In this video I’ll demonstrate, from start to finish, how I make handled trays. I’ll show viewers how I roll slabs and attach coils of clay to build pots. I’ll refine the form, add handles, and then finish the pots with some decorative detailing when they are leather hard.
Experienced potters and beginners alike will enjoy up-close access to Courtney’s approach in this online clay workshop. Approximately seven hours of high-quality prerecorded videos will invite participants into each step of the handbuilding process, from preparing the clay to refining leather-hard forms in preparation for the bisque kiln. Video lessons will start with foundational techniques like creating platters and trays with slabs and coils. From there, the videos will build to more advanced methods for adding height to forms and imbuing pieces with individuality and function through the addition of handles and feet. Throughout the lessons, Courtney will invite students to carefully consider the specific use and visual balance of each pot.
In this prerecorded video demonstration I’ll show how to make a small head using clay slabs and a simple pattern that will help generate the primary shape, which I’ll develop through further modeling. I’ll touch on bone structure, features, and cleaning strategies. Then I’ll show you how to attach the head to a neck and bust, also created from templates, in order to play with the activation of gesture.
In this online workshop, students will learn Cristina’s thoughtful approach to sculpting the human figure in clay. More than four-and-half hours of high-quality prerecorded videos will give each participant a front row seat as Cristina transforms her material into a 25-inch head and torso ready to be bisqued—and will give them the tools they need to follow along step by step! Video lessons will cover the construction and articulation of the hip area, upper torso, arms, hands, head, and neck. They will also cover how Cristina uses clay slabs, simple pattern templates, and photographic references to anchor her process and the anatomical concepts and modeling strategies she uses to facilitate accuracy and expression as all the components come together.
This prerecorded video demonstration will cover the fabrication of a pewter salt shaker with compression lines. The shaker will be made through simple forming and fabricating techniques in 16-gauge sheet pewter. Hydraulic-press compression will create decorative details in the form of the shaker. The techniques shown in this demonstration are welding, soldering, hydraulic-press compression, drilling, refill port and stopper construction, and surface texturing. NOTE: This project does not require previous experience, but it does require access to metalworking tools.
Students will be invited into David’s methodical, nuanced, and refined approach to pewter in this online workshop. A series of eight prerecorded demonstrations will allow participants to follow along step-by-step as David brings together materials and techniques to transform 14-gauge sheet pewter into a dynamic lidded vessel. This workshop’s six hours of video lessons give each student the best seat in the house as David covers forming methods, fabrication using soldering and welding, surface treatments and texturing, and finishing techniques—as well as melting, casting, and simple mold construction using cuttlefish! Along the way, students will learn David’s tips, tricks, and strategies for working with this somewhat peculiar but highly responsive and compelling metal.
Making a bandsaw box is an endlessly adaptable process that involves sawing a block of wood into pieces, removing the central piece, gluing the rest of the pieces back up into a box, refining the shape, and adding finishing treatments, including colors, textures, and other elements to create a functional container with a lot of character. This workshop will explore several approaches to technique, design, and the formal outcomes that bandsaw box making favors. We begin with a discussion of the properties of wood to give students an understanding of this material as a structural and an expressive medium. Then we will move on to designing, cutting, assembling, and shaping boxes into sculptural forms. We will conclude with a brief section on surface treatment and finishing. We will also address the safe and effective use of carving gouges, chisels, block planes, files and rasps, and, of course, the bandsaw. All skill levels encouraged.
In flameworking, bridging is the process of making a temporary scaffold, frame, or jig to support components while adding or adjusting elements in the piece. This prerecorded workshop is an introduction to bridging techniques and strategies using borosilicate glass. Through the process of building various objects (a floral branch, a viewing device, a bottle with hollow appendages, etc.) we will delve into several types of bridging that can be applied to many flameworking situations. The workshop uses both clear and colored borosilicate glass tubing and rods, but students are encouraged to make their own aesthetic color choices. The accompanying material includes ten detailed, illustrated handouts. Some flameworking experience will be helpful in applying the information presented, but this workshop will be useful to students of all skill levels.
In this prerecorded workshop students will learn to forge, file, and fit the parts of a jeweler’s saw frame. Starting at the anvil, the frame, thumbscrews, and pads will be accurately forged to shape and size. Moving to the bench, I will then fit and assemble the parts using files to both refine and decorate the saw. Techniques in this workshop include forging, punching and drifting, upsetting, filing, cutting threads, and basic heat treating. The accompanying material includes several illustrated handouts. Some forging experience will be needed to complete this project, but the information in this workshop will be useful to students of all skill levels.