Designed with the beginner in mind, but also appropriate for the more experienced, learn to work with clay using handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques. Students work closely with instructors to learn the entire process of making, glazing and firing. Have fun creating unique handmade pots, vessels and sculpture.

Check clay out in this one-day three-hour clay class for adults who are interested in experimenting with clay for the first time. This is a great opportunity to have fun and experience the transformational qualities of clay before you commit to a weekly class. Participants will create a clay project that they can come and pick up after it is fired. Invite a friend or relative to join you – this class is a wonderful relaxing way to spend a weekend afternoon

What makes a handmade pot enjoyable to use? Learn about the careful balance between aesthetic and utilitarian considerations that can determine the difference between a pot you like to use and a pot you love to use. While improving our throwing shills, in this 8 week summer session we will focus on altering our pots with texture, and surface decoration. With an emphasis on an attention to details, explore basic wheel throwing and altering techniques while developing a rich surface through the use of colored slips and glazes.

Form and decoration are an integral part of the history of pottery. In this 8 week class we will continue to work on technical throwing and construction skills and move beyond on the act of creating a vessel to discover the potential of the surface. While refining our forms, we will focus on surface treatment, alteration and decoration in the making as well as the glazing process.

This special 4 week demonstration-only class for intermediate/advanced throwers will be a potluck of information and fun! Each week we will bring in a different artist to lead a jam-packed 3-hour demonstration. Participants will have the opportunity to be introduced to a plethora of techniques and tricks of the trade by noted artists from the tri-state area.

Throwing Large Forms

Pursue your passions and learn new techniques along the way through a Japanese approach. In this summer session we will focus on using traditional Japanese Shino and Nezumi Shino glazes to complete our works. Keiko will demonstrate how to use wax resist, inlay and black and white slips to accomplish the numerous varied surfaces of Shino glaze. Students are nurtured to work in individual directions. Taught in Japanese and English.

Keiko Ashida studied pottery in Mashiko, Japan and received her BFA at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo. She has had numerous solo exhibits in Japan.

Are your pots bottom-heavy? This summer put your pots on a diet for life! During this 8-week session, master the throwing and trimming skills necessary to move the clay up and off the bottom of your pots, resulting in taller and thinner forms. We will focus on the three basic shapes—cylinder, bowl, and bottle, learning techniques to open up the clay and bring it up the form decisively, then how to center (and even re-center) pots efficiently for trimming. For advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. Taught in Japanese and English.

Express your personal creative vision using a diverse range of handbuilding techniques. Using low fire clay and glazes for texture and color, create a variety of forms using pinching, slab and coiling methods. All manners of expression will be encouraged, whether functional or sculptural. Students are nurtured to work in individual directions. Explore and discover yourself through clay and give into your creative impulse

Elina Toperman is the incoming Clay Art Center Resident Artist for 2007-08. Elina received her MFA from SUNY New Paltz in June 2007 and makes slip cast wall work.

This 8-week class is for functional and nonfunctional ceramists interested in developing their color vocabulary and integrating color into every stage of the creative process. We will work with clay color, underglaze options, glazes and overglazing. Students may hand build or do wheel work during this class and have the option of using the studio’s Mason stain based slips or bringing their own slips and underglazes. Those who bring commercial underglazes will have the opportunity to explore color mixing. The goal of this class is for students to feel more comfortable incorporating the important element of color into their work. Students need to have had at least one clay class to benefit.

Space, form, scale and gravity are just a few of the aspects of sculpture that we will explore in this class. Weekly demonstrations will engage students in expressing the language of sculpture in their work. This is an ideal class for experienced handbuilders who want to push their work to a new level as well as for those who wish to learn the fundamental concepts of three dimensional design.

One week, the class will visit the Noguchi Museum and Sculpture Garden *($10 entry fee not included in price of class).

Sarah Sedgwick Coble is a sculptor who received her MFA at Columbia University. She currently teaches sculpture and ceramics at the Hackley School in Tarrytown.

How can you grow and improve your work? How can you tell which work is good and why? These monthly sessions for advanced hand and wheel students will attempt to help you answer these questions. Ruth and Marilyn will discuss form, color and standards for judging your own and other artists' work. Each class will feature a "show and tell with constructive critiquing and slide discussions. Students will be asked to bring finished work to each session for discussion .

IMolds have been used as a technique to form clay for thousands of years. They also are an industrial tool to mass produce a variety of objects such as dinnerware, figurines, and plumbing fixtures. Plaster molds and slip casting is only a tool and technique like other ceramic tools such as the wheel, slab roller or extruder- what you do with it is the fun and creative part! This class will expose you to technical information about using plaster and making molds as well as conceptual possibilities about using molds and slip casting to make multiples of original or found objects to make vessels, sculptures and installations

Elina Toperman is the incoming Clay Art Center Resident Artist for 2007-08. Elina received her MFA from SUNY New Paltz in June 2007 and makes slip cast wall work.

In this special 8-week summer session, we will focus on using Zogan and Nerikomi techniques to complete our works. Zogan and Nerikomi refer to traditional Japanese techniques of creating patterns with colored clay. Nerikomi uses slabs of colored clay, which are stacked, arranged, sliced and then used to make pots or surface decorations. The Zogan technique involves using rope to make impressions in the wet clay, and then white slip or colored clay is then added in to highlight the patterns. Students will learn about the many qualities of Zogan and Nerikomi ware and will make pots using these special decorative techniques. The class will fire their works using a cone 6 glaze palette. Students are nurtured to work in individual directions. Taught in English and Japanese.Taught in English and Japanese.

In this class, we will focus on making pieces with the intent of finishing them through the Raku glazing and firing process. Learn why certain building techniques, shapes or forms work better than others for successful Raku firing. Class is best suited for those who have had some previous clay experience.

Fee includes two class-only Raku firing days, which will extend to 4pm – 07/20 & 08/03.

Make a zoo full of animals while learning basic handbuilding techniques, such as pinching, coiling and how to build with slabs. Each day, students will talk about different animals and their habitats, and then create fun clay projects in response! Students will make and glaze an animal-scape, an animal mug, and will even have fun making a new creature to add to the animal kingdom!

All materials and firing included.

Each day of this week-long camp, students will explore different countries, creating works of art inspired by the country's culture and history. Students will have the opportunity to use various handbuilding and throwing techniques while they create projects such as King Arthur's court goblets, Appalachian Face Jugs, Egyptian pyramid boxes, double-spouted Myan pots, South American mud-huts, Australian Boomerangs or Peruvian Stirrup Cups.

All materials and firing included.

Learn the basics of working on the potter's wheel in a supportive environment with other teens. Discover how to make forms such as bowls and mugs from start to finish. Wedging, centering, and glazing will be covered. Students will be encouraged to explore their own ideas while learning about the exciting possibilities of clay.

All materials and firing included

In a supportive environment, students will spend this fun-filled week doing clay handbuilding projects that explore their individuality. While learning basic handbuilding techniques, such as pinching, coiling and how to build with slabs, students will make beads and medallions to create chokers and bracelets.They will create identity boxes, personal pots, self portraits and clay masks. Students will be encouraged to explore their own ideas while learning about the exciting possibilities of clay.

All materials and firing included.

Bring classic stories to life in this special week-long clay adventure. Each day will start with story-time: the teacher will read and discuss an age-appropriate classic story books, such as Where the Wild Things Are , with the students. The students will then have the opportunity to respond to the story with a specific clay project, all the while learning basic handbuilding techniques, such as pinching, coiling and how to build with slabs.

All materials and firing included.