Saturday, October 12, 2013

Sculpture Workshop with Darryl Frost

When Darryl Frost, a New Zealand anagama potter and sculptor, emailed the Ottawa Guild of Potters that he was staying in Ottawa for a few months and would be interested in helping out with a wood firing and perhaps do a workshop as well, the Deep River Potters Guild took him up on his offer of a one day sculpture workshop for the end of August. We started off the evening before with the usual great potluck supper, followed by Darryl's slide show showcasing his wide range of sculptural work and his anagama kiln in New Zealand.  http://playingwithfire.co.nz/about/my-anagama/  This got us all inspired to think in terms of more sculptural pieces. The next day was hands on, and we continued well into the evening- working on our own sculpture, from small abstract pieces to life-sized herons! He also enthusiastically demoed several of his special throwing techniques. Especially interesting to me were his "tea bowls" - made of a very rough groggy clay that he partially opened and then he inserted a ball of smooth porcelain clay and continued opening and throwing so he ended up with a very rough tactile exterior and smooth functional interior. They were fantastic! He is a very loose thrower and it was a great contrast to most of us who are very tight! Everyone agreed the workshop was a great success - that it was great to get thinking more than just "round pots" and several were even inspired to continue to make more sculptures!
Darryl Frost, helped by Jessica Brabant, holds up his series of rough outside, smooth inside
 "tea bowls".
Thanks Darryl -  for a great workshop and have a safe return to New Zealand!


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