Upcoming Art Shows, Markets and Workshops!
Pottery Workshops
I have started teaching adult pottery workshops at Three Leaf Farm in Lafayette, Colorado. The farm is an amazing botanical sanctuary and education center as well as a working organic farm with horses, goats, cows and other furry friends on an amazing property that hugs the Coal Creek. When the weather allows, workshops will take place in an outdoor setting. I am keeping the class sizes small (6-8 people max) so we can keep the classes cozy and provide individual attention to each student. Most workshops are 2-days because of the nature of working with clay… Day 1 we work with wet clay and Day 2 we gather again to glaze the bisque-fired pots we made in the prior class. I will fire the student work after each class in my home kiln and the final pieces will be available about a week after the last class. You can see the line up of workshops and register at the Three Leaf Farm website.
Retail Locations
Below are the Colorado stores currently carrying a selection of my pottery:
Lafayette, CO - Timbalier, 2770 Arapahoe Rd # 106, Lafayette, CO 80026
Boulder area Eldorado Canyon State Park Visitor Center, Eldorado Canyon, CO
Best way to follow my upcoming art shows around Colorado and see current pottery coming out of my studio is to follow me on Instagram!! @melissabeckwith.designs
Turn Time
Making pottery is a slow process. I start with wet clay and shape it into the form I want, which can take one or several days, depending on the complexity of the piece. Clay must dry slow in order not to warp and once it is bone dry it is fired in the kiln the first time (bisque) to cone 4 ~ 1800 degrees. I do not to waste resources so make enough pottery to fill the 7 cubic square feet of my kiln. Once fired and cooled, each piece is unloaded and sponged and bottoms waxed. Then glazes are mixed, prepared and carefully painted/dipped onto the bisqued pottery pieces. The pottery is tediously loaded back into the kiln for the 2nd and final glaze firing (~2100 degrees) where the clay is heated to its mature temperature to ensure permeability and food-safe quality. This glaze firing takes ~9 hours to get to temperature, then another 12-24 hours to cool before I can unload each piece again and carefully inspect for any flaws or defects before I sand the bottoms and consider them complete.
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