OUR MISSION

To foster the arts and crafts by providing a wide range of instruction for adults and children. Castle Hill holds exhibitions, lectures, forums, concerts and other similar activities in order to promote social interaction among artists, craftsmen, laymen, and the community at large.

Letter from Presidents | Letter from Executive Director

SUMMER 2008 WORKSHOPS - CLAY

Summer 2008

Painting

Drawing

Clay

Printmaking/
Book Arts

Performance - Yoga - Music

Teens

Kids

Mark Shapiro

Gay Smith

Mikhail Zakin, Summer 05

Clay 2008

Raku Extravaganza on Memorial Day Weekend

May 24 & 25
S at & Sun
11am - 8pm sat
firing,
$135 to glaze and fire bisqued work

Free to watch!

This amazing post-reduction firing workshop is for those who have bisque-fired stoneware pieces ready for a raku firing. Working with a variety of ceramic materials, including crackle, metallic and luster glazes, participants will experience one-of-a-kind results. Using combustible materials such as pine needles, seaweed, and sawdust, each dramatic hands-on firing offers an array of results that will intrigue participants. Students should realize that this workshop involves direct fire and smoke and it is important to dress appropriate to these concerns. Bring bisque ware; we will supply glazes. Remember that the kiln space is limited.

Led by potter: Jim Brunelle

Capturing the Clay Moment- Wet Altering on the Wheel
Aysha Peltz

June 23 - 27
M on - Fri
9am - 1pm
(instruction)
open studio,
stay and work
1 - 4pm
5 Sessions $450
Castle Hill
for academic
credit $475

In this workshop we will use the potter's wheel as a tool to make pots that depart from their original, round, wheel thrown form. We will explore the possibilities of freshly thrown clay, making pots by texturing and wet altering simple thrown forms. In these pots we will search for the 'clay moment' when something about the beauty of clay is revealed. Demonstrations will include: vases, bowls, cups, jars and plates. During the week we will talk about inspiration, sources and developing ideas. Students should bring basic throwing skills, energy and a love for clay!

Aysha Peltz and her husband Todd Wahlstrom work as studio potters in rural Whitingham, VT. Part of the year Aysha teaches ceramics at Bennington College. She has also taught at many schools and craft centers including The Kansas City Art Institute, Alfred University and Peters Valley Craft Center. Aysha received her BFA and MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her work has been published in The Art of Contemporary Ceramics, Ceramics Monthly and Studio Potter. Her work is in numerous collections including the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen, China and the Shein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred, NY. www.ayshapeltz.com

Warren Mather: Digital Imaging on Clay

June 30 - July 4
Mon – Fri
9:30am - 3:30pm
5 Sessions $450 + $150 materials fee
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $475 +
materials

Learn to use screen-printing and Adobe Photoshop as tools to integrate photographic images into the ceramic process. We will use Photoshop to prepare film positives for silk-screens from images you bring from a variety of sources (digital cameras, video cameras, photographs, original drawings, and computer graphics). We will screen print these images with ceramic underglazes and oxides onto wet clay. Various methods for forming clay objects (tiles, plates, and slab boxes) with the printed images will be introduced.

Warren Mather has been working with clay for thirty-five years, and recently developed the technical means to fire photographic, video and computer drawn images in ceramic glaze. His digital images are transferred onto silk-screens and printed with ceramic under glaze onto wet clay. Warren’s recent work involves street imagery from video stills and digital photographs This work has been shown in recent exhibitions at Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art, Boston; Lacoste Gallery, SOFA New York; Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA; World Architectural Ceramics Exhibition, Foshan, China; Slater Museum, Norwich, CT; Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC; and Galerie Caroline Corre, Paris, France. My ceramic mural collaborations include the National Park Service, Grand Canyon, AZ; Keene State College, Keene, NH; and the State Zoo of North Carolina. Warren’s photo-clay installations include Fidelity Investments, Boston, Cambridge Savings Bank, Cambridge, MA and Boston Intercontinental Hotel. Warren has done artist residencies in Hungary and Latvia. He teach ceramics at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His work can be seen at www.warrenmather.com.

