Leah Leitson is a dedicated educator with extensive experience working with porcelain. In this workshop, students will explore Leah’s approach to creating expressive, well-balanced forms, focusing on functional sauceboats and related vessels. Participants will learn to throw and alter freshly thrown forms, manipulate and refine shapes, and thoughtfully assemble components. Decorative techniques, including colored slips, slip trailing, and carving, will be demonstrated and practiced. The process emphasizes attention to detail, design, and experimentation. This workshop provides one-on-one guidance in a supportive, encouraging environment where curiosity, exploration, and individual artistic growth are actively nurtured.
Fee: $350 Bisque firing of pieces is included. Clay is purchased separately from AVL clay. Workshop fee includes a $50 non-refundable registration fee. Members use ARTOFPOUR15 discount code for 15% off.
Date & Time: Saturday October 10th 9am-4pm, Sunday October 11th 9am- 4pm. Enrolled students are welcome to stay late at the studio on Saturday if they wish.
Level: Some throwing experience is necessary. Advanced beginner and beyond.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Firing: Bisque firing is included. Participants may request shipping of bisqueware for an extra fee.
Instructor Bio:
Leah Leitson is a ceramic artist and professor emerita at Warren Wilson College, with an MFA from Louisiana State University and a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She teaches workshops nationally and internationally; her work appears in exhibitions, publications, museums, and collections worldwide extensively.
AVL clay is located at:
Spend a winter’s day creating objects that hold a sacred space in your life. An altar can hold reminders of what is important to us whether it is a celebration of the season, a special object or a momento from the past. We will thoughtfully create altars from templates and slab construction. Each altar will be a reflection of its maker through individual adornments and features. This workshop provides a brief discussion on altars, a making demonstration and individual guidance in a supportive, encouraging environment.
Fee: $85 Clay, bisque firing and glaze firing of pieces is included. Members use ALTARS15 discount code for 15% off.
Date & Time: Saturday January 16th 10am-2pm
Level: beginners and beyond, ages 16 and up.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Instructors:
Jessamy Ames is an artist, animist, alchemist, bee tender, maker of pure beeswax candles & altar ware. Jessamy owns the Northstar Candle Company.
Arleen Ferrara is a potter and own of AVL clay. Arleen loves spreading the joy of handbuilding with clay and teaches a variety of techniques for different skill levels.
Spend two days immersing yourself in sculpture under the encouraging expertise of Aimee Mower. In this workshop students will learn to clearly observe and create what they see in clay. Through traditional techniques of coil and slab construction, students will bring their form to life. Students can bring their own object or photographs* to sculpt or use an object provided. Includes clay and bisque firing.
Fee: $350 Clay and bisque firing is included. Members use SCULPT15 discount code for 15% off.
Date & Time: Saturday and Sunday February 6th and 7th 10am-4pm
Level: beginners and beyond, ages 16 and up.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
*if student is bring photographs they should be of multiple angles
Instructor:
Aimee Mower Lally works in multiple mediums and processes. She received her MFA in sculpture from the Art Institute of Chicago, has exhibited in NYC and Chicago galleries, and has work in many private collections. Her formal figurative and conceptual training and practices have allowed her to share art with the world around her.
Instructor:
Liz Zlot Summerfield is a seasoned potter and exceptional teacher. She has exhibited and sold her work nationally. Liz owns Double Island Studio were she teaches and host other premier makers. Liz has been featured in Ceramic Monthly and Clay Times magazine.
What defines a set? Is it based on the function, scale, design or a mixture of all three? Throughout this workshop, we will discuss the predominant elements included in a set as well as focus on designing and building with soft slabs starting with simple paper patterns. Demonstrations will include salt and pepper and cream and sugar sets as well as the important elements including spouts, lids, flanges, and feet.
Enjoy a spring weekend as we create and connect through communal learning.
This workshop emphasizes one-on-one interaction in a supportive, positive environment where experimentation is encouraged, and individual development nurtured.
Fee: $350. This fee includes the workshop, clay and materials provided by the instructor, and a $30 non-refundable registration fee. Members receive at 15% discount with code SETS15
Date & Time: April 10th and 11th, 10am-5pm
Level: This workshop is designed to accommodate all clay enthusiasts from beginner to advanced. Ages 18+.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Firing: Bisque firing is included. Participants may request shipping for an extra fee.
