Intro to Hand-Building Ceramics
Intro to Hand-building with Melanie Unruh
March 7 – April 18 (6 Saturdays – NO CLASS Spring Break 3/28)
1:30 – 4:30 pm
$205 CAE Member / $235 Non-Member
Minimum Students: 3 / Maximum Students: 10
Includes: Use of studio tools, glazes & firing
Clay: Sold separately — $20 per 25 lb bag (available at the front desk)
Ages/Level: Adults 16+ | All skill levels
Get your hands dirty and explore the creative possibilities of hand-building in this six-week ceramics course. Students will learn about clay bodies, stages of clay, and a wide range of forming techniques—including pinching, coiling, slab-building, and surface treatments. Whether you’re a beginner or returning to the studio with new ideas, you’ll receive step-by-step guidance and plenty of time to bring your own projects to life.
**Students will not be wheel throwing.**
Weekly Breakdown
Week 1: Studio tour, demos, project planning, begin forming pieces
Week 2: Building, refining forms, and exploring surface techniques
Week 3: Continued making, finishing details, preparing pieces to dry
Week 4: Final construction and bisque firing
Week 5: Glazing and glaze firing
Week 6: Kiln unloading, group critique, and project pickup
Instructor
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Melanie UnruhMy art is an intermediary between people, creating a connection across variable distances of space and time between myself and the person using the mug, or vase, or tea bowl that I have made. I’m deeply interested in the connection between artist and the user of the art, as expressed by the product. The virtual physical contact between my hands and the hands of the person holding my work is a recognition of our common humanity, an intimacy through art. It is said that a piece actualized by being put to use; it is not finished when it’s removed from the kin, but is finally imbued with meaning when it’s filled with food, or arranged with other pieces. My art is intended to be used, to find it’s purpose in someone’s life. Thus, it’s probably no surprise that I prefer to make functional work. My influences include Asian forms, firing methods, and surface treatments. I’m also very interested in juxtapositions of organic forms and machined artifacts, and things that are revealed and concealed. Variable surfaces of texture and color are evident in all of my art. See Melanie’s work at science fiction and fantasy conventions in the Rocky Mountain region, or at art shows and markets across Colorado. (See the Upcoming Events page for a schedule.) Melanie is a member of the Arapahoe Ceramics Guild, the Arvada Ceramic Arts Guild, and a founding member of the Convention Arts Guild.
