Clay Spring Concentration
March 3 – April 26, 2024 (8 Weeks)

Cynthia Bringle
Basics and Beyond

This workshop will be about starting from where you are and getting to the next stop along the way. Whatever your level of experience, it’s always good to review and learn more ways to make handles that function, lids that fit, and pitchers that pour. We’ll do lots of work on forms and options for decoration, including brushwork, glazes, and carving. We’ll work with stoneware, and together we’ll load and fire various kilns. Studio and gallery visits will give you a chance to see different approaches to pottery, studio set-up, and ways of selling. Guest instructor Julie Wiggins will add her perspective by leading the workshop for one week. The ability to center clay and pull a 6-inch cylinder will be helpful, but the workshop is open to all levels. Upper clay studio.

Studio potter and workshop teacher; teaching: Arrowmont (TN), Anderson Ranch (CO), Campbell Folk School (NC), Penland; fellow and trustee emeritus of the American Craft Council, North Carolina Award for Fine Arts, honorary doctorate from Memphis College of Art; collections: Mint Museum (NC), High Museum (GA), Gregg Museum (NC), Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Asheville Museum of Art (NC).

cynthiabringlepottery.com | @cynthiabringle

Clay–Spring Short Session
April 28 – May 3, 2024 (4-studio days)

Liz Zlot Summerfield
Developing Depth with Handbuilt Slab Pots

This workshop will demystify working with soft slabs and offer the essential components for creating unique slab-built pots. Students will begin with simple functional forms and expand to include components such as lids, feet, and spouts. Surface techniques will include stamping, slip trailing, and stenciling in conjunction with terra sigillata, underglaze, and glaze. Students can expect to leave with many new skills, several unfired pots, and a set of finished tiles fired at low-fire and mid-fire temperatures. This workshop will provide one-on-one interaction in a supportive, positive environment where experimentation is encouraged and individual development is nurtured. All levels. Lower clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Mars Hill University (NC), Penland, Arrowmont (TN), Idyllwild Art Center (CA), Double Island Studio (NC); representation: Clay AKAR (IA), Schaller Gallery (MI), Penland Gallery; collections: Mint Museum (NC), Ceramics Monthly; publications: Beginners Guide to Hand Building, Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques, A Studio Handbook; DVD: Hand Built Forms with Soft Slabs.

lzspottery.com | @lizzlotsummerfield

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 1
May 26-31, 2024 (4 STUDIO DAYS)
Wei Sun
Potter’s Wheel Magic

Discover the magic of wheel-thrown pottery in this four-day workshop. We will walk through the pottery making process step by step: wedging, centering, shaping, trimming, and decorating. At the end of the workshop, you will take home your own unique pottery pieces (unglazed). This workshop is perfect for beginners as well as potters with some experience who want to revisit basic skills. Join us for a fun and inspiring pottery adventure, and unleash your creativity at the wheel. Bisque fire only. Beginning level. Upper clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Raleigh Pullen Art Center (NC), North Carolina State University Craft Center; collections: Cedar Creek Gallery (NC), GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art, Grovewood Gallery (NC), Penland Gallery.

weisunpottery.com | @weisunpottery
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 2
June 2-14, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Linda Nguyen Lopez
Handbuilding with Colored Clay

In this workshop we will use handbuilding techniques and colored clay to create abstract ceramic sculptures. Through experiments and exercises, students will create an abstract visual vocabulary by investigating and translating the world around us. We will create a series of playful objects focusing on repetition, texture, and color. Demonstrations will focus on construction techniques and colored clay tests. The workshop will also include discussions of visual perception, color, and abstract ceramics. At the end of the workshop, each participant will have created a catalog of colored clay tests and a series of small abstract objects. Mid-range porcelain; electric firing. All levels. Upper clay studio. 

