Ceramics
Les Manning
June 4-11 2010
$550 (part I only)
Student Supply List
Part I
This hands-on program is designed for the ceramic artist able in technical skills wishing to examine form from a personal perspective. Students will create the groundwork for advancing their own ideas toward a personal signature with individual content and difference. Students will begin with the evaluation of their work complemented with discussion of existing concepts of ceramic art, design and influences. Each participating artist will pursue their individual goals in a technique of their choice, working through a series of assignments that build on the previous results. Exploring ideas in this step by step process constructs an original foundation of form so that the artist has evident ownership of the concluding results. Priority will be given to students who commit to the two part program.
Part II
September 10-18, 2010 Medalta International Artist in Residence Program: The MISSA Mini Residence
This is an opportunity for artists, who have attended workshops with Les Manning, to continue on their personal journey. Artists will share studio space, experiences, thoughts and ideas while working independently with daily access to instruction on various surface treatments. A mentoring portion will be established from June ongoing through the program whereby work can be reviewed and critiqued. Participants will have the opportunity to glaze and fire their ceramic pieces and an evening exhibition of finished art work will be celebrated.
Please contact: Medalta Residency Program - phone: (403) 529–1070 www.medalta.org or Aaron Nelson aaron@medalta.org
Les Manning, the former Director of Ceramics at the Banff Centre for the Arts, presently works out of the Medalta International Artist in Residency Studio in Medicine Hat, AB. A ceramic artist for more than thirty years, his work focuses on the interpretation of the Canadian Rocky Mountain landscape where he lived for 25 years. Recent shows include exhibitions in Japan, Korea, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, USA, Germany, Mexico, China, and Switzerland.
Texture & Colour – Handbuilding with Paper Clay
Cory McCrory
June 7-11, 2010
$405
Student Supply List
This class will inspire students interested in working with paper clay. Cory will demonstrate the construction of textured slabs, figurative additions, the use of clay like fabric, and of texture and underglaze on the handbuilt form. Students are encouraged to integrate their own style, push the limits of the clay and bring their own stories to life.
Cory McCrory was raised in New England then relocated to the Midwest. She has worked in the art field for more than 25 years, making, assisting, teaching, and learning. Her art education began in childhood when it was clear she had a gift. Whether functional or sculptural, her pots are interpretations of everyday life through the use of color, texture and whimsy. Her work is represented in several Chicago galleries and private collections around the world. She lives in Sandwich, Illinois with her husband and 4 children. http://home.comcast.net/~potteryhead/site/
Special Effects Glazes
Gordon Hutchens
June 7-11, 2010
$405 + $50 course supplies/firing fee
Student Supply List
Both crystalline and low temperature reduction glazes will be covered in this intensive hands-on course. First developed in Europe in the late 1800s, crystalline glazes, with their delicate, lacy, spontaneous patterns have gained a growing interest in recent years. This course will explore various crystalline glazes at cone 10 and cone 6, glaze composition, techniques for runny glazes, firing schedules, form, and aesthetics. This course will also explore cone 01 reduction fired lustre glazes. Fuel economy is one good reason to look at low temperature gas firing, but this process also gives some of the depth and subtlety of high fire reduction with unique colours and lustrous surfaces.
Gordon Hutchens is one of the most noted multi-atmosphere firing artists in North America. He received an honours degree in Fine Arts from the University of Illinois, where he first studied crystalline glazes and has had over 24 one-man shows and over 70 group exhibitions across North America with three major exhibitions in Japan. Gordon’s work is well known for the depth and diversity of his glazes and the strength and refinement of his forms. He is featured in a number of videos including Salt-Soda Firing, Variations on Raku and Beginning Raku. His crystalline work can be seen in Diane Creber's 2nd edition of Crystalline Glazes. www.gordonhutchens.com
Explorations in Ceramic Glazes
John Britt
July 5-9 + July 12-16, 2010
$790 + $75 course supplies/firing fee
Student Supply List
This course is designed for potters who want to learn more about glazes and colour development, or who are frustrated with not knowing what makes glazes work or fail, as well as those who want to develop or adjust their own glazes. Participants will work as a group with low, mid-range and high-fire glazes creating line and color blends to explore colour possibilities over a broad range of bases. Students are also welcome to explore glazes in their own independent study. Participants will mix and test glaze recipes on test tiles only. Intermediate to Advanced Students.
