Clay workshop, Mudflat Studios

By Kerry from Khawkinsphoto

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending Arthur Halvorson's clay workshop along with Boston Handmaders Lucie, Allison, Diane and Leah. When the workshop came up I jumped at the chance to work with clay.

When we arrived, Arthur gave us a tour of the Mudflat Studios, including the kilns and individual artist studios. There were shelve after shelve of completed and soon to be completed work. It was fun to see all the different styles, shapes and sizes of the pieces, some simple and others very elaborate.

Arthur taught us how to work with the clay to shape it the piece we wanted to make. We were able to choose from many of his own molds (top photo) to make our dishes or plates. He has made these molds from everyday plates and dishes. Some of the Arthur's molds are of his own design, too. I choose a small mold that was made from a paper plate. I thought better to start off small. We were taught how roll out the clay to form bases to put a on the bottom our pieces. Arthur has a whole set of fun homemade tools and methods to make the bases original and interesting.

After forming the pieces, it was time to decorate our pieces with glaze and maybe, even add texture with liquid clay. I choose blue and green glaze and added a bit of texture. It will be interesting to see how my piece turns out. Arthur will be firing our pieces in the next few weeks. It was fun to see everyone's designs and color choices. I can't wait to see all the work when they are fired and done.

Arthur was a great teacher and teaches all ages the art of working with clay. These was fun to spend the afternoon learning something new but also, learning his process. He has beautiful work and it is nice to see all the work behind the finished pieces.