Associate professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; teaching: Haystack (ME), Ox-Bow (MI); exhibitions: Museum of Art and Design (NYC), Greenwich House Pottery (NYC), Craft Contemporary (Los Angeles); representation: Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami), David B. Smith Gallery (Denver).

lindalopez.net | @linda__lopez

Jan 15– Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 2
June 2-14, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Mathew McConnell
The Uncanny Surface

This mold-based workshop will concentrate on producing a series of small tiles, tablets, or low-relief sculptures to be displayed on the wall. I will share my techniques for constructing prototype forms with complex and rich surfaces using simple and widely available materials. After we build our prototypes, we will construct high quality, fiber-reinforced one-part plaster molds. Finally, I will share my method for layering casting slip within a press mold to transfer the textures of our forms into clay with an uncanny level of detail. This workshop will be great for anyone new to plaster mold-making or those looking to expand their repertoire of surface techniques in clay. Low-fire, electric. All levels. Lower clay studio

Associate professor and head of ceramics at University of Arkansas; other teaching: Ox-bow (MI), Greenwich House Potter (NYC), Ohio University, University of Iowa, University of Missouri; residencies: Archie Bray Foundation (MT), Greenwich House Pottery (NYC), CRETA Rome, Anderson Ranch (CO); exhibitions: Mindy Solomon Gallery (FL), Jane Hartsook Gallery (NYC), 108 Contemporary (OK), Eutectic Gallery (Portland, OR), Gerald Peters Gallery (Santa Fe). 

mathewmcconnell.com | @mathew_mcconnell
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 3
June 16-28, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Arthur Gonzalez
When Sculpture Talks Back

With the life-size portrait bust as our format, students will learn how to depict emotions through facial expressions and asymmetrical poses and find their way to narrative. We will work with a handbuilding method called the inside-out technique, in which the artist’s hands stand in for the muscle and bone. This technique enables the artist to manipulate the figure in a natural manner, from both sides of the clay wall, turning the clay into “skin.” The application of color will be guided by the theories of Post-Impressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement, representing emotion and “time of day.” We will work with a low-fire, iron-base clay. All levels. Upper clay studio.

Professor at California College of the Arts; two Virginia Groot Foundation awards and four NEA fellowships; 55 solo exhibitions including John Natsoulas Gallery (CA), John Elder Gallery (NYC), Susan Cummins Gallery (CA); collections: Museum of Modern Ceramic Art (Japan), Racine Art Museum (WI), Crocker Art Museum (CA), Oakland Museum (CA), Yingge Ceramics Museum (Taiwan), Museum of Arts and Design (NYC). 

arthurgonzalez.net | @arthur7582
Video series about Arthur
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 3
June 16-28, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
A. Blair Clemo
No Rules Mold Making

This approachable and beginner friendly workshop will demystify making and using plaster molds. With an emphasis on exploration and creative problem-solving, we will cover a broad range of techniques for making and using press molds while challenging expectations of what molds can do. A “no rules” approach will simplify mold making and result in versatile molds that can be combined with other forming processes (wheel, coil, slab) to make new and innovative forms. Demonstrations will focus on prototyping, mold making, and utilitarian pottery. We will work at cone 6 with options for oxidation and salt/soda firing. All levels. Lower clay studio.

Associate professor and head of clay at Virginia Commonwealth University; residencies: Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis), Da Wang Culture Highland (China), Zentrum für Keramik (Berlin), Jingdezhen International Studio (China), Archie Bray Foundation Invited Artist Program (MT), International Ceramics Studio (Hungary); work included in more than 130 solo and group exhibitions.

ablairclemo.com | @abcpottery
Jan 15– Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 4
June 30-July 12, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Lindsay Pichaske
Heads with Exquisite Surfaces

In this figurative sculpture workshop, students will sculpt animal or human heads with rich surfaces. We will explore the ways both pigmented clay and mixed-media additions can contribute to the texture, content, and personality of a face. Demonstrations will include solid sculpting and hollowing, rendering facial features, anatomical sculpting techniques, and surface development. While the focus will be on clay textures, the workshop will include testing and mixing our own pigmented clays, making test tiles, and experimenting with mixed-media materials. Low to mid-range electric firing. All levels. Upper clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Greenwich House Pottery (NYC), Penland, Santa Fe Clay, St. Louis Community College, Maryland Institute College of Art; Taunt fellow at the Archie Bray Foundation (MT), NCECA Emerging Artist Award; recent exhibitions: Daum Museum of Contemporary Art (MO), Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Blue Spiral (NC), Duane Reed Gallery (St. Louis), Greenwich House Pottery; representation: Duane Reed Gallery.

