Studio & Instruction.
Teaching porcelain has been an important part of my studio practice for many years. My approach is not simply a series of techniques; I help potters understand how porcelain behaves so that they can develop a relationship with the clay and apply that understanding to their own work.
Today, much of my teaching is centered around my studio in Mississippi, complemented by online education and selected workshops, demonstrations and educational programs in the United States and abroad.
Antoinette presents hands-on porcelain workshops from her studio in Saltillo, Mississippi. Participants can work with wheel throwing, handbuilding, altering and carving while developing a better understanding of porcelain and its particular characteristics. Workshop groups are kept small to allow for individual guidance.
Antoinette presents porcelain workshops, demonstrations and presentations for studios, pottery guilds and ceramic organizations in the United States and internationally. Workshop formats can be adapted to suit the interests of the group and the facilities of the host studio.
Antoinette works with students and teachers through clay and arts-integrated learning experiences. Programs can introduce pottery processes while encouraging creativity, problem solving and connections between art and other areas of learning.
From Studio Practice to Teaching
I began working with porcelain in the early 1990s. At the time, I often heard that porcelain was a difficult clay body to work with. When I finally made my first porcelain bowl on the potter’s wheel, I wondered what all the fuss was about. I loved the smoothness of the clay and continued exploring it, making glazed work as well as pit-fired porcelain bottles, bowls and sculptural pieces.
Of course, porcelain had much more to teach me.
In 2005, I began exploring translucency more seriously and wanted to sculpt thin porcelain bowls. As I pushed the material further, I began encountering problems I had not experienced before. My bowls cracked, warped and sometimes failed completely. What went into the kiln came out very differently. I wanted to understand why. That search took me deeper into the history and character of porcelain and, eventually, into understanding why this beautiful material behaves the way it does.
My search for answers gradually became something I wanted to share with other potters. In 2007, my first article about the character of porcelain was published in Pottery Making Illustrated. Since then, I have continued writing, researching, experimenting and teaching what I have learned through articles, online courses and hands-on workshops in my own studio, across the United States and internationally.
My Approach to Teaching
My workshops are not simply about learning a series of techniques. I want potters to understand why porcelain behaves the way it does, so they can recognize problems, make informed decisions and develop a relationship with the clay.
Demonstrations, discussion and hands-on practice work together. I encourage questions and problem solving, and I work with participants individually as they explore techniques and develop their work. Individualism is important to me. Rather than teaching students to reproduce my work, I want them to use what they learn to develop processes and forms that grow from their own ideas and experiences.
Understanding the material gives potters the confidence to make their own decisions and take that knowledge back into their own studios.
Mentoring and porcelain consultation
I also work individually with potters who want to deepen their understanding of porcelain or need help resolving a particular problem in their studio practice.
Consultations may focus on porcelain faults and remedies, clay bodies, making processes, glazing and firing, or the development of individual work. Rather than simply providing a quick solution, I help potters understand what may be happening so that they can make informed decisions in their own studio.
Individual consultations are fee-based and can take place online or, when practical, in my Mississippi studio. Please contact me with a brief description of what you would like to discuss, and we can determine whether a consultation would be appropriate.
Students from many backgrounds and levels of experience have shared what they discovered through my hands-on workshops and online instruction.