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Explore the creative potential of local, ‘wild’ clays on this hands-on course.
If you already have some wheel-throwing experience and want to work with naturally occurring clays, this course will show you how to find, test, process and use them in your ceramic practice.
You’ll begin with a clay-foraging trip, where you’ll learn how to recognise clay deposits and collect raw material from the surrounding landscape. Back in the studio, Adele will guide you through processing the material and transforming it into clay bodies and grog for making, as well as slips and glazes for decoration.
With plenty of demonstrations and one-to-one guidance, you’ll throw small forms such as cylinders, bowls, and bud vases, using both foraged clay and white stoneware. As you work, you’ll see how different materials behave and how they can be used together to create unique surfaces.
Rather than focusing on large finished pieces, you’ll spend your time investigating materials and expanding your knowledge of wild clay through testing ideas, taking risks, and discussion.
Over two weeks, you’ll combine material research with studio practice, using tests and small thrown forms to better understand the characteristics of local clays.
By the end of the course, you’ll select pieces for glazing and firing. Test tiles and sample pieces will be ready to take home, while your finished work will be fired after the course and shipped to you.
Although the course is focused on learning rather than making pieces, you will be able to keep some of the pieces you make:
IMPORTANT: You will have the opportunity to use your own glazes on the wheel pieces you made. But be aware that any items left unglazed at the end of the course, that you want to keep and be shipped, will be glazed for you in the studio's transparent glossy glaze.
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Adele Williams is a potter with 9 years of teaching experience. She's developed a love for encouraging students to stretch their skills, making work that is both beautiful and functional. Bringing creativity into items that are part of your everyday.
Based in London, Adele makes work as Hackney Potter in the artist run studio Clay Collective. Concentrating on a love for materials she has developed a practice that produces functional ware with an experimental approach. Whether digging clay to make clay bodies and slips, creating ashes for glazing or experimenting with firing techniques. Her work follows a desire to experiment and understand.
This course is likely to suit you if you:
This course may not be the right fit 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 11:30 or Palermo Airport at 12:30. On Sunday afternoon (circa 16:30, 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 07:00 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 09:00 through to approximately 17:00 on Friday afternoon. Studio time is a combination of teaching and non-teaching time. You can expect a typical day to look like this:
08:00 - Yoga in the courtyard (optional)
09:00 - 13:00 - Studio (teaching with a coffee/tea break at 10:30 in the courtyard)
13:00 - Shared lunch in the courtyard
14:00 - 16:30 - Free Studio Time - Afternoon studio hours are primarily self-directed practice, with your teacher available in the studio for guidance
19:00 - 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.
During the weekend, the studio will be closed. You will be free to organise your own weekend plans or participate in one of our optional weekend activities.
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We want to make Salemi a recognised centre for contemporary ceramic art. Come and be part of it!
