"The not-so-humble cup" - Ceramics workshop with Steve Williams
Speaking Place, Saturday 24th October, Piccolo Family Farm
“The cup or drinking vessel can be a great seed for the workshop and would be open to wheelthrowers and handbuilders. A makers personal character and pot character can come together by looking closely at design and all the elements that make up a form. You can take a mathematical approach to form and match points of a vessel, volume, volume position, rim thickness, rim direction, handle contact points, etc. Understanding visual weight and formal design elements helps a maker to see and make confident decision about their work. We would look at a variety of handle making techniques.” – Steve Williams
Ticket includes Saturday workshop, materials, and welcome coffee on arrival and lunch, admission to the Speaking Place Festival on Sunday 25th October, where participants will showcase their newfound skills for the community.
$180 per person
Speaking Place workshops are for participants aged over 16 years. Participants aged under 18 years will require a guardian’s acknowledgement on waiver form.
Optional extra: Speaking Place dinner on the evening of Saturday 24th October, $60 per person
Join us for the Speaking Place dinner; an opportunity to network with other Speaking Place workshop participants and facilitators, presentations and keynote addresses.
Support: Western Riverina Arts is generously offering full sponsorship to 2x participants to attend one of the 5 Speaking Place workshops. To apply, fill out the EOI form (link in our bio), applications close Friday 28th August.
Steve Williams
Hello, My Name is Steve Williams
I live and make on a 130 acre bush block at Dollys Flat, Mid North Coast NSW. Living and making within a natural environment is central to a ‘least intervention approach’, gathering clays, rocks and wood from the block to create table objects … cups, bowls, plates etc.
These local ‘native’ materials translate into a palette and texture on the objects that can only come from here. Wood ash, a residue from the 50 hour firing is used as a primary glaze ingredient in glazes for the next firing.
Most of my pots are made in one sitting on a 90 year old kick wheel. The slow rhythm of the wheel encourages a soft, playfulness with the clay. Pots are made in one sitting, using plastic finishing techniques. They are dried and raw glazed prior to packing in the large brick kiln.
About Speaking Place
On the inspiring grounds of Piccolo Family Farm, a series of arts workshops and seminars are facilitated by skilled professional makers and artists across various unique creative disciplines. The workshops will centre around the concept of Place, and how makers and creatives evoke and communicate Place through their craft. Throughout the day, facilitators and participants have the opportunity to gather with the other participants, fostering creative networking and the exchange of ideas and thoughtful conversation.
Speaking Place was founded to provide access to world-class artistic skills for regional audiences. It also has a strong focus on ongoing impact, encouraging further creative collaboration and artistic exploration beyond the Speaking Place weekend.
‘Place’ is a generous topic of exploration. It gives artists and audiences an infinite world of discussion and discovery of how their craft ‘speaks place’ and opens them up to a journey of creative understanding and collaboration.
The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government initiative that supports sustainable cultural development in regional, remote and very remote Australia.
The project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia and Regional Arts NSW.
With additional thanks to
