Join us for a 4 class - 3 week saggar pit firing workshop. Pit firing creates eathy looking decorative pottery that looks like it was made centuries ago. No previous experience needed to participate in this class.
The class will be led by visiing artist Keons Sekera who is a student at Mass College of Art majoring in Ceramics.
First Class:
Make your pot: The studio has 4 wheels , but plenty of room for handbuilders. Keons and I will lead you through a couple of options for handbuilt pots. The focus will be on making a variation of the Korean moon pot using slabs and molds. You will have 3 pounds of clay from which you can craft your pot. You will need to make your pot so that it does not need any further furutre refinement - like trimming. It needs to be able to come off the ehweheel and then into the bisque fire (once dry) .
Second Class:
Build the saggar: the saggar is constructed by adding different oxides and carbonates to create color, as well as organic materials such as coffee, banana skins, seaweed, ferns and sugar. You can wrap it with copper wire or mesh, or steel wool...or experiment with it all.
The final product is then wrapped in aluminum foil and made ready for the pit fire.
Third Class*:
The third class will be held offsite in Groton. A pit will have been dug into which a fire needs to be built around the pots. The fire is lit and allowed to burn overnight. This class will start at the scheduled time, but my take more or less time to get the fire going and insure that it will burn properly.
Fourth Class*:
The next day at the scheduled time, we will meet back at the burn site to unload the pots from the fire pit and remove the saggar.
The pots will need to be cleaned up and we can share results about what materials created what effects.
You will be provided a small jar of wax to take home with your pot. The wax needs to be applied to add a luster to the pot and protect the surface from scratches. The pot needs to be dry before the wax can be applied.
If rain is forecast, we may push off the firing to the following weekend.
The classes will take place July 12, 19, and the firing July 26 and 27 from 1 - 3 pm.
Please familiarize yourself with studio rules before committing to this class.
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