Description

Healing Spirit Animal / Effigy Pots
In this first night of the Pottery Workshops we will use the most basic and fundamental technique of pottery, this is the pinch pot and all else follows from this simple form. We start with a ball of clay cradled in the basket of your fingers of both hands. and using your two thumbs you gently depress into the center of the ball and turn and depress and turn and depress creating a small bowl with the wall of the pot being the same thickness all the way around. We can now either create a Spirit Animal or Effigy pot or some healing vessel. Perhaps your animal spirit wants to come and live on the edge of your bowl or inside the bowl. Our Regional Native American Indians, from Arkansas and Mississippi, the  Caddo, Quapaw, Osage and Mississippian Indians created pots for various usages, whether utilitarian, ritual and ceremonial times, illustrating and decorating the pots with meaning and stories, myths and legends.

We will be using white clay and a brown glaze for design decoration if you wish.

 Angels / Bells
In this second night we will use the slab built technique to create a cone shape, bell like shape. Rolling out some clay and using a template we will cut the circular slab and form the bell shape and make an angel bell. Or on the top of the bell you could have an animal or other shape or symbol. We will attach a clay clapper to the inside after firing.

Mad Potter Pot
On this third night of pottery we will make a Mad Potter Pot from 3 lumps of clay. A base or pedestal, a cup or vessel and ornamentation. This “fish” pot is made by Beatrice Wood. This artist has set a fish on a stand raising up into a cup like or chalice like form. This tall woman is by Pablo Picasso. The many round headed figures and other figurative piece with a belly and long neck are by Betty Feves. This will be most likely be an art piece rather than utilitarian.