John Britt is primarily a self-taught potter who has worked and taught at universities, colleges and craft centers both nationally and internationally, including the Penland School of Crafts where he served as the Clay Coordinator and then, as the Studio’s Manager. He is the author of the The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glaze; Glazing & Firing at Cone 10 and has written numerous articles for ceramics publications including: Ceramics Monthly, Ceramic Review, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Ceramic Technical and The Log Book. He currently teaches glaze chemistry, glazing and firing workshops in his studio in Bakersville, NC, USA. www.johnbrittpottery.com
Handbuilding - Lotsa Colour!
Lana Wilson
July 5-9 + July 12-16, 2010
$790 + $40 course supplies/firing fee
Student Supply List
Participants will experiment with Lana’s new technique of layers of coloured slips and then carving and inlaying to make handbuilt plates, cups, bowls, etc. Also offered: a new teapot with a stand, a box with a workable drawer, usable swinging door and inset niche plus added layers of stamped imagery. Students will make intricate stamps, layered clay tiles and some handles and feet. Students will laugh, experiment and all teach each other.
Lana Wilson has given 95 workshops and has written a column for Clay Times magazine since 1996. Her work has been in over 185 shows and appears in eighteen books including several of Robin Hopper’s books. She is the author of Ceramics: Shape and Surface, was a featured demonstrator at 2003 NCECA where a DVD was produced on her, and she loves MISSA. www.lanawilson.com
Throwing - plus a whole lot more!
Ryan McKerley
July 5-9, 2010
$405
Student Supply List
Students will begin by throwing basic forms for a variety of surface treatments. Attachments such as lids, handles and spouts will be addressed next. Students will examine and discuss how the parts of a vessel work together to create a coherent form. Throwing and altering will round out the wet clay portion of the class. Water carving with wax/shellac, slip decoration and carving on leather hard/dry pots will conclude the workshop. Multiple techniques will be demonstrated every day in between periods of focused working.
Ryan McKerley has been a full-time studio potter since 1995. He has taught at the Laguna Gloria Art School in Austin and the Southwest School of Art and Craft in San Antonio. Ryan teaches workshops and exhibits his work across the US. www.artofthepot.com
From Plaster to Pots - Handbuilding with Press Molds
Katrina Chaytor
July 5-9, 2010
$405
Student Supply List
Explore the exciting possibilities of handbuilding functional pots. Demonstrations and studio work will include a variety of construction techniques and the use of plaster press molds to create pottery forms with decorated surface treatments; from press-molded platters to teapots. Studio work will be punctuated with presentations and information on historical and contemporary handbuilt ceramics.
Katrina Chaytor is a nationally and internationally known ceramic artist and educator based in Calgary, AB, where she has been a permanent member of the Ceramics faculty at the Alberta College of Art + Design since 2001. Born and raised on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, she received her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Katrina has exhibited in numerous national and international group, two-person and solo exhibitions. She has participated in a number of residencies including Greece, Mexico and most recently one of ten Canadian ceramic artists invited to participate in a month-long residency at the FuLe International Ceramics Art Museums (FLICAM) at FuPing, Shaanxi, China in 2007.
Innovative Extruding
Michael Sherrill
July 5-9, 2010
$405
Student Supply List
This workshop will explore innovative extruding techniques to manipulate clay and laminated colored clay. Instead of the extruder being a static tool, just to make an object, Michael sees it as a workstation like a potter’s wheel. It is a place to make and manipulate forms. The focus of this workshop is on skill development and unusual handbuilding techniques. Students will explore creative problem solving in the construction and firing of porcelain. With a focus on quality of surface and sense of presence, this workshop is geared to advance the students’ functional and/or sculptural work.
