Ceramics: Forms with Molds and Patterns with Suzanne Wang

Title:  Ceramics: Forms with Molds and Patterns with Suzanne Wang
Instructor: Suzanne Wang
Schedule: Saturday - Sunday, October 6 - 7, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Level/Prerequisite:  All Levels (teens 14+ welcome!)
Tuition/Admission: $220 Member / $275 Non-Member
Supply Fee:  $60

Full description:
Expand your vocabulary of forms using styrofoam molds and patterns with Big Island ceramicist, Suzanne Wang.  Suzanne will demonstrate slab plates and dishes using drape styrofoam molds and fabrics. The use of patterns will be demonstrated with a handbuilt slab vessel. Finished examples will be shown. The importance of proper handbuilding technique and repetition will be emphasized to result in a series of quality pieces which looks and feels consistent. Important factors such as air bubble/warpage prevention and structural integrity in joining will be addressed. We will also explore surface treatments, including the use of slips and textured fabrics. 

Students will be given styrofoam blocks and taught how to create their own mold forms which they can keep for future use. Depending on their level of experience, students can choose to make a plate, serving dish, or slab vessel made from their mold or designed pattern. The second day will be spent continuing on students’ work and finishing pieces.  Final pieces will be fired and glazed after the workshop ends. 

Instructor bio:
Born in Taiwan and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Suzanne Wang received her MFA in Scene Design from New York University and spent several years in the east coast and China before moving to the Big Island in 2010. Her past love of pottery was rekindled shortly after arriving to Hilo, where she took up the craft again. Her work is strongly influenced by East Asian aesthetics and the beauty of imperfection. Merging old and new, or folk art sensibilities with the contemporary, she is interested in ceramic sculpture and functional ware. Focusing on form and texture, her work is either thrown and altered, or hand-built out of coils or slab. In 2013, she took her first workshop at the Donkey Mill with master potter Ken Matsuzaki. This led to an intensive one-year apprenticeship with him in 2016 in Mashiko, Japan.  http://www.suzannewangceramics.com/

Supply fee includes:

• ½ bag Cone 6 White or Red Clay
• Bisque & Glaze Firing
• Use of all community tools, glazes and underglazes
• Styrofoam
• Sandpaper
• Sur-Form Tool
• Rasps
• Fabric

Students should bring:

• Pencil and sharpie marker
• Utility knife (box-cutter style, retractable with snap off blade)
• If available, thin scrap fabrics no smaller than 16” X 16”. Fabrics can be netting, textured fabrics or hemp, as long as it is stretchable and thin. Large pieces of fabric are desirable, and can be cut down to size.
• If available, personal rasps or surform/sanding tools
• Personal clay tools (sponges, fettling knife, scrapers, needle tool, trimming tools)
• Apron and/or clothes to get dirty in
• Water bottle
• Sack lunch

Minimum Enrollment: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 12