WORKSHOP:
Wood Fire
Ceramics
With Cider Creek Collective
Monday, March 1st to Friday, March 26nd, 2027 (4 weeks)
Workshop fee: $2,000 includes all materials, not including accommodations. [WAITLIST]
An immersive, collaborative workshop making objects using primary local materials: native clay, salvaged wood as fuel for the kiln, our own hands, and the natural time of elemental processes. There will be a focus on ecological decision-making and site-specific responses to place. Harvest and process native clays and play with glaze recipes using local materials. Tune into the intrinsic possibilities of raw materials and the land - while taking a respite from digital, urban, and consumer culture. Accommodations at SCF and weekday workshops just down the ridge at Cider Creek Collective.
During the first week, you’ll harvest local clay and glaze materials from unique ecosystems such as the pygmy forest and river estuaries. Cider Creek artists will demonstrate techniques in the studio, working back and forth between the potter’s wheel and handbuilding, utilitarian and sculptural, open to requests.
We’ll share tea and snacks using the tableware in our ceramic collection, as an opportunity for discussion and tactile experience of pots made by some incredible potters in the clay community. Your cohort will make food together entering a rhythmic communal routine and appreciating nuances in the everyday that often go overlooked.
In the studio you’ll experiment with the materials, moving at the pace of natural processes. We’ll discuss how to plan your making for specific kilns and the special conditions of atmospheric firing. You’ll join us in ongoing material tests as we work to replace industrial materials in our glaze palette with local.
During the 2nd week of the workshop, we can load and fire our new test gas and wood kilns with glaze tests and possible surfaces for your final body of work. Even weather will come into play, as your clay work responds to the climate and influences your path forward.
We’re introducing a special project this year in appreciation of our collaborators at Salmon Creek: we’ll be working with participants to produce a set of cups for each of the cabins. As Cider Creek explores the space between residency and design collective, we’ll join our resident artists in an ongoing conversation about how to identify common ground where artists can work together to make larger projects possible.
In the 3rd week, you’ll load the 50 cubic ft crossdraft catenary arch wood-salt/soda kiln and heat it up slowly, allowing the fire to decorate your pieces with patterns of melting ash and flame. The kiln will provide a toasty 2400 degree nucleus as the days get longer and fruit trees begin flowering in the orchard.
Monday, March 1st to Friday, March 26nd, 2027 (4 weeks)
Workshop fee: $2,000 includes all materials, not including accommodations. [WAITLIST]
An immersive, collaborative workshop making objects using primary local materials: native clay, salvaged wood as fuel for the kiln, our own hands, and the natural time of elemental processes. There will be a focus on ecological decision-making and site-specific responses to place. Harvest and process native clays and play with glaze recipes using local materials. Tune into the intrinsic possibilities of raw materials and the land - while taking a respite from digital, urban, and consumer culture. Accommodations at SCF and weekday workshops just down the ridge at Cider Creek Collective.
During the first week, you’ll harvest local clay and glaze materials from unique ecosystems such as the pygmy forest and river estuaries. Cider Creek artists will demonstrate techniques in the studio, working back and forth between the potter’s wheel and handbuilding, utilitarian and sculptural, open to requests.
We’ll share tea and snacks using the tableware in our ceramic collection, as an opportunity for discussion and tactile experience of pots made by some incredible potters in the clay community. Your cohort will make food together entering a rhythmic communal routine and appreciating nuances in the everyday that often go overlooked.
In the studio you’ll experiment with the materials, moving at the pace of natural processes. We’ll discuss how to plan your making for specific kilns and the special conditions of atmospheric firing. You’ll join us in ongoing material tests as we work to replace industrial materials in our glaze palette with local.
During the 2nd week of the workshop, we can load and fire our new test gas and wood kilns with glaze tests and possible surfaces for your final body of work. Even weather will come into play, as your clay work responds to the climate and influences your path forward.
We’re introducing a special project this year in appreciation of our collaborators at Salmon Creek: we’ll be working with participants to produce a set of cups for each of the cabins. As Cider Creek explores the space between residency and design collective, we’ll join our resident artists in an ongoing conversation about how to identify common ground where artists can work together to make larger projects possible.
In the 3rd week, you’ll load the 50 cubic ft crossdraft catenary arch wood-salt/soda kiln and heat it up slowly, allowing the fire to decorate your pieces with patterns of melting ash and flame. The kiln will provide a toasty 2400 degree nucleus as the days get longer and fruit trees begin flowering in the orchard.
You’ll tend the firing in shifts 24 hrs/day for 3-5 days,
entering the circular clock of “kiln time”. You can choose
what times of day work for you to tend the fire, and
generally abandon traditional time and ambitions in favor
of tuning into the colors, sounds, smells, and rhythm of
the process.
The kiln will take 3 days to cool, during which time you
can enjoy Salmon Creek Farm and the local area on your own, visits to local studios and kiln sites, and optional
demonstrations such as kintsugi (gold repair). We’ll unload a day or two before you depart, and discuss how to clean the work.
entering the circular clock of “kiln time”. You can choose
what times of day work for you to tend the fire, and
generally abandon traditional time and ambitions in favor
of tuning into the colors, sounds, smells, and rhythm of
the process.
The kiln will take 3 days to cool, during which time you
can enjoy Salmon Creek Farm and the local area on your own, visits to local studios and kiln sites, and optional
demonstrations such as kintsugi (gold repair). We’ll unload a day or two before you depart, and discuss how to clean the work.
Visit Staying at Salmon Creek, Life with the Land, and the especially the Cider Creek Collective workshop page for the rest of the details before applying.