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Next Events:
Upcoming Masterclass
Hand building with a difference!
This is an incredible opportunity to meet Patricia Shone and to learn some of her highly characteristic hand building techniques.
A two day masterclass: Details to follow
10th and 11th October 2020
Price: £220
The bookings for this event are not yet being taken due to the COVID-19 disruptions but if you would like to register your interest then please let me know.
Hand building with a difference!
This is an incredible opportunity to meet Patricia Shone and to learn some of her highly characteristic hand building techniques.
A two day masterclass: Details to follow
10th and 11th October 2020
Price: £220
The bookings for this event are not yet being taken due to the COVID-19 disruptions but if you would like to register your interest then please let me know.
Masterclass
Advanced Throwing Techniques Mark Griffiths Saturday 31st Oct & 1st Nov 2020 Price: £180 (firing charges apply) NEW DATES - These masterclasses have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Two day intensive throwing masterclass (10am to 4:30pm) Venue: The Clay Loft Mark delivered an outstanding two day throwing masterclass last year and returns again this year by popular demand. There are only ten places available on this course so please do not wait to sign up. Mark is one of the UK most talented and fluent throwers and respected potters. He will deliver a two day intensive throwing course aimed at developing the skills of fluent and developing throwers. Mark lives and works in Ludlow, Shropshire where he pots in a converted school house (The Pottery, Culmington). He makes a range of functional and signature pots in wood fired stoneware. His pots are decorated in subdued natural tonal glazes derived from locally sourced materials and fluent gestural marks in slip and through glaze surfaces. This course is not for beginner throwers. Participants will need to be proficient with clay preparation and centering and ideally looking to challenge themselves with larger lumps of clay (6 to 8lbs/3 to 4kg). |
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Masterclass
Glaze Technology Matthew Blakely Saturday 5th December 2020 Price: £95 NEW DATES - These masterclasses have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
A masterclass in glaze technology (10am to 4.30pm) Venue: The Clay Loft Description of the course: Matthew will lead a day of instruction through talks and demonstration on glazing. He will cover a wide range of subjects touching on:
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About Matthew
My work explores the links between ceramics and geology and place, making pieces entirely from geological samples that I have collected from specific locations around the country, and that illustrate the ceramic qualities inherent in these materials. There is an extremely varied geology in the UK with a spectacular range of rocks and minerals ranging from recent river deposits to some of the oldest rocks on the planet. Many of these have been quarried at some stage during the human occupation of the country, though mostly for processes other than ceramics, such as building or making roads. The pieces that I make illustrate another way of looking at these materials and the colours and textures that they are capable of producing in the kiln: inspiration coming from the materials themselves, the qualities that they develop in firings and the places that I have collected them from. I am working with a wide range of different rocks and clays, using firing types and temperatures that bring out the best in them. Increasingly my approach becomes simpler and simpler, taking ceramics back to its essence. I use these materials as unrefined as possible: rocks are crushed by hand, milled and blended to create the glazes, clays are often used as dug straight from the ground. This work is fired in my wood kilns using waste wood that has grown where I live in Cambridgeshire. The firing itself transform these glazes producing exceptional qualities that would be impossible to achieve in any other way. That is what makes this work unique. BIO I was born in the UK but emigrated to Australia in 1988 and studied Ceramics at The National Art School Sydney. I have worked as a potter ever since, building workshops and kilns in Australia and the UK, on my return in 2002. Currently I live and work in a small village on the edge of the Fens, near Cambridge. I have a gas kiln and two wood kilns that I use to fire my work. Since 2010 I have been researching the geology of Britain and using found rocks and clays to make my work. |
Masterclass
Japanese Woodblock Printing Laura Boswell Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th Dec 2020 or Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th Dec 2020 Price: £180 NEW DATES - These masterclasses have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Japanese woodblock classes: 7th-8th & 9th-10th December (10am to 4.30pm) Venue: Gallery 1673 Tools and Materials Everything is provided including books for reference and inspiration, but sketches and/or photos you may like to turn into prints are useful. We will work on your designs in class so no need to plan anything in detail. I supply basic watercolours, but you are welcome to bring your own tubes if you want a wider palette. Expenses Fee There will be a fee of £15 for materials and sundries. This includes one block, more will be available to buy if needed. (cost £3 per block) |
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About Laura
Laura Boswell is a printmaker working exclusively with linocut and traditional Japanese woodblock printing. She has a degree in Art History/Visual Art from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and has been elected to the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. Laura has attended three printmaking residencies in Japan, studying woodblock printmaking with master craftsmen. This spring she spent a month in Tokyo with three fellow artists and collaborated with two exhibition events at 3331 Chiyoda Arts Centre, Tokyo. She was selected as one of five British artists exhibiting at the Ulsan International Print Festival in South Korea this summer. Her book ‘Making Japanese Woodblock Prints’ has just been published by Crowood Press. Laura’s work often references a traditional Japanese aesthetic in its use of white space, her colour choices and minimal approach. She shares the Japanese appreciation of rigorous training; her work often displays impulsive line and brushwork, requiring meticulous cutting and printing to give the impression of fluid spontaneity. In addition to her printmaking, Laura teaches, writes a monthly column for Artists and Illustrators Magazine and works on the occasional public art project. She also co-hosts the weekly podcast ‘Ask an Artist’ with fellow artist Peter Keegan. Laura’s prints feature in national collections including the Buckinghamshire County Museum, The House of Lords and the Library of Wales. She also has prints in the Nagasawa Art Park collection and the MI-Lab Print Collection in Japan. |
