penland; Tennessee Arts Commission Fellowship, NCECA National Outstanding Achievement Award; collections: Tennessee State Art Museum, Asheville Art Museum (NC), San Angelo Museum of Art (TX), Arkansas Art Center.
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 2
JUNE 4–16, 2023
Guillermo Cuellar
Wheel to Table
Students in this workshop will make wheelthrown utilitarian forms: from basic bowls and cylinders to more complex pieces, such as teapots, depending on each individual’s skill level. Demonstrations will cover tools and techniques for throwing, altering, and assembling pots and will address feet, lids, and handles. We’ll share the excitement of firing our stoneware clay pieces in reduction and salt/soda kilns. One-on-one instructional time will meet each student at their level of experience for individual skill building and support. We’ll explore, experiment, and engage in a relaxed and fun conversation about community, food, and the place of handmade pottery in our lives. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Venezuelan Association of the Arts of Fire, assisted workshops taught by Warren MacKenzie, Linda Christianson, and others; Minnesota State Arts Board grant; exhibitions: Venezuelan National Art Gallery, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas (Venezuela) Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, Smithsonian (DC), The Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis), Weisman Art Museum (Minneapolis), St Croix Valley Pottery Tour (MN); founding member of Grupo Turgua, promoting Venezuelan craft.
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 2
JUNE 4–16, 2023
Pattie Chalmers
Oh! You Pretty Things
“To articulate what is past does not mean to recognize ‘how it really was.’ It means to take control of a memory as it flashes in a moment of danger.”
-Walter Benjamin
Students in this workshop will learn from my approach to constructing earthenware objects. Sharing techniques through demonstrations and guided hands-on learning, I will impart many aspects of my creative practice: handbuilding, printing, glazing, and much more. Responding to daily prompts, students will create personalized objects to explore the genre of still life and to consider a thing’s capacity to act as a conduit for memory. All levels. Lower clay studio.
Professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; workshop teaching: Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis), Haystack (ME), Arrowmont (TN), Harvard Ceramics Program (MA), Penland; solo exhibitions: Sheldon Art Center (St. Louis) Craft Alliance (St. Louis); group exhibitions: Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Bradbury Art Museum (AR); collections: San Angelo Museum (TX), The Clay Studio (Philadelphia), Rosenfield Collection (TX).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 3
JUNE 18–30, 2023
Kip O’Krongly
Earthenware: Layer by Layer
What makes a unique functional pot? How can surface and form blend to strengthen ideas? We’ll investigate questions like these with a tiny bit of wheel work, but our focus will be on using slabs, with templates, press molds, and extruded components. After constructing a foundation of forms, we’ll bring technology into the mix with a digital cutter and effortlessly translate drawings into stencils! By layering stencils with sgraffito, latex resist, and ombre washes of slips and underglazes, we’ll create engaging, depth-filled surfaces on red earthenware clay. We’ll also cover self-burnishing terra sigillata, the magic of paper clay repairs, and helpful studio tips like two-handed handle pulling, snazzy coiling tricks, and making extra-thin spouts. Come ready to experiment and play. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Arrowmont (TN), Archie Bray (MT), Watershed (ME), Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis), Carleton College (MN); residencies: Watershed, Archie Bray Foundation, Arrowmont; recent exhibitions: St Croix Pottery Tour (MN), American Pottery Festival at Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 3
JUNE 18–30, 2023
Hiroe Hanazono
Prototype Development and Mold Making
This workshop will cover methods of working with plaster to create models and molds. Students will design objects on paper and learn various methods for creating 3D versions using plaster, clay, or wood. Students will then be guided through the process of making one-piece or multiple-piece molds, which will be used to make slip cast objects. Demonstrations will cover various approaches to prototyping, mold making, and the slip casting process. We’ll emphasize developing original forms rather than working with found objects. Porcelain slip; electric firing. All levels. Lower clay studio.
Studio artist; adjunct professor at Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia), instructor at The Clay Studio (Philadelphia) and Greenwich House Pottery (NYC); other teaching: Montgomery County Community College (PA), Maryland Institute College of Art (MD); residencies: The Clay Studio, Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark), Archie Bray (MT); collections: Guldagergaard, Archie Bray.
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 4
JULY 2–14, 2023
Cristina Córdova
Build Big: Essential Methods for Large-Scale Success
Building big opens up a different relationship with our creativity. Sculpting on a large scale draws a connection to the monumental and archetypal, generating a different energy from which to convey concepts and personal narratives. This workshop will provide all the information you need to understand basic, effective strategies for large-scale slab construction. We’ll discuss prototyping and creating diagrams, sourcing clay bodies, tools and supplies, as well as drying protocols and firing cycles. We’ll also discuss surface options for large-scale objects and how to troubleshoot common issues surrounding larger work: kiln size, shipping, safe handling, etc. Electric firing. Intermediate/advanced level; students should have basic handbuilding experience. Lower clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Santa Fe Clay, Anderson Ranch (CO), Haystack (ME), Armory Arts Center (FL); North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship, Virginia Groot Foundation Recognition Grant, United States Artists Fellowship; collections: Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC), Museum of Contemporary Art (Puerto Rico), Mint Museum (NC), Everson Museum (NY); featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly and in the PBS series Craft in America.
