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Date: April 28th, 29th, 30th & May 1st
Times:
Wednesday, April 28th: 5pm - 8:30pm
Thursday, April 29th: 10am-12noon (optional) & 4-6pm
Friday, April 30th: 10am - 4pm
Saturday, May 1st: 2pm - 6pm
Level: All
Membership Price: $292 (Members can use code MEMBERS10 upon checkout to receive 10% off)
Youth Price: $162 (youth pricing - must be 16+)
Please Note: The hours for this workshop are a bit varied due to the nature of pit firing. Be sure to review the detailed workshop schedule listed below. Feel free to contact education@mendocinoartcenter.org with any questions!
Workshop Description:
Using inspiration sourced by the fauna and flora of the Mendocino coast, students will create slump-molds as a base for a ceramic sculptural mask. After building their masks, students will be taught how to make and apply terra-sigillata, before firing in a pit using local flora and compostable materials as colorants to create ephemeral surfaces. Students are encouraged to also bring up to 1 cubic feet of bisqueware fired to 06 or below, to fire alongside the masks. Enrolled students can reach out to the instructor with questions about this via email.
Workshop Schedule
Wednesday, April 28th: 5 - 8:30pm
Mask building Demo and Pit Intro
Mask making time
Thursday, April 29th: 10am-12noon* & 4-6pm
10a-12noon | Morning Foraging Session (optional)
4-6 pm | Surface Demos & Finishing of Masks
Friday, April 30th: 10am - 4pm
Building Layers of the Pit
Decorating Bisque Pieces
Starting the Fire
Saturday, May 1st: 2p - 6pm
Taking out Pieces
Cleaning and Polishing
Celebration!
*Please note that the April 29th “Morning Foraging Session” is optional. During this time students will be finding shells, grasses, and other earthly materials to assist in the pit firing.
About the Instructor:
Kit Grindeland (he/they) is a trans ceramicist from Providence, RI who has been working with clay since 2021. Previously, they spent a decade in the New England theatre industry both on and off stage, as well as in the classroom. He is a born and raised New Englander who recently finished a long term residency at The Steel Yard. His work has been featured in shows and galleries across Rhode Island, alongside being featured in regional shows through Small Favors, Strictly Functional, Warren Wilson College/Queer Atmosphere, and more.
Alongside studio practice, Kit has been teaching ceramics since 2023 and has taught at Amherst College, Anyhow Studios, The Steel Yard, and multiple elementary/middle schools across Rhode Island. When not in the studio, they can often be found working in early childhood education, occasionally making clown shows, or deep in nature.
Their work is rooted in being in dialogue with material - both clay in its most malleable form and with the fire that paints it. He primarily uses pit-firing and wood-firing to catch ephemeral chemical reactions on handbuilt swirling and shifting forms manifesting dystopian bio-morphic forms.
Required Materials:
Closed toe shoes and the student’s PPE preference of a KN95 mask or higher to wear during the firing.
Optional Materials:
Students will find a notebook and writing utensil helpful, as well as saving any of the following materials for the firing: dried coffee grounds, eggshells, dried banana and citrus peels, bones, nut shells, dried grasses and flowers, and other organic dried materials of interest. Horse hair/other hair will not produce the same effects seen through the "naked raku" technique.