lindsaypichaske.com | @lindsay_pichaske
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 4
June 30-July 12, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Alexander Thierry
Screenprinting and Soda Firing

This workshop will explore ways to add screenprinting to the surface of ceramic work through direct printing and transfers. We will cover image and screen creation, screenprinting with underglaze, layering, and how screenprinting can work with various surface and texture techniques. Demonstrations of throwing, handbuilding, and surface techniques will help students create whatever kind of work interests them: vessels, sculptures, etc. A soda firing will allow experimentation with the surfaces that can be created in an atmospheric kiln. We will make both bisqueware and fully glazed work with mid-range clay. All levels. Lower clay studio.

NOTE: Students in this workshop should bring a laptop computer if they can. If you are enrolled and cannot bring a computer, please contact Nadia Massoud at studio_operations@penland.org.

Associate professor at South Carolina State University (SC); residencies: Penland Winter Residency Distinguished Fellow, M.A.K.E. Resident 2019 (Iceland), Summer Visiting Artist at Clemson University (SC), Summer Resident for Hampton County Arts (SC); exhibitions: Edwardsville Arts Center (IL), Peters Valley (NJ), Morean Center for Clay (FL), Foundry Art Centre (MO), Companion Gallery (TN), Artspace (NC).

alexanderthierry.com | @alexander_thierry
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

PHOTO/MIXED MEDIA – SUMMER SESSION 4
June 30-July 12, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Sally Van Gorder
Photographing Your Work: Documentation for Artists

Photographic records are essential to every art practice. They can describe a work, provide an exhibition view, supply installation instructions, ensure accurate color for print reproduction, or communicate the character of a practice.They can also express an aesthetic and convey a narrative. This workshop considers the many contexts in which these images are made and used. We will work digitally and explore the technical requirements for quality pictures. Demonstrations will cover camera control, natural and artificial lighting, and post-production workflows, including color correction, retouching, file output, and storage. We will cover everything you need to get the best images of your work from the conditions and equipment you’re working with, whether you have a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or cell phone. This workshop is for any art/craft practitioner wanting to photograph their work. All levels. Photography studio.

Professor at North Carolina State University; other teaching: Virginia Commonwealth University (Qatar), Oregon College of Art and Craft, Pacific Northwest College of Art (OR); residencies: Brightwork Fellow at Anchorlight (NC); exhibitions: North Carolina Museum of Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (NC), Contemporary Art Museum (NC).

sallyvangorder.com | @sallyvangorder
January 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 5
July 14-26, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Eva Kwong
Simple and Complex: Color and Form

This workshop will explore color and form in salt-glazed ceramics. We will make simple and complex forms by throwing, handbuilding, altering, and combining multiple parts. Colored slips, underglazes, and glazes will be used to investigate both monochromatic and complicated color relationships. Layering, blending, stenciling, stamping, sgraffito, impasto, and more will add surface complexity. Salt-firing to cone 6 will extend our investigation of color and surface. We will also fire in electric kilns. All levels. Upper clay studio.

Studio artist; retired faculty from Kent State University (OH); other teaching: Anderson Ranch (CO), Arrowmont (TN), Ox-Bow (MI), Rhode Island School of Design, Peters Valley (NJ); NCECA Excellence in Teaching Award; collections: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Crocker Art Museum (CA), Cranbrook Museum (MI), Cleveland Clinic, Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis); representation: Solway Gallery (Cincinnati). 

evakwong.com | @evakwongart
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 5
July 14-26, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Shiyuan Xu
Playing with Paperclay

Paperclay is a forgiving material that has been widely used by ceramic artists over the years for both functional work and sculpture. In this workshop students will gain basic knowledge of paperclay and its properties.They will learn to prepare and manage their own porcelain paperclay and will also play with colored paperclay. We will experiment with various structural forms and work with handbuilding techniques such as pinching, slab and coil building, slip-trailing, and dipping found objects to create forms. The workshop will include daily demonstrations, discussions of contemporary artworks, and individual meetings. Electric firing. Basic handbuilding skills will be helpful, but this workshop is open to all levels. Lower clay studio. 