Put a Lid on It!
Vessels and Containment Gay Smith

July 7 - 11
Mon - Fri
9am - noon
5 sessions $355
Castle Hill
for academic
credit $460

Register
Ah, that almost irresistible urge to open the box, to pick up the lid of the jar to see what's inside! This class offers methods to make vessels for containment whether what's intended be practical or metaphorical. We'll learn techniques for making containers (altered and not), jar bodies, lids that fit, and attachments or enhancements like knobs, handles, and feet. Integrating the diverse elements of containers is inspiring and sometimes challenging. The possibilities presented here to create esthetically and/or functionally strong containers are fun and easily utilized. Demonstrations and exercises will be designed to meet participants' interests.

Gertrude Graham Smith is a studio potter educated at Harvard University, the Findhorn Foundation, Haystack, and Penland. She single fires porcelain ware in a soda kiln in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. She held artist-in-residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana and at Penland School in Penland, NC. Her teaching credits include workshops at Penland School, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the Harvard Ceramics Studio, and the Findhorn Foundation in Northern Scotland. Her work is shown internationally, and can be viewed in publications including Functional Pottery and Mark Making by Robin Hopper, Working with Clay by Susan Peterson, and in the April 2007 issue of Ceramics Monthly. She was selected as a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship award for 2006-7.

Evening Throwing Paul Wisotzky

July 9, 16, 23, 30
August 6, 13, 20, 27
Wednesdays
6:30 - 8:30pm
pre register for
8 sessions $350
or drop in for $50 per session
Castle Hill

Register
This is a pottery course for beginners and ideal for those who would like to refresh their skills. We will cover the basic throwing techniques for creating functional forms like bowls, cups and vases. Work produced in class will be bisque fired only.

Paul Wisotzky has been working in clay for nearly thirty years and began his early ceramic arts education at Castle Hill as a teenager. Paul recently returned to Truro to live and establish his studio. Prior to that he lived in San Francisco where he worked, taught and exhibited. Paul works primarily in porcelain and stoneware firing to cone 10 in reduction and salt/soda. Most of his work begins on the wheel and often includes altering, surface decoration and hand-built elements. In 2006, Paul studied with Cynthia Bringle in a two-month concentration at the Penland School of Crafts.

Beginning Throwing Paul Wisotzky

July 7 - 11
Mon - Fri
2 - 4:30pm
5 Sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430
Register

This workshop is designed for individuals who have never touched clay or would like to review and refresh basic skills in a fun and creative environment. We will start at the very beginning from wedging and centering to learning how to throw basic forms such as bowls, cups and vases. Work from this class will be bisque fired only. If you are interested in glaze firing your work, please discuss options with a studio manager.

See bio above.

Handbuilding Sculptural Vessels Sheryl Zacharia

July 14 - 18
Monday - Friday
9am - 1pm
5 sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430

We will begin by refining hand building techniques, including pinching, coiling and slab building to create symmetrical and asymmetrical sculptural vessels. While exploring these interesting forms we will incorporate surface techniques to enhance the shapes. Using various methods such as stamping, scraffito, adding on and carving we will make textural surfaces. We will also use clay slips and underglazes in a painterly fashion to accent the forms. Some clay experience necessary.

Sheryl Zacharia was born and raised in the New York area and has lived in Manhattan most of her adult life. At Southampton College, she majored in painting but spent many years pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. She performed in the NYC club circuit for over ten years and is a published songwriter. Missing her visual arts roots, she began working in clay which started her on a new artistic path. She spent many years studying and working in various Potteries and has exhibited both locally and nationally. She is currently on the faculty at Greenwich House Pottery in New York City and The Art School at Old Church in Demarest New Jersey.

Making Better Pots Mark Shapiro

July 23, 24, 25
W eds, Thurs, Fri
9am - 3pm
3 session $355
Castle Hill
for academic
Credit $430

We’ll make functional pots together in the studio focusing on developing our visual and technical skills. Mark will show a range of forms and techniques in daily wheel and table demonstrations that students can apply to their own work. The goal is making clearer, better executed, and more compelling pots, eliminating the weak parts and adding details that strengthen the overall piece. Students will leave with plenty of ideas to work on in the months that follow.

