The Elements and Principles of Design in Clay Workshop

The basic or foundational concepts of design are often left out of ceramics learning at clay centers and workshops, often for good reason. There really is so much to learn when diving into the field of ceramics: throwing, hand building, slipping and scoring, altering work, glazing, firing. Beyond this there are a multitude of ways to teach how to create a handle, a lid, a gallery for a lid, a foot, how to apply slip, when to apply slip, what slip to apply for what kind of firing. Then there are clay bodies, glazes, firing temps, all sorts of kilns; the list goes on.

One thing that often gets overlooked are the basic building blocks of visual language; the elements and principles of design.

In this workshop Nick DeVries will teach a variety of making approaches, largely stemming from the wheel, while immersing the teaching process and workshop in an exploration and understanding of design concepts. Design concepts are touched on in the normal flow of any clay class. We might talk about color, or form, or the line of a spout; but by focusing on these concepts intentionally workshop participants will gain a stronger sense of how to apply these design tools in their own making practice.

Nick will take participants through discussions and examples of design concepts. Through demonstrations and making Nick will explain how he approaches making and design choices in his own making process; from the throwing of a pot all the way to the considerations at the trimming and finishing stages.

Conversations around color and glazing will be addressed but the main focus of the workshop will be making and finishing work. Participant will be able to bisque fire work the is dry and take the finished work home.

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