CERAMIC WORKSHOP — SURFACE, FORM & GESTURE (4 WEEK SHORT COURSE)

A 4-week process-led ceramics course exploring form, surface, and material experimentation.

Instructor: Liam Cosford

Level: Intermediate ceramicists (open studio members)

Format: 2–3 hour sessions, twice weekly

Duration: 4 weeks (8 sessions)

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

This process-led ceramics workshop encourages participants to move beyond purely functional

making and reconsider clay as a material for expression.

The course combines foundational forming techniques with experimental processes such as cutting,

altering, pressing, and reconstructing. Rather than focusing on predetermined outcomes, the

workshop emphasises intuition, repetition, and material response.

Participants explore clay through making as a form of observation—where variation, imperfection,

and transformation begin to inform a more personal approach to working.

Participants will leave with a series of experimental works and a clearer personal approach to

making.

CONCEPT & APPROACH

This workshop responds to the popularity of ceramics as a craft often centred on functional

outcomes. While technically valuable, this can limit experimentation.

This course aims to:

● Reimagine how clay can be approached

● Reinterpret traditional techniques through experimentation

● Reconsider the role of process over outcome

● Rethink making as an intuitive and reflective practice

The act of making becomes as important as the object itself.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

● Shift away from purely functional approaches toward a more exploratory use of clay

● Gain confidence in quickly generating and altering forms

● Develop an understanding of how cutting, reconstructing, and surface intervention can

transform form

● Explore texture and surface as active elements within the making process

● Build a more intuitive, responsive approach to working with clay

● Produce a series of experimental studies that reflect process-led exploration

TECHNIQUES COVERED

Traditional Form-Making:

Wheel throwing

Coiling

Slab building

Pinching

Experimental Construction:

Cutting and reassembling forms

Adding and subtracting material

Pressing with tools & found objects

Surface disruption and texture building

COURSE STRUCTURE (4 WEEKS / 8 SESSIONS)

Week 1 — Generating Form & Alteration (Session 1 & 2)

Focused on rapid form-making using primarily wheel throwing, alongside other techniques if needed.

Through timed exercises, participants produce multiple forms, emphasising speed, intuition, and

reducing attachment to outcomes. Repetition is used to build momentum and variation.

Using these forms, participants begin cutting, adding, and subtracting, exploring breaking and

rebuilding forms. Both sessions introduce a more experimental, less controlled approach to

construction.

Week 2 — Expanding Form Language & Surface Exploration (Session 1 & 2)

Introduction of new techniques to generate forms (e.g. scale, proportion, method), continuing the

focus on repetition and variation to broaden starting points.

Alongside this, surface becomes a primary element. Participants experiment with pressing found

objects, mark-making, and surface disruption, integrating texture into both existing and newly

created forms.

Week 3 — Individual Exploration & Development (Session 1 & 2)

Participants consolidate their approach, combining forming, alteration, and surface techniques

explored in previous weeks. Emphasis is placed on developing a personal direction, with guidance

tailored to individual interests and processes.

Participants reflect on what has emerged in their work—identifying recurring forms, gestures, or

methods—and build on these through more intentional making. The focus shifts toward refining

ideas, testing variations, and beginning to resolve a small body of work.

Week 4 — Glazing (Session 1 & 2)

Glazing is approached as painting, and an extension of material exploration. Drawing attention to

how surface, texture, and form interact through firing rather than as a purely decorative finish.

Participants experiment with layering, opacity, and application methods, considering how glaze

interacts with texture and form. The focus is on using glazing as a tool to enhance and extend earlier

processes, rather than resolve them.

TEACHING METHOD:

Each session begins with a short prompt or exercise designed to shift focus away from outcome and

toward process. Emphasis is placed on:

Time-based making

Repetition and variation

Physical engagement with material

Observation over correction

The workshop encourages a balance between guidance and open exploration.

MATERIALS & REQUIREMENTS:

Standard studio clay bodies

Access to basic forming tools

Found objects (participants encouraged to bring their own)

Glazes and firing facilities

The workshop supports an open-ended approach where process, material, and intuition guide the

development of work.

Precio

$5,900 mxn por persona

10% de descuento pagando de contado el curso únicamente en efectivo

Duración

20 horas (8 sesiones totales de 2 horas)

Inicio: JULIO

Terminación:¿Qué incluye el curso?

•Guía y asesoría en cada clase

•10 sesiones de 2 horas

•5 kilos de pasta nacional de alta temperatura

•Préstamo de herramientas y materiales

•Bajo esmaltes y esmaltes.

•Quema de tus piezas (piezas mayores a 21 cm de base o 25 cm de altura tendrá costo extra desde $100)
Prácticas guiadas en cada sesión y feedback personalizado

¿Cuándo?

Las clases se impartirán:Julio

Martes de 6 pm a 8 pm
Viernes de 6 pm a 8 pm

¡Importante! Si faltas a una clase, y quieres reposición, ésta tendrá un costo adicional de $500 mxn.

ARTIST BIO

Liam Cosford is a ceramic artist whose practice unfolds through material inquiry, where

surface, gesture, and glaze operate as active, shifting elements. Working through an intuitive

engagement with clay, his process closely follows how the material responds — how it bends,

breaks, and transforms through mark-making and firing.

Variation and irregularity are treated as essential forces within the work. Forms are cut, altered,

and reassembled, allowing process to remain visible and unresolved. Through this approach,

making becomes an open-ended dialogue, where surface and structure evolve together,

revealing the expressive potential inherent in the material itself.

Importante

En cada clase, habrá tolerancia de 15 minutos.

Sólo habrá un día de reposición de clase. (A coordinar con profesor y el estudio según disponibilidad)

Las piezas estarán listas en 15 días hábiles después que terminaste tu pieza.

En esos 15 días hábiles sancochamos tu pieza, la esmaltamos y la metemos al horno para que tu pieza sea funcional y puedas utilizarla todos los días.

Después de esos 15 días hábiles, tendrás un mes y medio para venir a recoger tu pieza, de lo contrario tu pieza será donada.

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