Wood-Fired Pottery Workshop - Thursday, June 6 - Sunday, June 9

Pottery Class: In this three and a half day workshop you will learn the ancient art of turning wild clay into functional ceramics. We will be using ancient techniques of hand building, painting, then pit firing our pieces without a modern kiln but with wood in a stone lined pit. We will meet each day from 9 AM to 5 PM. This schedule may change slightly on the 3rd day, according to the weather, as this is the day we will be firing our pottery.

 Day 1: Identifying and processing wild clay, I will provide wild harvested clay from southern Utah that we will process together as a group. This will go until noon when we will break for an hour for lunch (lunch is not provided). After lunch, we will cover ancient hand building techniques: coil and scrape, paddle and anvil, etc. 

 Day 2: We will cover burnishing and painting. We will use a red iron oxide paint as well as various different colors of wild clay. This will also be a good day to finish up projects from the previous day. 

 Day 3: In the morning we will build our pit/trench kiln. In the afternoon we will start firing our pots. The rest of the day will be tending the pots and fire. The schedule for this day is subject to change due to weather. 

 Day 4: (Just the morning) This is the day when the pots come out of the pit. It’s always like Christmas morning. It’s exiting to see the way the fire adds character in an unpredictable way. We will take a group photo then go our separate ways. Light snacks and beverages provided. Please bring your own lunch.