Instructor:
Julie Wiggins received a BFA in Ceramics from East Carolina University in 2001. In 2005, she received an honorary degree from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China, where she focused her studies on traditional Eastern techniques. After graduating college, she began her ceramic career in Charlotte where she developed a body of work, managed a ceramics studio and helped establish Thrown Together Potters.
Discover how ancient making techniques can inspire fresh, contemporary forms in this immersive two-day handbuilding workshop. Using bisque molds alongside coil and pinch construction, participants will create expressive vessels that honor the rich history of ceramics while developing their own unique visual language.
Through demonstrations and hands-on studio time, you'll explore how simple forms can be transformed by combining molded elements with handbuilt techniques. We'll use coils to build height and structure, pinch methods to shape and refine forms, and bisque molds as a starting point for creating vessels that feel both familiar and unexpected. Along the way, we'll look at historical pottery traditions from a variety of cultures, drawing inspiration from their silhouettes, proportions, textures, and construction methods rather than creating direct replicas.
Fee: $350. This fee includes the workshop, clay and bisque firing, and a $30 non-refundable registration fee. Members receive at 15% discount with code ECHOES15
Date & Time: October 23rd and 24th, 10am-5pm
Level: suitable for all experience levels. Beginners will learn fundamental handbuilding techniques, while more experienced ceramic artists will have the opportunity to experiment with complex forms, layered construction, and personal interpretation. Ages 16+.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Firing: Bisque firing is included. Participants may request shipping for an extra fee.
Past Workshops
Join us for a playful, hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to design and print your own underglaze transfers using both screen stencils and freehand techniques. Explore how to apply prints to clay slabs, decorate directly with screens, and transform your patterned slabs into simple handbuilt ceramic forms. Learn the ins and outs of making your own screens featuring your very own imagery. Whether you're new to surface design or looking to expand your creative toolkit, this workshop gives you the skills—and the freedom—to bring your ideas to life in vibrant, layered color.
Fee: $150 plus materials. We estimate material fee to be approximately $30 which includes screens that you will take home with you. Clay and bisque firing is included. Workshop fee includes a $30 non-refundable registration fee. Members use SURFACEMAGIC15OFF discount code for 15% off.
Date & Time: Saturday August 1st 9am-4pm
Level: All levels. Ages 16+.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Instructor Bio:
Julia Kalish began her joyful journey into pottery in 2017, studying at studios and schools across the U.S. and Europe and learning from some of her favorite potters along the way. She’s especially drawn to exploring various surface design techniques and to the drama of pairing bright slips and underglazes with deep, dark clay bodies.
Teaching is second nature to Julia. She’s taught both teenagers and adults across several disciplines, and she brings a mix of patience, clarity, and humor into the clay studio. If you’re new to pottery, Julia will help you feel at home fast. Her classes are relaxed, encouraging, and all about discovering what you can make.
PAST WORKSHOPS
Liz Zlot Summerfield is a seasoned potter and exceptional teacher. In this workshop students can expect to learn some of the ways Liz creates her whimsical and delicate forms. Students will be introduced to the techniques of darting while working with paper patterns. The making process will begin with simple functional forms and expand to include components such as lids, feet, and spouts.
This workshop emphasizes one-on-one interaction in a supportive, positive environment where experimentation is encouraged, and individual development nurtured.
Fee: $325. This fee includes the workshop, clay and materials provided by the instructor, and a $30 non-refundable registration fee.
Date & Time: March 7th and 8th, 10am-5pm with optional power point presentation at 5pm on Marth 7th
Level: This workshop is designed to accommodate all clay enthusiasts from beginner to advanced. Ages 18+.
Format: Hands-on & Demonstration
Firing: Bisque firing is included. Participants may request shipping for an extra fee.
make your own 3 piece placesetting
THIS EVENT HAS ALREADY OCCURRED, STAY TUNED FOR MORE WORKSHOPS IN 2026!
In this 3 hour class you’ll be be given all of the instruction and materials to create your own 3 piece bespoke placesetting. Whether it is a minimalist, organic or traditional look you are going for, we’ve got you covered. A variety of handbuilding techniques will be covered such as…
soft slab construction with and without templates
using drape molds and slump molds
“push plates” with GR pottery forms
texturizing slabs
Students will select their glaze and their pieces will be bisque and glaze fired for them. Ages 14 and up.
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