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This course is for ceramicists and ceramics students who wish to experience the delicate magic of the most enchanting clay: Porcelain.
Guided by Anna, you’ll explore the material’s velvety yet elusive nature while learning to shape it on the potter’s wheel.
Step by step, you’ll prepare the porcelain trying two different methods of wedging techniques, then move on to centering and forming simple shapes such as cylinders and bowls, the first step toward building confidence and harmony with porcelain.
As your confidence grows, you’ll experiment with more complex forms, closed shapes, spouts or long-necked bottles, to refine your technique and practice creating the same object with different wall thicknesses in order to understand how porcelain behaves.
At the leather-hard stage, trimming and delicate carving will take place, unveiling porcelain’s luminous translucence after firing.
During this week, you will have a unique chance to fully immerse yourself in the practice of wheel throwing, making progress that would be hard to achieve within the noise of everyday life.
By the end of the retreat you will have the opportunity to choose which piece(s) you would like fired, glazed and shipped to you. As pieces need approximately a week to dry out, this will be done for you once the retreat has concluded.
During this journey of discovering porcelain, we will learn to:
You’ll also be able to ship home some of your own porcelain creations: functional pieces such as bowls, pitchers, cups, or bottles. As pieces need approximately a week to dry out, bisque, glazing and shipping will be done for you once the course has concluded.
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Anna Basile is a ceramic artisan and artist from Puglia, living in Turin since 2012. In 2014 she founded Studio Delta Pottery, designing everyday ceramic objects that combine minimalist forms with a refined sensitivity to color. She works mainly with stoneware and porcelain, shaped on the wheel and fired at high temperatures, and is an expert in high-temperature glazes, creating expressive surfaces suitable for daily use.
She collaborates with prestigious restaurants across Italy, producing bespoke tableware. In recent years, her research has expanded to wild clays, exploring their potential as ceramic bodies and for natural glazes. She experiments with porcelain inclusions and materials collected in nature, merging them with contemporary techniques, with a focus on the dialogue between territory and form.
To apply to this course, you need to have consistent wheel throwing experience and can confidently and consistently centre and throw at least 1.5kg of clay
This course is right for you if:
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We ask that you plan your arrival for Sunday. We have an included pick-up from either Palermo Centre (in front of Hotel Politeama) at 1100 or Palermo Airport at 1200. On Sunday afternoon (circa 1630, subject to change), you will be welcomed to Salemi by one of our team members, who will take you on an orientation walk of the historical centre. This will be followed by a welcome apericena (light dinner) with a Salemi Spritz at one of our favourite local restaurants.
We will bid you farewell at the end of your time in Salemi with an included transfer to either Palermo Airport or Palermo Centre (Piazza Politeama), departing Salemi at 0700 on Saturday morning.
**For pick-ups and drop-offs outside of these times and locations, please contact us for a transfer quote.
This is an intensive learning week! Teaching is primarily group-based with moments of individual feedback built in. Please note this is not one-on-one tuition.
You will be in the studio from Monday at 0900 through to approximately 1700 on Friday afternoon. Studio time is a combination of teaching and non-teaching time. You can expect a typical day to look like this:
0800 - Yoga in the courtyard (optional)
0900 - 1300 - Studio (teaching with a coffee/tea break at 1030 in the courtyard)
1300 - Shared lunch in the courtyard
1400 - 1630 - Free Studio Time - Afternoon studio hours are primarily self-directed practice, with your teacher available in the studio for guidance
1900 - Dinners are a combination of eating at local restaurants, home restaurants, and in-house at the studio
Please note
Our program is carefully designed to balance teaching, practice, meals, and cultural experiences, and we do our best to follow the planned schedule. However, all times and activities are indicative and may shift with the season, the weather, or the needs of the group. Studio sessions, meals, and excursions may be adjusted, rescheduled, or substituted at our discretion. Flexibility is part of the Salemi Ceramics experience, and we believe these small changes often add to the richness of your time with us.
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We want to make Salemi a recognised centre for contemporary ceramic art. Come and be part of it!
