​What makes a good pot?...an expressive pot? We will ask a lot of questions and search for answers together.

It has been my particular passion to take the thrown pot beyond the wheel...out of round, discovering a world of possibilities, while holding fast to the restrictions that usefulness imposes. This workshop will encourage the exploration of those techniques and ideas: from simple immediate manipulation of the wet pot as it leaves the wheel, to the more forced imposition of form on leather hard clay....a variety of approaches will be demonstrated.

We make endless choices about our work, often unaware: the rim thick or thin....throwing lines visible or removed….how handles are attached, where the belly of the curve rests….These decisions, whether made consciously or not, radically affect the overall presence and resolution of the piece. By attempting to explore and understand the vocabulary of functional pottery we may take a step in the direction of greater personal expression.
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​I want students to come away from this experience jazzed up about the altered pot....with the skills to continue that investigation when they leave. And to have developed a richer vocabulary of self-expression as it manifests itself in the simple pot