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 5
JULY 16–28, 2023
Sue Tirrell
Stories Around the Table
We’ll bring functional and decorative tableware to life by drawing, painting, and carving on leather-hard porcelain. We’ll make a variety of small to medium-sized hand- and wheel-formed vessels and decorate them using underglazes, glazes, trailing, sgraffito, inlay, and painting techniques. Bring your favorite narrative source materials including drawings, photographs, illustrations, and ephemera to create a personal library of imagery. Students will be guided in the process of distilling these ideas into dynamic, colorful surface designs, giving individual stories universal appeal. We’ll have demonstrations, drawing exercises, slide talks, conversations about food, optional student presentations, and time in the kitchen. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Archie Bray (MT), Anderson Ranch (CO), Arrowmont (TN), Morean Center for Clay (FL), Baltimore Clayworks (MD); residencies: Archie Bray (MT), California State University-Chico; exhibitions: St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour (MN), Old Church (NJ), Red Lodge (MT), Dallas Pottery Invitational, The Clay Studio of Philadelphia; representation: Schaller Gallery (MI), Visions West Contemporary (MT).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 5
JULY 16–28, 2023
Paul S. Briggs
Pinching Pushed
This workshop will push the clay pinching process beyond the typical three-inch bowl. We’ll cover several pinch forming techniques ranging from pinched and corrected (altered) forms to high-relief surfaces. Students will learn to center, open, and pull up clay walls using only hand turning, a technique used around the world to form various types of pots and vessels (no potter’s wheel involved). We’ll work with stoneware and fire cone 6-10 oxidation. All levels. Lower clay studio.
Artist-teacher at Massachusetts College of Art and Design; other teaching: Anderson Ranch (CO), St. Olaf College (MN), Harvard (MA), Penland; collections: Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Columbus Art Museum (OH), Legacy Museum (AL).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 6
JULY 30–AUGUST 11, 2023
Natalia Arbelaez
Modest to Monumental
This sculpture workshop will use basic techniques, including pinch and coil, to make small to large forms. These often overlooked techniques can be used to realize many ideas. For large forms we’ll use sectional methods that facilitate firing and shipping when faced with size constraints. We’ll also cover multiple surface techniques (glazes, stains, coldworking) that will bring color or subtlety. I will share the process of storytelling and research I use to create narratives full of symbolism. Low to mid-range firing. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching; Clay Art Center (NY), College of New Rochelle (NY), Harvard University Ceramics Program (MA), Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Boston); residencies: Museum of Art and Design (NYC), American Museum of Ceramic Art (CA); representation: Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami), Galerie Wolfsen (Denmark); collections: Everson Museum (NY), Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Institute of Contemporary Art (Miami).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 6
JULY 30–AUGUST 11, 2023
Brooks Oliver
Playful Plaster Molds
In this workshop, we’ll rethink the plaster mold, celebrate experimentation, and reimagine the familiar functional vessel. We’ll explore both classic and innovative ways of creating prototypes and work with plaster to generate molds for slip casting and press molding. Students will playfully investigate multiple techniques for constructing and decorating unique vessel forms in high-fire porcelain and stoneware while conceptually challenging how and why we use utilitarian vessels. Expect to leave with a few finished pieces and new ways of exploring your process. Some experience with ceramics will be helpful, but this workshop is open to all levels. Lower clay studio.
Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas; former long-term resident and current board member at Archie Bray (MT); NCECA Emerging Artist Award; exhibitions: San Angelo Museum (TX), Ceramics Park Mino Museum (China), Artstream Nomadic Gallery (CO), Dallas Pottery Invitational (TX), Lacoste Gallery (MA), Red Lodge (MT) Northern Clay Center (MN); representation: RO2 (TX), Rubinered Gallery (CA), Radius (MT), Archie Bray (MT).
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 7
AUGUST 13–18, 2023
Lindsay Rogers
On Pots and Food
Using wheelthrown plates and bowls as our foundation, this workshop will investigate the relationship between pottery and food. From design to execution, we’ll focus on how form and surface design can affect how food is perceived. Slide talks and demonstrations will keep food at the center of the discussion. Decorative techniques will include texture and resist processes using paper, tape, vinyl, and wax. A range of clay bodies will be available; we’ll conclude with a bisque firing. Basic wheelthrowing skills will be helpful but this workshop is open to all levels. Upper clay studio.
