Online porcelain workshops

Porcelain handbuilding

Learn online how to use porcelain clay for your hand made projects in this 6-week formal porcelain hand building workshop.  Antoinette shows how to make porcelain paper clay and how to add fibers and grog to control the movement of the clay.
The pinching techniques will teach you how to "see" with your fingers. You will learn about mold making, slab building, patching, coiling, tool and die making and will be stimulated with using sprigs on your clay work. You should be able to do extruding without the use of an extruder and will see how easy it is to make your own collectors porcelain bottles.
​Duration of class
6 weeks formal video classes, 4 weeks reviewing
10 weeks total viewing

Contents of the class

Picture
Press molded porcelain plate with a hand formed bowl.
Week 1: Hand building: an understanding
  • History of porcelain
  • Characteristics of porcelain
  • Why hand building and not wheel throwing?
  • What is considered as hand building?
  • Can hand building be combined with wheel throwing?
  • How does porcelain hand building differ from hand building with other clay bodies like stoneware and earthenware?
  • Translucent porcelain building
  • Porcelain works like a clay, but when fired becomes glass like.
  • Which tools and equipment works best for porcelain clay
Picture
Press molded porcelain, altered and carved.
​Week 2: Porcelain: let the Diva work
  • Make it work for hand building
  • Which hand building methods are most suitable for porcelain?
  • Basic porcelain rules for hand building
  • A potpourri of examples that we examined in my studio
​Week 3: Coiling and pinching
  • Basics about coils         
  • Pinch and build a vessel
  • Score and build an object
Week 4: Scrape and Shape 
  • Creating homemade dies
  • Hand extruders
  • Let your homemade dies work
  • Creating a vase
Week 5: Making molds
  • Press molding considerations
  • Building a picture
  • Make your molds versatile
  • Build a vessel
  • Finishing.
​Week 6: All about slabs
  • Preparing and throwing a slab 
  • Leather hard slabs
  • Thin and pliable – soft slabs
  • A container
  • Translucent object
My classes are loaded with tips and techniques - With 40 years of ceramics experience, I can assist potters in almost any clay related topic.