Experimental Urchin Glaze
Ceramics Workshop with Leila Al-Hemali
May 19, 2024
Sunday, 12:00 - 3:00 PM
Structure of Class: (1) 3-hour In-person session (In-person (Ceramics Studio)
C274 • Intermediate / Advanced
Registration deadline: May 13, 2024
This workshop is part of the North Coast KelpFest!
CLASS DESCRIPTION
This 3-hour workshop will focus on making glaze using urchin tests and spines instead of commercially mined calcium carbonate. It is simultaneously a deep dive into calcium carbonate’s role in glaze chemistry and in ocean chemistry. As a potter, it is a chance to connect the story of your work to the story of kelp forest loss happening below the shore break in the Pacific Ocean. Leila will teach three different techniques she used to incorporate the kelp environment into her glazes during her ceramics residency at Cobb Mountain Art & Ecology. The workshop includes 3 small bisqued cylinders to glaze with the experimental glazes made during the workshop, and, for an additional fee, firing in a wood/soda kiln at the MAC. You are welcome to bring your own bisque-ware to glaze, being mindful of size.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Leila came to ceramics in 2019 with a background in environmental sciences. When she took her first ceramics class, she had no idea of clay’s ability to seep into one’s every pore, and become a true obsession. She grew up in Florida and, as an avid diver, considered the California kelp forests a bucket-list dive. When she learned about the staggering rate of kelp forest loss, Leila had the idea to try to use the urchin bodies as a replacement for commercially mined calcium carbonate. And, to her surprise, it worked!
Leila daylights as a software engineer, working for a small company building interactive wildfire simulations in Santa Fe, New Mexico, often dreaming of the wide, gracious expanse of the Pacific Ocean from her home office.
TUITION & FEES
Tuition: $169. NO MEMBER DISCOUNT GIVEN. THIS IS NOT A MAC EVENT
($40. fee is built into this tuition to provide 3 bisqued cylinders to students)
Optional fee: $30 if participants would like to have MAC staff fire their 3 ceramic test cylinders at a future date TBD.
REFUNDS & CANCELLATIONS
Cancellations must be made in writing, either by mail or email. If you notify us at least 14 days prior to the first class meeting, you will receive a refund of tuition less a $45 cancellation fee. No refunds will be made after that date for any reason due to our contractual obligations and material acquisitions. If the Art Center is compelled to cancel a class you will receive a full tuition refund. Memberships are non-refundable as they are considered a donation to the Art Center.