Description

Primitive Pottery Workshop (3-day)

The ability to create durable and useable containers has shaped human existence for millennia. During this course, you will learn how to take raw clay and turn it into useable Anasazi style pottery. As a class, we will go through these steps, touching on the lessons and messages that creating pots from the land teaches us, and how all the elements are used in a harmonious way in the creation process.

Students will learn:

• How to gather wild clay
• Processing and purifying clay
• Finding and processing temper, an essential element in working with wild clay
• Handbuilding techniques including Coil and Scrape and Corrugation
• Refining, finishing, and burnishing
• Making paint and brushes from the landscape
• Different paint options, organic vs mineral
• Firing styles, firing temperatures and atmospheres, how to know which is best
• Open pit firing and examining the results of the process and firing

This workshop takes place outdoors in a desert setting with a Shade Cloud Shelter. Portable toilets and water will be available. There is no electricity or running water. Students may camp on site in the shelters of their choosing once the course starts, or at another location of your choosing. You may not camp on site the night prior to the event starting, and cannot remain and camp after course completion, so make arrangements to camp nearby for those occasions. Food will not be provided for the workshop. You should arrive each day having had breakfast. We will stop for a short lunch break most days, and food is available a reasonable distance away in Boulder. Training will typically be over in the evening giving you time to eat dinner and relax until class starts the next day.

Students should expect the potential for cold, wet weather, and primitive field conditions. Cadre and staff will ensure safety at all times during the course.

There is no required packing list for this workshop. Please bring adequate clothing, shelter, food, and snacks for the duration of the course. Limited resupply may be found in Boulder or nearby Escalante in the evenings.

Please see our course cancellation policy HERE