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Have you already tried handbuilding or throwing but feel like something is missing? Are you looking for your voice, your style, your visual identity in ceramics?
This two weeks course for beginners wheelthrowers will help you strengthen your wheelthrowing foundations but also to explore surface decoration and develop a personal style. It's perfect for those who already have some basic experience working with clay (wheel or handbuilding) and want to explore creative techniques to decorate their pieces using colored slips and underglazes.
You'll work with Michelle, a passionate ceramic artist, who will guide you in developing your own visual language.
In the first week, she’ll help you build confidence in the basics of wheel throwing and guide you to explore your personal drawing and decoration style, preparing designs on paper. By the end of the week, you’ll select your most successful pieces to decorate in week two.
In week 2, you will move to full time clay decoration: experimenting with multiple decoration techniques such as sketching, drawing on clay, transferring designs from paper, sgraffito, Mishima, wax resist, and paper stencils. You’ll spend a full week exploring drawings and designs, and creating unique surfaces by combining color, line, shape and texture in a vibrant and personal way. You will work on test tiles as well as your own handbuilt or thrown pieces.
At the end of the course, you will choose which decorated pieces you'd like fired, glazed, and shipped to you. Since the pieces need to dry before firing, this will happen after the course concludes.
By the end of the course you will:
While the course is focused on technique and exploration, you’ll be able to keep some of your most successful decorated pieces:
Michelle of MINX Factory - Born in Mexico and raised between Colombia and Argentina, Michelle has been connected to clay since a very early age, when her mother signed her up for a local pottery workshop. From that moment on, working with her hands became second nature.
After studying graphic design in Argentina, she soon realized she simply enjoyed being away from screens and spending more time with her hands in clay. That’s how Minx Factory was born — a space where her love for bold colors, playful forms, and graphic aesthetics could come to life in ceramic pieces.
She deepened her practice with ceramists like Tortus, and through formal studies in ceramic arts and surface decoration at Escola Industrial in Barcelona.
Since 2020, Minx Factory has evolved been led by both Michelle and her partner Borneo, a multidisciplinary artist whose unique perspective brings a vibrant twist to their collaborative and distinctive work.
Their studio, located in the Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona, is a space for creation, experimentation, and community. Together, they produce handmade pieces that travel worldwide, while also teaching classes and hosting artist residencies.
This course is for you if:
During this week, you won’t just get a ceramics course. We’ve also organised a program of activity so that you can connect with Sicilian culture, get to know beautiful Salemi and its rich history and territory.
You will:
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
During the weekends, the studio will be closed. You will be free to organise your own weekend plans or participate in one of our optional weekend activities.
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!
