The course is directed at clay enthusiasts who already have ceramics experience and want to explore the mysterious alchemy behind clays and glazes.
What is a glaze? What is it made of? How do the ingredients interact? What are the rules of proportions in a glaze recipe?
Over millennia, human beings have been making glazes with materials collected from the ground and have developed a variety of techniques for glaze making. After the Industrial Revolution, western ceramists started working with processed materials, slowly losing the knowledge about their chemical and geological origins. Nowadays, glazes are delivered to ceramists mostly in the form of labelled ready-made powders. They are made of minerals, clays and oxides.
During this course, we will discover the chemistry of these materials and we will learn how to compose a glaze. We will experiment with three high temperature glazes, starting from the recipes and using both industrial and wild materials. We will explore how materials interact and how they transform the surface of ceramics after the firing. You will learn different techniques to make functional text tiles, how to mix and sieve a glaze, how to test it and how to adjust the recipes in case of undesired results.
At the end of the course, you will be able to make your personal glazes and freely play with colours and textures.
The course is focused on chemistry and has an experimental approach.
You will leave with:
You will be able to take with you only some of your tests, as not all of them will necessarily be fired before you leave. We can fire and ship the rest of the test tyles for you, but we do not cover shipping costs. Shipping costs are charged extra, and can vary from 40€ for 3 kg for Germany, to 80€ for 3kg shipped to the US.
This course is right for you if:
Marta Vino was born and grew up in Apulia, in Southern Italy. After a long period of academic study between Rome and Lisbon, she discovered clay and dedicated her whole self to ceramic. When back to Italy in 2017, Marta has been working as apprentice in a pottery studio for two years and attended dozens of workshops about ceramic techniques, from porcelain nerikomi to etruscan bucchero. Three years ago, she started experimenting with wood-firing. Her academic background stands through her interest in history, popular pottery and local ceramic materials. She’s currently based in Turin where she runs her own studio: here she produces her ceramic work and teaches wheel throwing and chemistry of ceramic materials.
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:
The Salemi School of Ceramics is a social enterprise that has been opened to create a learning centre for contemporary ceramics, the first of its kind in Sicily.
The School has been created in partnership with the local town of Salemi, which has provided the gorgeous space - the Sant'Agostino Monastery - that will be used for the school.
Salemi has a gorgeous historical centre and because it is quiet and peaceful, it is the perfect place for a mindful ceramics retreat.
Classes will be held from Monday through to Friday. On Sunday, there will be a welcome dinner and on Saturday, we will bid you farewell. Classes will be 4h each morning
(9am-1pm) and 2/3h each afternoon (2-5pm), except one afternoon of cultural activities.
Order of the day:
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The Salemi Project wants to make Salemi a recognised centre for contemporary ceramic art. Come and be part of it!
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