Ceramics

Our Ceramics Department is one of the oldest and most well established departments at Southwest School of Art and serves nearly 500 adult students each year in a positive, creative, community atmosphere. The ceramics program offers classes on hand-building, wheel-throwing, raku, glazing, digital embellishments and much more. Students also have the opportunity to participate and learn from visiting artists during workshops that are offered frequently throughout the year.

Ceramics Note

Students registering for ceramic classes should be physically capable of lifting up to 25 lbs. Intermediate and advanced students will be required to spend time outside of the scheduled class period to load, fire, and unload kilns (under appropriate supervision). Currently, students registered for an in-person studio ceramic class will only be allowed practice time on the same day their class is scheduled on. Open studio hours will not be available at this time. Students registered for online classes will have assigned times to drop-off and pick-up work from firing as well as for in studio glazing.

Ceramics Material List

Materials List

Classes not listed here will either have required materials in the class description, discuss needed materials during the first class, or the materials will be supplied.

Course details (meeting times, tuition, etc.) are listed below.

Ceramics Course Descriptions

These are the course descriptions only.

1001a | Introduction to Throwing

This class will focus on the basic skills of wheel throwing-centering, opening, and pulling vessels-followed by learning to form bowls, cylinders, and cups. Students will also learn to evaluate form and how form serves a vessel's function while working in mid-range clay and glazes in the electric kiln. *See Ceramic Note.

1001b | Introduction to Throwing

1001c | Introduction to Throwing

1002 | Beginning Handbuilding: Terracotta

Fundamental handbuilding skills and techniques will be covered including pinch pots, coil building, and slab construction with focus on fun, artful, and utilitarian forms as well as surface techniques to add decorative elements to make the work truly one-of-a-kind. The class will work in low-fire Terracotta clay and glazes and learn how to use these materials for the purpose of handbuilding. See *CERAMIC NOTE.

1030a | Throwing Skills

Expand and refine your throwing skills through the forming of bowls, cups, lids, pitchers and the assemblage of two-part forms. Presentations and discussion will cover how to integrate form with function. This class will use high fire Balcones clay and gas fired reduction glazes. Prerequisite: Students should have completed at least two Introductory to Wheelthrowing courses. *See Ceramic Note.

1030b | Throwing Skills

1070 | Porcelain

Expand your range of throwing and glazing skills through the forming of simple items like cups, bowls and jars. Too simple you say? Let's make it a bit more challenging by putting the focus on using only porcelain clay! We will cover the fundamentals and intricacies of working with porcelain clay bodies with focus on glaze finishing techniques that highlight porcelain's cleaner and brighter palette in the cone 10 gas kiln. Prerequisite: Students must have completed at least two beginning level wheelthrowing classes and be confident with basic wheelthrowing techniques. See *CERAMIC NOTE.

1071 | Terracotta Planters

Goodbye summer and hello fall-welcome in the idea of cool sunshine with terracotta planters for your fall flowers. Instruction will cover basic handbuilding skills like pinch pots and coil building along with decorative techniques and ornamentation to create one-of-a-kind planters embracing the richness of terracotta clay. Tuition covers glaze materials and kiln firing; however, students should anticipate additional fees for clay, specific glazes and some tools. *See Ceramic Note.

1090 | Clay in the Environment | NEW

This course will investigate the use of clay in contemporary sculpture and installation art, looking to cues from Land and Earth art-artwork that lives outside the traditional exhibition space like museums and galleries. Students will be encouraged to approach clay from an ecological method of making while experimenting and learning about clay's historical and contemporary uses in installation, sculpture, and architecture. This class will spend some time outside of the studio to conduct research and site visits. Prerequisite: Students must have completed at least two beginning level ceramic classes. See *CERAMIC NOTE.

1121 | Handbuilding Human & Animal Figures

Level: Intermediate/Advanced | Instructor: Cecilia Castro-Hancock
Dates: Wed, 9/15/2021 to 11/17/2021 | 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Studio: Handbuilding Studio | Building: McAllister Building
Tuition: $325.00 | Friends: $310.00 | Sessions: 10

In this class, students will work with the human or animal form or a hybrid to create a unique large scale ceramic sculpture. This class will focus on coil constructing hollow figures in the 18 by 20-inches height range with an emphasis on attaching parts, detail work, and surface texture. We will examine both historical and contemporary ceramic figurative and animal work to inspire form, content, and surface decoration. Students will work in low-fire clay and glazes and learn techniques for glazing large scale work. Prerequisite: Students must have completed one introduction to handbuilding course and have a basic knowledge of coil building and slab building techniques. Tuition covers glaze materials and kiln firing; however, students should anticipate additional fees for clay, specific glazes and some tools. *See Ceramic Note.

Ceramics

Ceramics Note

Ceramics Material List

Ceramics Course Descriptions

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