Pottery - Wheel Throwing
Instructor John Johnson of Mudbucket Pottery
Four-week class
(Starts Tuesday, Feb. 14) 2 - 4:30 p.m.
$120 (includes clay)
This four-week Tuesday class is limited to six students of any level. John will be teaching surface texture on vessels; carving slipping, other tools & techniques too. He'll address any issues people are now having with the throwing process and teach various methods to help overcome their problems.
Instructor Bio
My formal training in ceramics began in high school and continued for several years in college. The ability to create objects that could survive for hundreds of years from only an amorphous material has been my passion since the first spin of an old kick wheel. However, as a young man with an expanding family, financial demands forced me to pursue a career in business and my clay work was relegated to the basement. For many years with a wheel, kiln, clay and glazes, late nights and weekends were spent developing my throwing skills and learning the eccentricities of clay throughout the creative process.
After moving to South Carolina and spending a year researching the field, attending numerous workshops and working with other potters, I took the next step. In 2005 I finally returned to pottery as my passion and my career with the opening of my own teaching studio and gallery – Mud Bucket Pottery. In 2010 I changed the focus of Mud Bucket Pottery from teaching to concentrating on my own art and the creation and production of brightly-colored, contemporary, cone six glazes that are now sold to potters around the world.
For thousands of years pottery was created to serve a function. Pottery created for utilitarian purposes did not exclude the desire to create pottery that was also beautiful. I want to produce work that people enjoy using as a functional piece one day and displaying as a decorative piece another day. Whatever the size or shape, all my work is wheel-thrown with functionality and aesthetic design determining the form.
My forms are thrown with a continuous line across any curve leaving no flat spots or disruptions to the surface. After a form is thrown and the surface is dried enough to support slip the consistency of yogurt, I apply and manipulate the slip to create movement and flow around the entire piece. On some pieces movement may appear constrained, while other pieces may show deeper, free-flowing movement even changing direction in certain areas. The depth and movement of my surface alterations are inspired by my experiences in coastal South Carolina. The ocean and sand exhibit movement that is constant yet constrained and flow that varies in intensity and direction. Sand is sculpted by wind and water as tidal pools appear and fade with the ocean tides – you can see the flow and feel the design as you walk barefoot through the tidal pool. Wading water fowl and the remnants of wakes hitting shore from boats long-gone create the undulations of water against sand. I like to emulate these natural movements on the surfaces of my work in a way consistent with functionality and pleasing aesthetics.
Instructor John Johnson of Mudbucket Pottery
Four-week class
(Starts Tuesday, Feb. 14) 2 - 4:30 p.m.
$120 (includes clay)
This four-week Tuesday class is limited to six students of any level. John will be teaching surface texture on vessels; carving slipping, other tools & techniques too. He'll address any issues people are now having with the throwing process and teach various methods to help overcome their problems.
Instructor Bio
My formal training in ceramics began in high school and continued for several years in college. The ability to create objects that could survive for hundreds of years from only an amorphous material has been my passion since the first spin of an old kick wheel. However, as a young man with an expanding family, financial demands forced me to pursue a career in business and my clay work was relegated to the basement. For many years with a wheel, kiln, clay and glazes, late nights and weekends were spent developing my throwing skills and learning the eccentricities of clay throughout the creative process.
After moving to South Carolina and spending a year researching the field, attending numerous workshops and working with other potters, I took the next step. In 2005 I finally returned to pottery as my passion and my career with the opening of my own teaching studio and gallery – Mud Bucket Pottery. In 2010 I changed the focus of Mud Bucket Pottery from teaching to concentrating on my own art and the creation and production of brightly-colored, contemporary, cone six glazes that are now sold to potters around the world.
For thousands of years pottery was created to serve a function. Pottery created for utilitarian purposes did not exclude the desire to create pottery that was also beautiful. I want to produce work that people enjoy using as a functional piece one day and displaying as a decorative piece another day. Whatever the size or shape, all my work is wheel-thrown with functionality and aesthetic design determining the form.
My forms are thrown with a continuous line across any curve leaving no flat spots or disruptions to the surface. After a form is thrown and the surface is dried enough to support slip the consistency of yogurt, I apply and manipulate the slip to create movement and flow around the entire piece. On some pieces movement may appear constrained, while other pieces may show deeper, free-flowing movement even changing direction in certain areas. The depth and movement of my surface alterations are inspired by my experiences in coastal South Carolina. The ocean and sand exhibit movement that is constant yet constrained and flow that varies in intensity and direction. Sand is sculpted by wind and water as tidal pools appear and fade with the ocean tides – you can see the flow and feel the design as you walk barefoot through the tidal pool. Wading water fowl and the remnants of wakes hitting shore from boats long-gone create the undulations of water against sand. I like to emulate these natural movements on the surfaces of my work in a way consistent with functionality and pleasing aesthetics.