Meticulous surfaces coupled with Modern elegant forms

Jess Palmer hands-on workshop February 7 & 8

My work explores the intersection of design, art, and fine craft through functional wheel-thrown pots. I seek to elevate these objects by balancing form and decoration with a focus on design. My former career as a Creative Director and Graphic/Interactive Designer has greatly influenced my approach to clay. My designer's mind boils everything down to geometry, line, pattern, repetition, and color. I draw influences from architecture, botanicals and nature, and historical and graphic patterns.

I am a highly detail-oriented person, for this reason, my medium of choice is porcelain. The clean smooth surface gives me a perfect canvas for the delicate details I employ.  Incised lines create patterns that are at once contemporary and yet signal to more luxurious design periods from the past. Slip trailed dots add a raised tactile quality and stamped and carved details allow for glazes to pool and run creating movement. 

Soft colors and contrasting matte and shiny glaze surfaces are common in my work. Conceptually, the play between hard and soft are of interest to me in my work. My pots are approached individually with variations on the surface design themes making each one a unique piece of art. Gold luster adorns the objects as a way to elevate them from every day to exquisite. 

ATTEND WORKSHOP

Class Description:

In this two-day hands-on workshop students will be inspired to level up their decorating skills working both on and off the wheel with porcelain. Day 1 will be focused on creating several forms that will serve as the basis for the surface work of Day 2. Students will throw and hand build parts for flower bricks, mugs or cups, and vases to showcase their unique surface designs. Jess will lead students through the process from inception to completion including; forming and throwing, trimming, slab work, and bringing the parts together. Day 1 will be packed with useful tips and techniques for working with Laguna Frost ^5 porcelain.  Day 2 will be focused on decorating the pots with delicate details using various surface design techniques including; incising, carving, piercing, and slip trailing. Jess will talk about what defines and inspires her work and explain how she creates a pattern that highlights the form, ways to divide the pot for interest, pattern placement, and crucial notes on timing. To finish, a discussion of the glazing process and the use of lusters to further enhance a completed piece will take place

Recommended Tools:

• Xacto knife #11 blade or scalpel

• Xiem Slip Trailer

• Xiem Dividing Disks

• Wipe Out tool or rubber brushes

• Carving Tools of choice (Xiem Carving, Kemper wire loop, etc)

• Stamping or texturing tools of choice

• Metal tools for mark making (sgraffito, dotting, or other) 

• Pony Roller

• Straight edge/ruler

• Plus your favorites

• Laguna Frost ^5 porcelain

We look forward to having you join us for what will be a great weekend!