Porcelain Vessels Workshop with John Oles

In this hands-on workshop, we will explore ways of working with porcelain to create functional and sculptural forms using techniques such as altering, darting, faceting, and slip decorating to take advantage of properties inherent to the material.

Our focus will be based on the vessel, though not always in the context of the functional pot, with an emphasis on creating forms that enhance daily life by showing off the unique characteristics of porcelain such as surface, color, fluidity and translucency. The teaching artist will provide a selection of glazes for students to choose from. The finished pieces will be glazed and fired in a cone 10 reduction atmosphere.

This is a great introduction to working with porcelain for students who have always been curious about it or those who wish to expand their vocabulary of techniques and skillset. Because of the nature of the material, it is recommended that students come with some prior clay experience and be able to throw a 2.5lb-3lb. bowl or cylinder.

This workshop is taught by John Oles. John Oles was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and holds a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Massachusetts (1998) and an MFA from Tulane University (2008) in New Orleans, Louisiana. John taught ceramics at Loyola University from 2008-2013. Currently, John is Associate Professor of Ceramics at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL.