Will that be Tea or Coffee? Ceramics
Registration
Tim Worthington
Tuesdays, February 6 – March 12, 2024
1:00pm – 4:00pm
This ceramics workshop is intending to teach basic throwing skills by imposing a structured exercise format; a large and small mug, both of specific shape and fixed amount of clay. This will remove a number of “distractions” so the focus can be on good throwing technique.
There are so many variables happening all at once, body posture, wheel speed, when to wet the clay and when and how much pressure is required. These are all interconnected and the course, with its specific limitations, will help the student hone in on the requirements for control over the material.
These shapes are variations on a cylinder, the fundamental starting point. Expanding the cylinder idea will have the student produce two mugs, simply glazed, with the primary focus on good throwing technique.
This workshop is comprised of 6 working sessions (3hrs) PLUS one final pick-up day (1hr) on March 19th. We will be using red stoneware clay.
Students should bring:
- Apron
- Hand towel
Bookings
Registrations for this workshop are now closed.
Tim Worthington
Tim Worthington shares his studio in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, with ceramics artist, Pam Birdsall. He received a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Ceramics from Ohio Northern University, and a Master in Fine Arts in Ceramics from NSCAD University, in Halifax, NS (1976). While at NSCAD he gained perspective, seeing and studying pottery across cultures, from Neolithic times to the present. He has been shaped by early English slipware and the tradition of the commemorative plate, and by the strong forms and patterns of Eastern ceramics. The book, How To Wrap 5 Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging, was a major influence in his appreciation of form and function. The Arts and Crafts movement, and its idea that function does not preclude beauty, has also deeply informed his work.
Using a local earthenware clay, and following some of his early influences, Tim began decorating exclusively with coloured clay slips and transparent glazes. He notes that slipware demands that you decorate the pottery before it has been fired, so there is a wonderful fluidity to the process that offers endless options for truly unique patterns.
To quote Tim’s inspiring message about ceramics, “To realize an idea in a three-dimensional object is a kind of magic.”
Bookings
Registrations for this workshop are now closed.