This two week hands-on immersive experience focuses on traditional and untraditional techniques to make realistic or stylized sculpture in clay.
These two parts are equally important to my work: the first is hand building the figure solid and how to prepare it for firing. The second is about some important post-firing tactics as gluing parts, using accessories and painting the piece realistically after it is fired.
In order to experiment directly on all those points every participant will be encouraged to work on two projects: a faster warm-up piece and a more challenging and focused medium sized one at 25 inch standing figure. The point of the first small piece is to be finished quickly and fired within the first week so that it enables experimenting on post firing techniques in the last three days. Sculpting the medium size figure will be the main focus.
As a start, every participant will make a mask or copy an object at hand (a shoe, bag, cloth, fruit and so on) that can be next to the sculpture at all times for reference. The piece or pieces made will be fired during the middle of the workshop and will provide a ‘canvas’ for painting and finishing practice during the last three days.
The mask project is ideal to dive into the deep end without being too precious or invested and being able to focus on the process as opposed to the end result. After breaking the ice we’ll focus on a more challenging piece that will be more specific to every individual, encouraging self tailored projects and offering instructions, help and suggestions at all times. Every stage will reinforce concepts from the first three days and delve deeper.
The workshop will cover all topics involved with each stage and all precautions in between:
- Concept and narrative
- Reference preparation
- Hand building solid using a pipe armature.
- Roughing in clay, identifying main shapes, planes and volumes
- Defining progressively the piece in all its parts
- Cutting the solid piece in sections.
- Hollowing and reassembling.
- Sculpting and Refining
- Details
- Firing
- Post firing, glue and tools
- Painting and finishing techniques
- Accessories and different materials
***Firing of the last piece is not guaranteed, it will depend upon the number of sculptures and their size relative to kiln space.***
Throughout the workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