Studio artist; teaching: Waubonsee Community College (IL), Lillstreet Art Center (Chicago), Lawrence Art Center (KS), Houston Community College, Arizona State University (AZ); residencies: Lillstreet Art Center (Chicago), Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Archie Bray Foundation (MT); collections: Korea Ceramic Foundation, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (TX), National Museum of Slovenia (Slovenia); representation: Sherry Leedy Contemporary (KCMO), Ting-Ying Gallery (UK).

shiyuanxu.com | @shiyuanxu129
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 6
July 28-August 9, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Matt Jones
Thrown and Wood-Fired

This workshop will investigate the wood-firing aesthetic as we make pots to fire in Penland’s multi-chambered wood kiln. Although the effects of wood flame and ash are often described as accidental and unpredictable, we will strategize to take advantage of them. Wheelthrowing demonstrations, instruction, and discussions will address the needs and interests of beginning to advanced potters. Loading will be a full day of work, and firing will take two days with students on shifts to stoke around the clock. While the kiln is cooling we will visit area potters and/or have additional demonstrations. Students are encouraged to bring bisqued pots to give us a jump-start on loading this rather large kiln. Stoneware clay. All levels. Upper clay studio. 

Studio artist; apprenticed with Todd Piker (CT) and Mark Hewitt (NC); has taught nine apprentices; presentations: North Carolina Wood-fire Conference, Mint Museum (NC), North Carolina Pottery Conference, South Carolina Pottery Conference; collections: Asheville Art Museum (NC), Mint Museum (NC); most work sold at his home-studio kiln openings. 

jonespottery.com | @mattjonespotter
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 6
July 28-August 9, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Kensuke Yamada
Figuring Out

Working with stoneware clay and using coil building and other handbuilding techniques, students will construct sculptures combining multiple figures or objects, working with form and surface to create narratives. We will discuss anatomy, proportion, posture, and gesture. Facial features, hands, feet, and clothing will be added to animate the figures. Surfaces can be enhanced by texturing and detailing. We will explore glazes with test tiles. Electric firing. Basic handbuilding will be helpful, but this workshop is open to all levels. Lower clay studio. 

Assistant professor at University of Arkansas Little Rock; residencies: Archie Bray Foundation (MT), The Clay Studio (Philadelphia); visiting artist: Tyler School of Art and Architecture (Philadelphia), University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Chihuly, Inc. (Seattle); exhibitions: Duane Read Gallery (St. Louis), Blue Spiral I (NC), Catherine Person Gallery (Seattle); collections: Missoula Art Museum (MT), Bellevue Club (WA). 

kensukeyamada.com | @kensuke_yamada
Videos! 
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

WOOD/MIXED MEDIA– SUMMER SESSION 6
July 28-August 9, 2024 (11 STUDIO DAYS)
Annie Evelyn
Interconnection: Not Just for Woodworkers

The wood class that’s not just for woodworkers! This introductory class is designed to help you incorporate a pre-existing object or material into a table or stool. Is it clay? glass? metal? wood? fiber? found object? Don’t have anything yet? We’ll find something when you arrive. The interconnection of two materials creates an exciting opportunity for creativity and problem-solving. You will learn to safely use the jointer, planer, table saw, bandsaw, mortiser, Festool Domino, router, and various hand tools. Class vibes: having fun, supporting each other, and celebrating accomplishments. All levels. Wood studio.

Assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University; development director and co-founder of Crafting the Future; residencies: Penland Resident Artist Program, Windgate Resident Artist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI), San Diego State University, Wornick Distinguished Visiting Professor at California College of the Arts; exhibitions: Center for Craft (NC), Tacoma Glass Museum (WA), Fuller Craft Museum (MA) Center for Art in Wood (PA).

annieevelyn.com | @annie_evelyn_furniture
January 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 7
August 11-16, 2024 (4 STUDIO DAYS)
Neil Patterson
Altered Forms

Discover your personal forms by learning to use the potter’s wheel as a creative tool. Continue the process by altering wheelthrown parts and developing off-round forms. Our focus will be on exploring process and discovering your voice in clay, not on making finished pieces. We will bisque fire only. Some throwing experience will be helpful, but this workshop is open to all levels. Upper clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia), Swarthmore College (PA), Saint Joseph’s University (Philadelphia), workshop teaching nationally; residencies: The Clay Studio (Philadelphia), Penland Core Fellowship. 

