Fired Clay Sculpture Classes at Phoenix Fired Art

I'll be teaching a fired clay sculpture class beginning on January 3, 2013. The class will meet Thursday evenings at 6-8:30 PM for a six-week session. Cost is $150 plus the cost of clay. (The $150 tuition includes firing.) The list of tools is simple, most of which can easily be made.

jack-o-lantern spook in wet clay, roughly 9 inches in height

This course is about fired clay sculpture, meaning that we'll have different concerns than sculpting in oil or wax-based clays, plasters, wood, or metal. I'll be primarily concentrating on my own techniques and experience for the class, though we'll touch on a few alternate techniques.

We'll work a lot with the figure in mind, though it's not a required subject matter. Animal and organic forms are also acceptable directions for studies. The main objectives are communicating specific ideas or concepts through fired clay and develop our skillsets. We'll learn to look as well as how to bring ideas we see in our heads into being. In other words, we're going to learn how to communicate our own specific ideas and control the medium, rather than just accepting what happens.

Click here to view the basic class outline for the 6-week session.

I'm packing a lot of information into a relatively short span of time. While the course's focus is fired clay sculpture, I'll also be sharing info about the materials and techniques I use in my commercial sculpting gigs, including those for the toy industry, collectible figurines, custom guitars, architectural ornamentation, and exhibition sandsculpting.
The class size is limited to 8-10 students. There are still a few spaces open in the class, so if you're interested, please call Phoenix Fired Art in Joplin, MO at 417-437-9281. The studios are located at 1603 Main in Joplin.

Ghosts in the Works

I used to sculpt these ghost/spectre forms on the tops of my raku vessels, as well as some highfire stoneware gallery pieces. I'm now picking up this idea where I left off those years ago, hopefully taking the motif further, because I really enjoy the gestural nature of the ambiguous figures clad in flowing drapery. While the fleeting images these mysterious beings might otherwise exist only in our peripheral vision, I'm capturing them nearly permanently in fired clay. For me, the more spontaneous, impressionistically vague essences develop in the process of their creation, allowing them to be much looser than my usually well-refined figurative work. Clay is such a unique fluid and the firing of these beings freezes them in time for us all to experience the same moment.

A few other freshly thrown vessels, intended for raku firing:

Casseroles

A few casserole dishes from the last glaze firing, all stoneware with a copper red/flambe' glaze:

Newest Mugs

More than a week ago, I posted some photos of the newest porcelain mugs while they were still in the greenware stage. Here are a handful of those, now glazed and fired:

Available at Phoenix Fired Art, 1603 Main in Joplin, MO, $25 each.



Kiln from 12/17/12

A selection from the glaze kiln unloaded 12/17/12.

Recent Porcelain

A selection of my most recent porcelain work, prior to bisque firing.

Baking dishes, wheel-thrown and altered.

A "fruit bowl" or centerpiece.

Some lidded jars with touches of my own gothic leaf motif, not unlike that seen on my guitars.

Some flower vases:

These and others will be fired, glazed, and fired again in the near future, so stay tuned.

Kiln Load for 12/13/12

These are a small selection of new pots from today's kiln load. Most are available in the gallery at Phoenix Fired Art, 1603 Main in Joplin, MO.

There were 9 pie plates in this kiln firing, but they're all spoken for. More of those on the way this next Monday and the following Thursday, the 20th.

Let's start with a selection of the mugs. These are porcelain and there were around 28 in this kiln and these are the glazes I used on them. I love porcelain, because the whiteness of the clay really makes translucent colors pop - $25 each.

A couple of the dozen or so cereal/soup bowls, also porcelain - $20 each:

A couple of the slightly larger serving bowls, stoneware - $35 each:

One of two serving dishes with lug handles - $35:

A beautiful porcelain vase - $30:

And perhaps my favorite piece out of this load, a lidded pasta jar - $48 each:

Again, these pieces and others are available directly from me or at Phoenix Fired Art in Joplin. More to come.

Pots To Look For

These pots were all thrown and trimmed this week. Look for these and others to come out of the next few glaze firings.

New porcelain production mug design:

Small stoneware covered casserole:

Medium stoneware covered casserole with knob:

Lidded jars and bottle:

Bottle:

Porcelain salsa bowls!

These are all currently drying, waiting to be bisque fired, then glazed and fired  again. Hopefully, these will all be fired by the 21st of this month.

New Goblets

Also from the last kiln load, these stoneware goblets available at Phoenix Fired Art, 1603 Main in Joplin, MO. Priced to sell at $25 each. (Note the shot glasses, $5 each.)

And here they were in progress. I was trying out a few different shapes and proportions to determine what looks and feels the best to me. The white and black areas are slips (liquid clays) that I often brush on as a base for glazing over. Note, too, the freshly thrown shot glasses in this photo.

You can see the two goblets that I'm getting ready to assemble in the bottom righthand corner. I usually throw goblets in two pieces like this and join them once they reach the leatherhard stage.