Pottery Workshop- Williamson Art Gallery

The Williamson Art Gallery exclusively opened their doors to us earlier this week during one of the galleries closed to the public days to complete a pottery workshop. As we walked into the gallery their was a quite noticeable lack of presence amongst people, it felt particularly exclusive to walk within the gallery knowing it was closed to everyone else. Firstly, we were given a tour around the Della Robbia pottery exhibition, I enjoyed this as it was a unique experience to see these one of a kind pieces created by dozens of different artists over the span of many years. It was interesting to see this creative collection of pottery made locally to the area of the gallery. There seemed to be one major similarity amongst all of the pottery work, this was the colour turquoise, it seemed to have a running theme throughout the whole collection of the Della Robbia pottery. I did find this pottery collection beautiful as there were such unique pieces rarely found elsewhere, although it was a little bit repetitive due to the similar nature of all of the pottery in terms of colour and patterns used.

The pottery workshop commenced when we were brought into this private room, it was filled with tables covered in newspaper with thick blocks of cut clay presented in front of each chair. Each step of the pot creating process was explained to each of us in depth so we were able to start constructing our own personal piece. We were given a round clay base in which we had to roll out and wrap clay coils around, smoothing in any noticeable bonds between them. I like how we were given complete free reign over the structure of our pots, our imaginations could have been endless in regards to the form our own pot was to take. Personally throughout the whole construction process I was not sure what shape I was heading for, I let the whole process determine it for me until i reached a point i was able to manipulate the basic shape into a curved vase. As I got near the top of my piece I desired more of a curvature so i started to make the coils smaller and thicker then as it built height, i made them wider again to try and accomplish a flared effect. After the basic structure was reached, we were given this smoothing tool where you had to place crosshatch marks over the whole circumference of the pot with the sedated edge and then use the straight side to remove the crossed marks to reveal a smooth, bump free surface. After the sculpting and smoothing of the pot had been finished, then you had to cover the desired surfaces in a white slip, this is liquid clay which turns the base white. This is to enable there is a bright white surface for us to paint onto of our pots in next weeks session. I thoroughly enjoyed this pottery workshop at the Williamson Art Gallery as I found the whole process extremely therapeutic and rewarding. During the next session of the pottery workshop we will be designing and painting the surface of our pots before they are fired in the kiln.

I was not able to make it to the part two of the pottery workshop during the second week due to illness so the pot I decorated simply got glazed with a white slip around the outside.