Primarily a self taught artist, Michael Sherrill moved to the Western North Carolina mountains in 1974. His primary influences came from being in the proximity of the North Carolina folk pottery tradition and the community surrounding Penland School of Crafts and the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild. He is a frequent instructor at Penland and has taught at craft schools and workshops across the country and in Canada. Michael has always been a bit of an inventor and in 1995 he designed a line of tools for potters and sculptors—the birth of Mudtools®. In 2002, Michael was a featured presenter and lecturer at the U.S. Clay exhibition of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Museum of American Craft. In 2003, Michael was honored as Artist of the Year by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, in Charlotte, North Carolina. As part of the International Ceramics Symposium/ WOCEF, Michael was one of 10 artists invited to build outdoor sculptures to be placed permanently at the International Ceramic Museum in Inchon, S. Korea, in the summer of 2004. www.michaelsherrill.net
Handbuilt Masks
Bob Kingsmill
July 10-11, 2010
$165
Student Supply List
This workshop is two days of building clay masks as sculptural, architectural and decorative works. Students will hand-build over forms to make objects for the garden, the home and those other places around you that need another reflective face peering (or staring) back. Masks large, small, and tiny, existing alone or as parts of utilitarian pieces will be explored.
Bob Kingsmill produces an extravagant variety of stoneware and raku-fired pieces. His masks are widely collected and his wall murals hang in homes and public buildings in many countries of the world. He opened a studio on Granville Island in Vancouver in 1979, which he continues to maintain while making his home and keeping a studio in the Okanagan, near Vernon, BC. www.kingsmillpottery.com
Sculpting Expression
Elaine
Brewer-White
July 10-11, 2010
$165
Student Supply List
This 2-Day class will focus on facial expressions and explore the minutia of emotion in the human face. Students will build a series of small, head and shoulders studies to investigate how subtle changes in muscle movement can impact the effect of a piece. Some experience with clay is useful, but beginners are also welcome, as success is possible on many levels. *Warning – laughter is a byproduct of this class, the instructor cannot be held responsible for bad jokes.
Elaine Brewer-White has been sculpting in clay for over 25 years. Her pieces are
in public and private collections world-wide. Elaine’s artwork
celebrates the figure in all forms, using humour and colour as her
touchstones. Her work challenges our notions of beauty and perfection and
presents the common man/woman as unique and wonderful. Her subjects can
range from 60 year olds on classic motorcycles, to dogs reclined on chaise
lounges, to large ceramic murals. Elaine’s work and life exhibit the
importance of art, play, laughter. Her passion is to promote art-making and
creative living. She believes in the creative spirit and seeks to celebrate
it in all she does.
www.ebrewerwhite.com
Throwing - Altering Forms & Creating Sets
Conner Burns
July 12-16, 2010
$405
Student Supply List
This workshop will focus on altering wheel thrown vessels and adding slab components to create the vessel form as desired. The individual vessels will be made with the intention of making a ‘grouping’ with them. A ‘grouping’ or ‘set’ might include a variety of vessels and an appropriate tray – cream and sugar, vase set, tea for one. Participants will enjoy the process of creating, altering and combining vessel parts and entire vessels to create the final artwork. Glazing processes will also be discussed as well as any clay topic desired by the participants.
Conner Burns is a studio artist in Natchez, Mississippi. His focus is on the creation of vessels that resonate with organic qualities; including texture, fluidity and growth. A current focus is on groupings or sets (tea for one, cream and sugar, vase set) in which the individual components work together to create a cohesive whole. Conner’s artwork has been published in books about teapots, bowls, cups and glazing and he has received recognition from a variety of art organizations. www.connerburns.com
Firing Techniques
Randy Brodnax
July 12-16, 2010
$405 + $50 course supplies/firing fee
Student Supply List
Students will fire the salt kiln and explore diverse firing
techniques ranging from low to high fire oxidation, high fire reduction,
fuming of chlorides, raku, traditional and non-traditional methods of
surface treatments. Expect the unexpected. Stretch your glaze vocabulary as
you experiment with a variety of unusual techniques. Learn how to get the
most out of your kiln or kilns that interest you.