Associate Professor at East Tennessee State University; teaching: Arrowmont (TN), Odyssey ClayWorks (NC); residencies: Archie Bray (MT), Watershed (ME), clay coordinator for the Arrowmont Pentaculum (TN); exhibitions: Blue Spiral 1 (NC), Clayakar (IA), Art of the Pot (TX), Dallas Pottery Invitational, Old Church Pottery Show (NJ), American Pottery Festival (MN); publications: Ceramics Monthly, Studio Potter, Pottery Making Illustrated (cover), Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart Living.
CLAY SUMMER SESSION 7
AUGUST 13–18, 2023
William Baker and Caroline Douglas
Slow Clay for Fast Times
This workshop will use clay work as part of an attentive exploration of what we might mean by mindfulness or mindful awareness. Students will explore creative writing, journaling, meditation, and movement, and how these techniques can ignite our creativity and enliven our mood. We’ll also explore elements of the flow state as an additional way of understanding our creative practices and our relationships to them. Daily clay demonstrations will include various handbuilding and wheelthrowing techniques. Stoneware clay; bisque-fire only. All levels. Lower clay studio.
William: studio artist; teaching: Odyssey ClayWorks (NC), Castle Hill (MA); exhibitions: Blue Spiral I (NC).
williambakerpottery.com | @williambakerpottery
Caroline: studio artist; teaching: Santa Fe Clay (NM), Penland, and in Morocco and Mexico; residencies: Glasgow School of Art (Scotland), Findhorn Foundation (Scotland), Red Lodge (MT); publications: 500 Animals (Lark Books), Dreaming Out Loud: An Artist in Clay Rebuilds Her Life.
CLAY FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Jeff Shapiro
Expressive Clay: Pushing into the Unknown
Students in this workshop will step out of their comfort zones and find new approaches to loosening up in the studio to make pieces with character that are challenging yet rewarding. We’ll encourage soft and loose throwing, soft and loose trimming, and manipulating clay with an attitude of abandonment: sprezzatura! Once we’ve established the basics of materials, tools, and processes, the focus will be on learning how to let go. Bring an open mind, a sense of curiosity, and a desire to take risks. Techniques will include throwing, trimming, slab building, and solid clay forming. Bisque-fire only. Intermediate level: basic clay skills required. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Penland, Greenwich House Pottery (NYC), Peters Valley (NJ), Gaya (Bali, Indonesia), La Meridiana (Italy); collections: Carlo Zauli Museum (Italy), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Brooklyn Museum (NYC), Fuller Craft Museum (MA); representation: Lucy Lacoste Gallery (MA), Capazza Gallery (France), Kakiden Gallery (Japan).
jeffshapiroceramics.com | @jeffshapiro62
We are currently accepting scholarship applications for this workshop.
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
CLAY FALL CONCENTRATION (six weeks)
October 1 – November 10, 2023
Dan Finnegan
Good Pots for Good Food
This workshop will celebrate the connection between ceramics and food and how creating finely crafted pottery enhances everyday rituals. From cups and mugs to lidded pots and cooking vessels, we’ll explore a wide range of useful pots for the kitchen and the table. We’ll use Starworks North Carolina stoneware, fire both the salt and wood kilns, and use a variety of slips and glazes, even trying some raw glazing! Students will make lots of pots but will fire only their best. The emphasis will be on improving skills and adding personality to your work. Mostly wheelthrowing with some handbuilding. All levels. Upper clay studio.
Studio potter; trained at Winchcombe Pottery (UK); teaching: Museum of Mankind (UK), Savannah College of Art and Design (GA), Scottish Potters Association (UK), Penland, and other venues in the US, UK, and Czech Republic; representation: Schaller Gallery (MI); founder of LibertyTown Arts Workshop (VA); curator of Pottery on the Hill (DC).
danfinneganpottery.com | @dan_finnegan_pottery
We are currently accepting scholarship applications for this workshop.
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
CLAY FALL WEEKEND SESSION
October 20–22, 2023
Lisa Pedolsky
Contain Your Enthusiasm
This process-oriented workshop will focus on slab-constructed ceramics whose function is to contain: cups, bowls, plates. Students will be guided through the building process from drawings to paper patterns to assembling components in earthenware. We’ll incorporate various elements including feet and rims and will use familiar and unconventional tools for building and decorating. Topics will include slump and drape molds, sgraffito, and stencils. Students will leave with a number of fully-formed vessels, however, in this short time frame, we won’t be glazing or firing. This is a beginning level workshop that is also suitable for experienced students who want to learn new methods or hone their skills. Lower clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Penland (NC), Shakerag Workshops (TN), Taos Clay (NM), San Juan College (NM), Plinth Gallery (CO); residencies: NCECA International Partners Program, Centro de Arte Curaumilla (Chile); publications: Studio Potter, Pottery Making Illustrated, 500 Vases (Lark Books); representation: Penland Gallery (NC), Diane West (CO); collections: Rosenfield Collection (TX), San Juan College (NM), Centro de Arte Curaumilla (Chile).
lisapedolsky.com | @lisapedolsky_twofishstudio
Enrollment for this workshop will begin on May 1.
