2024
All courses are exclusively taught by Michelle Maher.
*NEW* Weekly places available here!
How do the weekend ceramic courses work?
Course training fees include materials (clay & decorating slips), use of studio equipment & pottery tools, ceramic glazes & firing of work [fair usage applies].
Course fees include materials (clay & decorating slips), use of studio equipment & pottery tools, ceramic glazes & firing of work [fair usage applies].
Suitable for all levels – beginners, improvers & advanced – small class size.
→ Course Details – Ceramic Sculpture Inspired by Chickens, Hens & Roosters – taking inspiration from our feathered friends and taking it step-by-step, we will explore a bird of choice through the medium of clay.
Chickens are always popular in the studio and are expressed wonderfully in the medium of clay.
Your approach to the project can be abstracted or representational in terms of the inspiration.
Maybe it will be whimsical and playful in nature or you might aim for a more representational bird – either way chickens are always interesting to create and leave us with a smile on our face!
The method of construction for your chicken will be decided by the form so we might use coiling, modelling or slabs to build the piece. Or perhaps combining a few building methods.
♥ As always, at Ceramic Forms we will look at glaze application and the layering of coloured decorating slips and glazes for special efffects. We have a beautiful range of slips and stoneware glazes available to students.
Number of participants: 7 max.
For lots of inspiration please see my Pinterest Board – Chickens, Hens & Roosters.
Course fees include materials (clay & decorating slips), use of studio equipment & pottery tools, ceramic glazes & firing of work [fair usage applies].
Suitable for all levels – beginners, improvers & advanced – small class size.
→ Course Details – taking your inspiration from the natural world you are asked in advance to explore an aspect of the plant or animal kingdom or indeed the Earth itself, landscape etc.
~ The key is to find an element of nature that you find fascinating, that inspires you. Before the workshop I encourage you study different aspects of your inspiration.
~ What do you like about it? Is it the texture, the colour, the form, the profile?
~ What does it represents for you? The more familiar you are with your inspiration the better. This will be very powerful when we translate it into clay.
This is a practical workshop where you will have a chance to build and decorate a form inspired by an aspect of nature you are passionate about. Going forward you will be able to apply your new skills to future projects.
♥ As always, at Ceramic Forms we will look at glaze application and the layering of coloured decorating slips and glazes for special efffects. We have a beautiful range of slips and stoneware glazes available to students.
Number of participants: 7 max.
For lots of inspiration please see my Pinterest Boards & Ceramic Surface.
How can I join?
→ To book a place please see course schedule above and click on BOOKING button to check course availability.
→ If any new places come up they will be available in the BOOK NOW buttons above.
→ 2 day course is €295.
→ ** Advanced or more specialist topics e.g. Mono-Printing has higher course fees.
→ Course fees include materials (clay & decorating slips), use of studio equipment & pottery tools, ceramic glazes & firing of work. (Fair usage policy applies.)
→ After booking please note fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
→ Full Terms and Conditions and Payment Methods for courses are available in the FAQ section.
A keen area of interest at Ceramic Forms is decorating and design using non-combustible mixed media with ceramics. We have been exploring this type of surface treatment in the studio for many years now and a considerable amount of knowledge has developed.
It is a key part of our courses that students develop excellent ceramic decorating and glazing skills. In the intensive environment that my classes offer you will be trained on an array of technical decorating skills for ceramics.
In terms of mixed media – essentially, this is adding non-combustible materials to the clay as a way to enhance surface decoration. After firing in the kiln the magic happens leaving amazing patterns and textures in the slip or clay that is left behind.
Non-combustibles we use would be materials like grogs, molochites, perlite and recycled glass. All theses materials make amazing patterns and textures in clay.
Mixed media materials as well as other materials like slips, clay, glazes, firing, use of tools are all included in the course fees.
Students of all skill levels can explore non-combustible mixed media.
For lots of examples of this mixed media surface treatement please see my Pinterest Boards.
Here at Ceramic Forms we are big into surface decoration! As a maker I have a special interest in ceramic surface and I am very happy to share my expertise with my students and to train and develop their skills in this area.
Whether its resists such as wax, paper or latex or coloured slip decoration like marbling, stencilling, spotting, feathering, sponging, slip trailing or maybe you’d like to try glazes with different finishes like gloss, reactive, crystalline, matt, satin or dry.
Over the years I have built up a big catalogue of glazes and we have 70 + glazes available to students!
Beautiful mark marking can also be achieved by impressing with wallpaper, stones, shells, leaves, bark, textured rollers or fabric.
In addition, surface techniques like inlaying, combing, sgraffito, carving, cutting, impressing, piercing, burnishing, modelling in relief, clay stamps or terra sigillata – can also be explored.
Students of all skill levels can explore these surface decoration techniques.
Melted recycled glass
Grog in decorating slip creating a wonderful texture.
Layered reactive stoneware glazes finish the look!
Texture was achieved with a pitted stone.
Coloured slips & glaze combine to bring the piece to life.
Melted recycled glass.
Bird seeds and perlite create an amazing coral surface!
Coloured slips & reactive flowing glazes combine.
Incredible glaze on coiled pot! A dry/crackle red iron oxide finish.
How the weekend workshops work…
→ Come and learn the technical skills needed to make and decorate hand built ceramics with an award winning ceramic artist in a purpose built, bright, modern, fully equipped studio in Castleknock, Dublin.
→ For most weekend courses all skill levels are welcome from complete beginners to more advanced students and class numbers are limited to a maximum of 7 to ensure individual attention. Please note: Porcelain Paper Clay and Mono-Printing with Paper Clay Casting Slip are both advanced courses – not suitable for beginners.
→ First-class tuition is guaranteed on my courses. I personally teach ALL the courses on offer. In the intensive environment that we offer you will be trained on a huge range of technical skills for ceramics. We also pride ourselves on a very positive learning environment.
→ We learn by doing in pottery and in these very practical courses you will develop the skills necessary to create ceramics to a very high standard.
Course Training Details…
→ We cover the following hand building methods: press moulds, hump moulds, slab building, soft slabbing, coiling, pinching, patches, quilting, modelling & sculpting – tailoring the method so that it is appropriate to the project or task in hand.
→ Depending on the area of learning – our approach can be sculptural or functional, representational or abstracted. And in the small class size I offer, you will be given the ceramic skills necessary to guide you right through the project from building & construction to surface decorating and glazing/firing.
→ Weekend training courses are generally based around a particular skill set where we look at a specialist ceramic topic e.g. Hand Built Forms in Paper Clay. However, if you are a beginner to ceramics I will tailor the course so that you starter project is something manageable like a large bowl. This allows you to build your ceramic skills step by step.
→ There is a strong emphasis in the courses on developing technical ceramic skills, good construction methods, excellent finish and on first-rate decorating techniques; we use coloured decorating slips as well as a wide palette of stoneware glazes. As you can see from the Gallery of Student’s Work the results speak for themselves! Almost all of my students started with me as beginners to clay.
→ We only use the best quality stoneware clay; as well as a wide range of coloured decorating slips and glazes.
→ Course training fees include materials (clay & decorating slips), use of studio equipment & pottery tools, ceramic glazes & firing of work. (Fair usage policy applies.)
→ Courses run from 11am to 4pm each day
→ Large library of ceramic books and magazines available that students can refer to for inspiration etc. There is also lots on ceramic inspiration on my Pinterest page.
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