Syllabus Handbuilding  Kathleen Kendall

 A) Course Objectives - Course Description: Our focus is an exploration of handbuilt form in both vessels and sculpture, with the goal of evolving from beginning ability to achieving intermediate-level ability. Emphasis is hands-on studio work, with a slide show and demonstrations. The assigned projects are designed with considerable flexibility to encourage personal creativity and expression. You may make whatever you are interested in, the projects are only a suggestion.

Materials and Processes:
We will explore coil, pinch, and slab-formed vessels and sculpture, press-molded tiles, and sgraffito tile/vessels. We will work with mid fire clay. Firing processes will include bisque at cone 04 and Glaze at cone 5. All Glazes should be cone 5 or 6.  It is a challenge and a good exercise to make small things which are well resolved and command our attention. With that in mind, and in order to guarantee a smooth-flowing series of projects, we will work on a variety of large and small forms through the six weeks. This will keep us thinking about scale at all times. Scale is limited only by kiln size, firing process, and your ambition and ability. Projects should be no larger than about 14 inches in any direction.

Traditionally, clay was generally viewed as a medium of functional craft, but cultural and aesthetic barriers have diminished, and in contemporary ceramics both sculptural and functional directions are thriving. Whether you are making sculpture, non-functional vessels, or functional pots, the work fits somewhere into the broad spectrum of art and craft. Ultimately, the true worth of your work depends on a combination of technical fluency and creativity. In considering design issues remember that all ceramic objects are sculptural forms.

Class Projects in Sequence These projects are designed for intermediate to advanced competency in handbuilding.

1. One dozen bisque stamps and rollers.
2. Coil-constructed sculptural vessel at least 10" tall.
3. Set of stiff-slab covered boxes or bowls made from slabs impressed with bisque stamps.
4. Slumped soft-slab dinnerware plate or bowl
5. Carved/modeled/sgraffito sculptural tile/vessel minimum 5 inches square.

Course Schedule
First Week - Review of syllabus, tour of studio (for new students) Discussion/demo of bisque stamps and rollers. Description and explanation of my work and experience. Discussion of your ideas for what you are interested in learning and making. Open time to make stamps and rollers.

Second Week - Slide discussion/demo of coiled vessels/joining techniques wedging, slip and weld, slab building, discussion of cone temperatures

Third Week - Slide discussion/demo of slumped slab dinnerware.

Fourth Week – work on projects – open studio time

Fifth Week - Slide show of sgraffito. Work on tile if you want to make one.

Sixth Week - Glaze discussion/demo. Glaze everything that is not already glazed. 

All of this structure is voluntary.  You do not have to follow this syllabus.  If you are new to ceramics, I have many ideas for projects if you need one.   You may make whatever you are interested in, however I will do demos of techniques and principles of clay making including tips I’ve discovered from 20 years of making clay objects.

Kathleen Kendall is a former K-12 art teacher living and working in Orleans and Hyannis.  She shows work and is a member at several organizations here on the Cape and is online at Art a la Carte Gallery in Occoquan, Virginia.  Her work is often a combination of 2-D painting and 3-D sculpture with mixed media added and influences stem from Roman/Greek terra cotta and Mexican folk art. She is interested in the combination of painting, ceramics and found objects and how it opens countless opportunities of expression in contemporary ways.  She has a BFA from the University of West Florida, Teacher certification from UT in Austin, and an MIS degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.