Randy Brodnax, one of
the best known potters in Texas, specializes in raku and multi-temperature
kiln firings using natural imagery and drawing upon a wild fantasy world of
creatures of the mind. He is a very inventive technician and a master in
the art of kiln building. Randy is a dedicated and humorous teacher
who has participated in many exhibitions and workshops throughout the US.
He holds degrees in art and education and currently heads the Ceramics
Department at Cedar Valley College near Dallas. www.randybrodnax.com
Art Jam
Based in the natural beauty of the Ome Region, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan, the Ome Art Jam is a movement determined to pay respect to nature and to share the traditions of Japanese art with the wider world. Beginning with his exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in 2004, painter Sugimoto Hiroshi has been dedicated to creating an international cultural exchange among artists. In 2006 five Japanese attended the Moss Street Paint-In in Victoria and a residency at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In 2008 four Canadians spent three weeks at Art Jam 2008 in Ome. In 2009, Ome Art Jam invited one Canadian, one Laotian and four Thai artists. And this year three Japanese artists will come to offer courses at MISSA for one week as part of Art Jam 2010, a festival of art shows, performances and workshops throughout southern Vancouver Island. In addition to courses offered by the artists, two Noh theatre performers will be with us for the week, to offer background, performance and a taste of participation in this profound art form. Also, two samisen players will be with the group to perform NAGAUTA, Japanese ballads, accompanied by samisen. Another essential part of the Japanese contingent is Fukuda Nobuyoshi, whose understanding of the art forms and skill at interpretation will be invaluable. This cultural exchange program was made possible by the coordinating effort of Robert Amos in Canada and Nobuyoshi Fukuda in Japan. MISSA is truly fortunate to be host to this integrated cultural exchange.
Art Jam - Handbuilding 
Suzuki Toshi-ichi
July 14-16, 2010
$245
Student Supply List
Suzuki Toshi-ichi received his Master’s Degree in pottery from the Graduate School of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1990. In addition to a prestigious exhibiting career in Japan, his pottery is included in the permanent collection of the Yixing Ceramics Museum in China. Presently he is an instructor at Meisei University, Joshibi University of Art and Design and Yokohama College of Art and Design. Though youthful and ebullient himself, Suzuki’s ceramics are typically created in a deceptively modest KOHIKI style. Simple forms and neutral monochrome glazes are subtly crafted to enhance the look of food. Their WABI-SABI presence is constantly at play in the pleasure of using this elegant ware.
At MISSA, Suzuki’s students will be involved with him in handbuilding wares, experiencing by careful attention this thoroughly Japanese sensibility. His simple grey, brown and white glazes embody the meaning of that elusive word, SHIBUI. Mr. Suzuki will be joined during some part of this course by Ota Harumi, a brilliant creative potter now living in Victoria. Ota brings a lifetime of experience in the Kutani tradition in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.
Decoration, Design & Surface Enrichment
Robin Hopper
October 2-3, 2010
$165
Robin's Final Workshop in Victoria!
Decoration and Design with wheelthrown porcelain, exploring many decorative processes, and focusing on Coloured Clay Work, Slipware and Brush Decoration.
Robin Hopper is an internationally recognized potter, teacher and author.  He makes his home in Metchosin and has taught throughout Canada, England, USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan Korea and Israel. In 1977, he became the first recipient of the Saidye Bronfman Award, Canada’s most prestigious award in the crafts. He is the author of several books and is also consultant and host of three video/DVD pottery instruction series.
www.chosinpottery.ca
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