Ceramics
Code: C1421-22
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II
Level II
Students have a basic knowledge of 3-D art making and sculpture concepts and are comfortable using a variety of hand and power tools. Students have taken one or two sculpture classes or workshops.
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III
Level III
Students have significant experience with clay forming techniques, such as throwing, hand building and modeling. Students are comfortable with ceramics equipment, such as wheels, extruders and slab rollers. Students are self-starting with some formal training and have taken a minimum of three classes or workshops.
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IV
Level IV
Students have advanced skills and knowledge of sculpture. Students are highly motivated, have a minimum of five years experience in the field and have multiple portfolios of their artwork. Typical students are academics and professional artists.
Companion Pottery
Sep 5 - 16, 2022
9AM-5PM
Concept
In this exciting workshop, students learn how to construct male and female nude figures using hand-building pottery techniques. Emphasis is placed on imparting the methods necessary for creating work with sound construction. Demonstrations convey how to build detailed heads, hands and feet. Students also learn how to sculpt figures with expressiveness of feature, gesture and pose. Sculptures are treated with minimal to no surface finishing or glazing.
Media
Figurative sculpture, hand-building, stoneware, washes, oxidation firing to cone 5
Supply ListFaculty
Esther Shimazu
Esther Shimazu is a studio artist from Hawaii. She received her Masters degree from the University of Massachusetts. Esther received a Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Purchase award in 2001, and an Individual Artist Fellowship award from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
Esther Shimazu, What Have We, 2016
Join Waitlist for Companion Pottery
Ceramics
In 1966, American raku ceramicist Paul Soldner selected the site for what is now Anderson Ranch Arts Center, forming the foundation for a thriving ceramics program. Then and now, Anderson Ranch is a place where students exchange ideas and examine ceramic art and pottery-making techniques. It has always been a place where seminal moments of growth happen in an artist’s creative and critical thinking. Here, both beginning and emerging artists gain strong fundamental support, while established artists achieve new perspectives and advance their techniques.
The Ranch Ceramics team provides support, feedback and technical problem solving, giving each artist the freedom to experiment and grow. Our primary focus is on personal advancement through a process of creative discovery. We also offer community engagement through events like our Locals’ Clubs “Circle of Fire” where artists engage with the Ranch outside of the workshop setting.
The Soldner Ceramics Center makes up more than 10,000 square feet in three buildings. The Lyeth/Lyon kiln building is equipped with gas, electric, soda and wood kilns for both oxidation and reduction firings at all temperature ranges. The Ranch offers three wood kilns, four gas reduction kilns, one soda kiln and eleven high-temperature electric kilns.
Anderson Ranch is happy to extend a 20% tuition discount* in summer one- or two-week adult workshops for NCECA members. Please register online and then email reg@andersonranch.org with your membership information and we will make the adjustment once you are in the system. You are also welcome to call 970-924-5089 to register. *Please note that the NCECA discount does not apply to The Center / Advanced Mentored Studies program, nor can it be combined with any other discount, scholarship or special offer.
Workshop Details
Supply List
Many of the items you'll need are available in the ArtWorks Store. Please click "View Full Supply List" to see a comprehensive list of items you'll need for this workshop.
Ceramic Glazing Brushes & Tools
Ceramic Tool Kit
Fettling knife
Metal rib
modeling tools
Notebook
Sharpie, black, fine point
Variety of ribs
Watercolor brushes
Writing Utensil
X-Acto knife
Lodging & Meals
Housing is limited and includes shared and private lodging options. Reservations will be managed on a first-come, first-served basis. The earlier you reserve housing, the better your chance of receiving your preferred option. Please note: Workshop costs do not include accommodations.
We have established a Business Safety Plan with added layers of precaution that prioritize the health and safety of our staff, students, faculty and guests while continuing to provide you with the Anderson Ranch experience that you know and enjoy.
The Ranch Café meal plan that is included with Room and Board fees strives to provide healthy, creative meals that will nourish your artistic creativity. The meal plan includes 5 days of continental breakfasts that will include a hot offering, 5 lunches with a selection of offerings, and 5 dinners.
Health & Safety
Beginning February 2023, Anderson Ranch will no longer require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for studio and artistic program participants. For your own safety as well as the safety of our community, we highly encourage all program participants to be up to date with their vaccinations for COVID-19 as well as the flu vaccine. We also encourage you to carry health and traveler’s insurance.
Scholarships, College Credit & Discounts
Making Art Accessible
Applications for scholarship support are encouraged. Specific scholarships are funded by Ranch supporters, either through endowed funds or special gifts.
Many colleges and universities offer college credit for workshops taken at Anderson Ranch. Discounts are available for students and teachers.
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Code ZSC0101-24
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IV
Level IV
Students have advanced skills and knowledge of the ceramics field. Students are highly motivated, have a minimum of five years experience in the field and have a portfolio of their artwork. Typical students are academics and professional artists.
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Code C1013-24
This three-year mentorship program is intended for ceramic artists interested in critical feedback and immersion in a creative community and who are at a point of transition in their lives, careers, or artistic practices. Emphasis is placed on seeking connections, metaphors, and symmetries between processes for forming clay and developing ways of generating meaning. The objects we make tell stories and propose worlds; a coil and a mold are both techniques for forming clay and also propositions about the meaningful interface of material, body, mind, economy, and culture. We focus on ways stories emerge from physical objects and how narratives give structure to physical form. We welcome participants from many different backgrounds and experiences, centering on work in clay but with the potential for different outcomes, including work in other materials, writing, sculpture, and design. 2024 is the second year of this three-year intensive program. For more information about our next session of The Center, which begins in 2026, please contact Betsy Alwin, Visiting Director of Ceramics and Expanded Media at balwin@andersonranch.org.