Mark Shapiro has made wood fired pots in Western Massachusetts for the past twenty years. He is a frequent workshop leader, panelist, writer, and curator. He is interested in early American stoneware as a source of inspiration for contemporary potters, apprenticeship, and documentation of the field. His work was recently featured in the 4th World Ceramic Biennale in Korea and is shown by the Ferrin and Lacoste Galleries in Massachusetts and is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Racine Art Museum, the Mint Museum (NC), and the International Museum of Ceramic at Alfred, (NY), among others.

Intermediate Throwing Anne Goldberg

July 28 - August 1
Mon – Fri
9am – noon
5 Sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430

This class is for those who want to improve their throwing skills, to throw taller, wider and thinner.
We'll work on vases, pitchers, larger bowls, plates and platters. Handles, spouts and lids will also be covered.

Anne Goldberg has been playing with clay since childhood. She is a studio potter based in Carbondale, CO, making wheel-thrown and altered functional ceramics. She has been an Artist in Residence at Anderson Ranch Art Center, and studied at Cornell University, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Anderson Ranch Art Center. Her work is included in 500 Cups and 500 Pitchers, both published by Lark Books, and is exhibited throughout the U.S. Anne was the Head Ceramics Studio Manager at Castle Hill from 2004-2007, and is returning as an instructor. She is represented locally by Left Bank Gallery, Orleans and T.J. Walton Gallery, Provincetown. www.annegoldberg.com

Finishing Your Work in the Salt/Soda Kiln Anne Goldberg

August 4, 5, & 7
Mon, Tues
9am - 1pm
Thursday
10am - Noon
$260

Register
Learn all about salt and soda firing! Experiment with techniques such as dipping, layering and spraying to apply slips and glazes; the use of wax and latex resists, stencils, stains, underglazes and oxides will also be discussed. Bring 8-10 pieces of bisqueware to class. Small cups and tiles will also be available for students to experiment further. We will prepare pieces for loading on Monday and Tuesday, for a Wednesday firing. On Thursday we will unload the kiln and discuss results, so students can learn from each other's work.

See bio above.

Clay Printing Mitch Lyons

August 11 - 15
Mon – Fri
12:30 - 4:30pm
5 Sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430

Printing with colored clay is a new and revolutionary printing process that uses colored clay slips applied to a wet slab of clay (printing plate), rolled with a wooden rolling pin (press) which removes a thin layer of clay from the matrix (clay monoprint). Many monoprints can be pulled from the slab without recharging the plate. Mitch will demonstrate his unique printing process, and show slides of the (history) of clayprinting during the 5-day workshop. This awesome process will liberate your senses, while developing your ability to make strong intuitive decisions about your work. Get ready to combine clay and print in a very unique way.

Mitch Lyons received his B.F.A. degree in Graphics from the University of the Arts and his M.F.A. in Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University. After some years of research, be began to combine his two interests - clay and printmaking. His work can be found in numerous collections throughout the United States, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, American University, West Chester University, West Bend Museum, and the Noyes Museum of Art as well as in many corporate and private collections. He has led over 100 workshops inschools and art centers across the country, including Alfred University, University of Delaware, University of Florida in Gainesville, Touchstone, Peter's Valley and Haystack in Maine. www.mitchlyons.com

Off the Path, Down the Trail Kevin Crowe

August 18 - 22
Mon – Fri
9am – 1pm
5 sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430

This workshop will focus on the pots we've had hunches about, risky pots that we've put off approaching , the ones just outside our comfort zone...where the sparks are. We'll work on various forms, bowls, teapots, pitcher, tea bowls...scrutinizing the nuances that give pots a tension that allow them to dance. Part sweat, part grace. While working we'll explore why we work, the paradox of making objects in a world all shopped out ...How do we as potters become part of environmental healing ? I'll discuss the influence that my wood kiln has on the forms I make and the surfaces I explore, including the advantages and challenges of raw glazing and single firing. Participants are asked to bring a poem, any poem, a pot that has inspired, and a sense of humor.

