Unrounding - Discovering and Befriending Asymmetry From Thrown Forms with Jack Troy and Hamish Jackson

Jack Troy is a potter, teacher, and writer, from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he started the ceramics program at Juniata College in 1968, and retired 39 years later. He has taught more than 260 workshops in the U. S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India, and Great Britain. Jack Troy last visited Driving Creek in 1983 when he met Barry.

Hamish Jackson is an English potter living in the U.S. Hamish began potting at Winchcombe Pottery, then completed a four-year apprenticeship with Mark Hewitt in North Carolina and earned an MFA from Utah State University. He has travelled and exhibited widely, from Europe to Japan to the U.S. to Thailand.

Read more from Hamish on his blog and Instagram.

During this workshop we will throw an arsenal of bottles and progress into enclosed forms of varying sizes and shapes to alter in both gentle and more vigorous ways with simple tools and paddles as we become sensitive to the clay’s willingness to change according to its soft and stiffer leather-hard states. We will practice stacking cylinders to increase the scale of work in a direct and simple fashion.

"Years ago David Shaner sent me a thrown paddled form about the size of half an apple

with something inside that rattles softly, creating a hidden "voice” when shaken. Since

then I have been exploring a variety of rattling forms, the Japanese name of which is

“ishi no sasayaki” – “stone with secret voice.” The pieces may also subtly change their

presence as the center of gravity shifts within."

We will be throwing completely enclosed forms and paddling them into organic and geometric shapes that can be both sculptural and functional. We do this by discovering as we go - scuffing and “chasing” the clay around its supporting air pocket. Some will contain the objects to create different tones when fired. This is not a “gimmick,” but a way of enlivening the space inside what we make, creating an element of surprise for whoever picks it up. Sound unique to each piece can only be experienced after firing and is accompanied by a sense of subtle movement within.

This lively class will be a memorable opportunity to engage our curiosity about the potential for what we feel confident in making - creating a more expansive, and original vocabulary than we had imagined.

Class members should confidently throw bottles 6" and taller. Participants are asked to bring a clay object they have lived with for at least several years that has a particular meaning to them they would like to share.

Please read "20 Questions" on Jack Troy’s website and if you respond to any, please bring them up as discussions topics.

This is a two day workshop aimed at more advanced potters.

We do not have any accommodation available on site but you will receive information about local accommodation options and accommodation deals for our students with your booking confirmation.