Sandiandneil.com
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – SUMMER SESSION 7
August 11-16, 2024 (4 STUDIO DAYS)
Elena Renker
Kurinuki

Kurinuki is an centuries-old Japanese handbuilding technique that involves carving the exterior form from a solid block of clay and then hollowing it out. This more sculptural approach allows for complete freedom in the shaping of vessels. We will explore various forms from tea bowls to bottles, vases, boxes, and large bowls. Kurinuki is also useful in making sculptural forms. Stoneware clay; bisque fire only. All levels. Lower clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Auckland Studio Potters (Australia) and workshops in New Zealand, India, and Taiwan; exhibitions: Form Gallery (New Zealand), Schaller Gallery (MI), Mungyeong Ceramic Museum (Korea), Sogo Department Store (Tokyo), Stratford Gallery (UK); collection: Mungyeong Ceramic Museum (Korea); work featured in Ceramics Monthly and Logbook. 

elenarenker.com | @elena_renker
Jan 15 – Regular enrollment opens

CLAY – FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 22 – 27, 2024 (4 STUDIO DAYS)

Adrienne Eliades
Say It with Surface

Cultivate your creative voice through surface design on clay. Beginning with test tile studies, students will work through aesthetic considerations such as color, composition, and imagery (whether abstract or representational). Then, working with thrown forms such as cups, bowls, and vases, students will practice applying 2D imagery to 3D forms. Techniques will include inlay, slip trailing, stenciling, and resist in combination with underglaze and glaze. Demonstrations, exercises, and discussions will prompt students to connect with their internal and external sources of inspiration. Students will leave with new skills and ideas, greenware pots, and glazed test tiles fired to mid-range temperature. All levels. Upper clay studio.=

Studio artist; teaching: Lewis & Clark College (OR), Portland Community College (OR), Arrowmont (TN), Touchstone (PA), Idyllwild Arts (CA); residencies: Ash Street Project (OR), Guldagergaard (Denmark), The Bright Angle (NC); representations: Charlie Cummings Gallery (FL), Clay Akar (IA), Eutectic Gallery (OR); publications: Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated (cover), The Beginner’s Guide to Handbuilding, The Beginner’s Guide to Wheel Throwing. 

adrienneeliades.com | @bugaboo_eyes

Enrollment opens May 1

CLAY – FALL CONCENTRATION
SEPTEMBER 29 – NOVEMBER 8, 2024 (6 weeks)

Esther Shimazu
Arm, Leg, Wing

We will start with the human figure and then riff on this form to explore other creatures. Using standard handbuilding methods, we will work mainly hollow and in parts (if you know how a teapot is made, that will be helpful),. Techniques may include carving, re-sectioning, scraping, seams, slashing, using paperclay to control shrinking, slips, stains, resists, fusing parts with glaze, re-firing, repairs, etc. Students can expect to complete three or four medium-sized (10-20 inch) pieces plus some smaller works, maquettes, and studies. Some goals for the workshop are surprising yourself, maximizing individual expression, working with one’s inner nerd, and not being too attached to a standard. Firing will mostly be electric. All levels. Lower clay studio.

Studio artist; teaching: Anderson Ranch (CO), Santa Fe Clay (NM), Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (Vancouver, BC), San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), Penland; collections: Honolulu Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum (CA), St. Louis Art Museum, Berkeley Art Museum (CA), Kutani Collection (Japan), Cincinnati Art Museum, Crocker Art Museum (MA), Racine Art Museum (WI), Fule International Ceramic Art Museum (China). 

esthershimazu.com | @esthershimazu

 

Scholarship application deadline extended to April 19
Regular enrollment opens May 1