Hand Building Houses with Alice Mara

This workshop will be split into two parts. The first two days will be spent hand building the structure of each student’s house or building and the second part will take place four weeks later once the pieces have been bisque fired and glazed. When students return for the second part of the workshop they will learn to use photographic transfers to bring their structures to life.

The first part of the workshop will be spent creating the structure of houses/buildings. Students will be asked to bring in pictures of their chosen house or building and, using these, Alice will assist students in working out how to create the main body of their building.

Alice will demonstrate how to roll the perfect slabs to achieve the right clay consistency, and how to attach slabs to each other to make sturdy, robust models. Throughout the workshop Alice will give demonstrations on how to create features such as chimneys, bay windows, balconies, and any other, unique feature of each building.

As well as building their own house, students will also have the opportunity to create some additional buildings using paper template. Alice will show students how to use slabs of clay to create different architectural styles.

There will be a four-week gap until the second part of the workshop, to give time for the pieces to dry, then be bisque fired and then glazed in white before being fired again.

During this time Alice will also create transfers for the bespoke houses ready for the students when they return for part two.

The second part of the workshop will involve learning how to apply the photographic transfers to the glazed structures. Demonstrations will be given on how to cut and line up the imagery and ensure a smooth application.

The final day will see students perfecting their models with Alice’s guidance. Students will be able to colour match their imagery to fill gaps and Alice will give her tips of the trade on how to fix any imperfections using secret techniques that she has developed over the years.

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