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Have you ever wanted to try your hand at porcelain clay to create contemporary clay artworks and experiment with lustre on-glazes to add brilliant accents to your glazed ceramics? Ebony Russell demonstrates and teaches hand-building with white porcelain, mould-making, glazing, lustre application, firing, and finishing techniques. Using small objects found around Salemi, learn how to make press moulds in clay to replicate and transform them into sculptural forms with beautiful lustre finishes. Lustre colours are applied and fired on glaze to produce unique decorations of metallic tints such as gold and mother-of-pearl. To inspire your practice, Ebony introduces you to contemporary ceramic artists who use objects of meaning in their artwork. Suitable for beginners and those with previous ceramics experience.
Although the course is focused on learning rather than making pieces, you will be able to keep some of the pieces you make:
Ebony Russell is an Australian artist who uses an unorthodox approach to construct ceramic sculptures. Her unique technique was developed out of an interest in gendered aesthetics, labour, and traditional craft practices, where Russell methodically pipes porcelain in a series of intricate layers to build gravity-defying forms. Challenging the traditional making processes of decorative vessels, in her works, the decoration becomes the structure, and the boundaries between the two are erased. Exploring established perceptions of cultural and artistic practices that were once exclusively coded as feminine and thus insignificant, Russell’s work celebrates the decorative, promiscuous aesthetics and politics of purity; the superficial, excess, and delight with pleasure.
Ebony Russell completed a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Honours) at Monash University in 2003 and, in 2019, graduated from The National Art School, Sydney with a Master of Fine Arts. Russell has won a number of international awards, and her work has been exhibited and collected worldwide.
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!