Kevin Crowe is the founder of Tye River Pottery in Virginia. He has 28 years of experience as a studio potter, and conducts workshops throughout the United States on throwing large pots, and on the design and construction of wood-fired kilns. www.kevincrowepottery.com

High Fire Glaze Day Ceramics Studio Managers

August 20
Wednesday
1 - 4:30pm
1 Session $135
Castle Hill

A chance to get stoneware prepared for the finish, this workshop will cover the essentials of selecting and applying cone 10 reduction glazes and the loading of the big gas kiln. Whatever fits in the load will be fired next day, so come with bisqued pots and be prepared to work hard and fast!

Ceremonial Vessels and Primitive Firings: James Brunelle, Jr.

August 25, 26,
28, 29
Mon, Tues
10am – 1pm
Thurs, Fri
9am - 4pm
4 sessions $355
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $430

Register

Explore the many wonders of form and surface through a variety of hand building techniques by building a personal vessel. Take it further by building a pedestal that displays the vessel. Complete an archive that marks your time and presence with the piece then experience and witness its firing through Raku, Pit, or Sagar techniques. Participate in the manifestation of a special piece and take part first hand with its creation through the fire.
Build with clay and other materials for two days (Mon-Tues 10am-1pm), take a break while the pieces dry for bisque firing, and return to Castle Hill for glazing and firing (Thursday and Friday, 9am - 4pm).

Jim Brunelle returns to Castle Hill after consecutive years from Hartford, CT bringing his teaching and hands on techniques to a variety of interest levels. Experienced with many disciplines in clay his work involves wheel throwing, pinching, sculpting, and primarily Raku firing. His recent discoveries influencing his functional works using the kilns at Castle Hill include salt, reduction and oxidation firings.

Fall Clay Intensive

This Year’s joyce johnson Chair

Capturing Carbon: Porcelain and Shino Malcolm Davis

September 1 - 5
Mon – Fri
10am – 4pm
5 Sessions $500
Castle Hill
For academic
credit $575

Shino glazes were developed in Japan in the 16th century. Since then the process has evolved and taken on several variations. This one week intensive class will cover throwing in porcelain, and the history, application, and firing of Shino glazes with particular focus on carbontrapping. Students shouldbring porcelain bisque ware to the first class.

Malcolm Davis has been a full-time studio potter since 1984 when he left his previous life as campus minister. He took his first ceramics class in 1974 and since 1985 has maintained his mountaintop studio in Upshur County, WV. He is internationally recognized for his work with shino-type glazes, specifically for the creation of a unique shino-type formula with a high concentration of soluble soda ash, which encourages the trapping of carbon in the early stages of the firing.

Fall Clay Intensive

Donavan Palmquist: Wood Kiln – Building and Firing Workshop at Highlands Center

September 15– 27, 2 Weeks
Monday – Friday, 10 am – 4 pm
10 Sessions
$500

During this hands-on workshop, participants will build and fire a train kiln. There will be discussion of various styles of wood kilns, designing, building and firing techniques. Participants are encouraged to bring bisqueware, but will also have an opportunity to make work for the kiln during the two-week session.

Donovan Palmquist has been making pots for over 30 years. While in graduate school at the University of Minnesota, his emphasis was on low-fire sculpture, but his primary interest is high-fire functional work. His current focus is on vessels in atmospheric firings. Donovan built his first kiln while a college student in Wisconsin, and has since built nearly 200 kilns. More than 20 of those kilns have been custom-designed wood kilns. He has led workshops in both kiln building and pottery making throughout the US.

This workshop is pending completion of the building at Highlands Center.

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© 2008 TRURO CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT CASTLE HILL
10 Meetinghouse Road, P.O. Box 756, Truro, MA 02666
www.castlehill.org | e-mail castlehill@gis.net
tel. 508 349-7511 | fax 508 349-7513