Past GPG Workshops:
Our workshops are open to non-members depending upon workshop spaces available. The fee is usually $35 for non-members plus the amount for the workshop presenter's fee if the workshop costs more than the Guild subsidy of the workshop
Surface Decoration - Regretfully cancelled
Sunday, April 7th, 2019
1pm - 3pm
Guelph Community PotteryStudio, 14 Edinburgh Road South
This workshop has been cancelled.
We will let you know if it will be offered again some time in the future.
Photographing your Pieces - Discussion
(see Spring Newsletter on News page)
Monday, March 25, 2019
7-9 pm
The Oak Room, Victoria Road Recreation Centre
This workshop was free to members and non-members alike and was open to interested members of the public
With Rick Kowalczykowski,
Icon Photography, Instructor at Dundas Valley School of Art.
Using pictures provided by the members, Rick advised us how to improve our photography skills
when featuring our pieces. He gave us many pointers whether we were using DSLR cameras or our cell phones.
We learned to look for distracting elements in the picture, how to set our white balance,
how to improve composition and manage lighting to show off the colour, shape and proportions of our work.
Many thanks, Rick!
(see Spring Newsletter on News page)
Monday, March 25, 2019
7-9 pm
The Oak Room, Victoria Road Recreation Centre
This workshop was free to members and non-members alike and was open to interested members of the public
With Rick Kowalczykowski,
Icon Photography, Instructor at Dundas Valley School of Art.
Using pictures provided by the members, Rick advised us how to improve our photography skills
when featuring our pieces. He gave us many pointers whether we were using DSLR cameras or our cell phones.
We learned to look for distracting elements in the picture, how to set our white balance,
how to improve composition and manage lighting to show off the colour, shape and proportions of our work.
Many thanks, Rick!
Yoga for Potters
Saturday, February 9th, 2019
5:15pm - 6:45pm
Flo Yoga Studio, 260 Waterloo Avenue, Guelph
Following Saturday's Open Studio, GPG members and friends were treated to a restorative hour and a half session
with Heather Thelwell, a patient and positive instructor with 25 years of yoga teaching practice.
We learned techniques of connecting with our bodies and then focusing
on the muscles and joints which stress us the most during our pottery production.
We all left feeling a sense of suppleness in our muscles and joints and a feeling of calm, top to toe, in our bodies.
Thank-you, Heather!
Some of the areas to bear in mind as we transfer our learning to the studio
are the neck, shoulders, spine, arms, wrists, hands and hips.
We will soon introduce here some illustrations as a reminder of the
techniques we learned.
Pricing your Pottery: Video Lecture and Discussion
Monday, October 10th, 2018
7pm - 9pm
The Willow Room, Victoria Road Recreation Centre
We shared an interesting video by a full-time professional American potter on the process
she uses to determine the 'sweet spot' price for the pieces she develops. Her model
takes time and a great deal of data gathered from her sales, successful and less so.
Her prices reflect more the price the market will bear than the actual cost of the manufacture of a piece.
In our subsequent discussion, we reflected on how we might use her approach in the pricing of our own work.
No fee for this workshop.
Slip Casting at Esther's Farm
Friday, August 17th
Saturday, August 18th
Saturday, September 8th
7 pm, Friday evening and 9 am, Saturday mornings
Esther's farm on the Elora Road
Esther hosted us at her farm for a terrific workshop exploring the many plaster moulds
she is fortunate to have. She guided us through the casting process and we all left with trimmed pieces
ready to finish with our own touches. Some participants returned two weeks later
to glaze the bisqued pieces ready for Esther to fire the finished work.
Handle Making, Part II with Eleanor Hendriks
Sunday, August 19th 2018
6pm
City Studio, 14 Edinburgh Rd. South
Eleanor reviewed information from the previous Part I workshop which dealt mainly with handles on mugs.
and then presented us with more novel and interesting ways to create
and attach handles to various other functional forms.
We were able to have some time after her presentation
to put into practice her suggestions using leather hard pieces we had brought
and to consult with her about our creative choices. The timing of the workshop
allowed us to apply some of our learning to pieces we were in process of developing
for the September 2018 Mug Shop
Coloured Slip and Underglaze Decoration with Goldie Sherman
Satuday, January 14th, 2017
9 am
City Studio, Municipal Street
In a fun and colourful workshop, Goldie presented a number of layering techniques on trimmed, bone dry pre-bisqued pieces. After her skilful demo, we were able to experiment using her wide range of slips and underglazes that she shared with us. As we worked on our own pieces, Goldie circulated to consult and advise us on technique.
Handle Making, Part I with Eleanor Hendriks
Sunday, August 19th 2015
9 am
City Studio, Municipal Street
Eleanor demonstrated four basic methods of creating attractive and functional handles, specifically to attach to mugs. We had time following her presentation to conult with her as we experimented with her techniques on trimmed, leather-hard pieces we had brought along.
Handle Making, Part I with Eleanor Hendriks
Sunday, August 19th 2015
9 am
City Studio, Municipal Street
Eleanor demonstrated four basic methods of creating attractive and functional handles, specifically to attach to mugs. We had time following her presentation to conult with her as we experimented with her techniques on trimmed, leather-hard pieces we had brought along.
Workshop wish list:
We have, informally and during guild meetings, brainstormed and come up with many ideas for further workshops that we could present, either at the studio space or in other facilities, depending on the nature of the event. Here are a few suggestions ... feel free to suggest more :
- Yoga for potters
- How to put up an Etzy store
- How to dispay your work at a show
- Evaluating our pottery photos - Group Critique
- Photographing Pottery with professional photographer Shahla Kashani - Learn how to use studio lighting and walk away with professional images of the pieces you bring to Flo on Waterloo Avenue - proposed for Fall 2018.
- Plates in 2 parts - Session 1 for demos and subsequent participant plate throwing. Session 2 for demos and hands-on follow up for trimming and perhaps slip work or carving surface decoration.
- Trimming.... Throwing and use of chucks and other trimming aids
- Decorating Techniques - Slips, Bubble Glaze, Marbling
- More with Eleanor Hendriks:
- Ways of dealing with the Edges of Slabs
- Creating patterned slab mugs, etc.
- Lips and Rims (both top and bottom)
- Galleries and Lids
- Plates
- Producing consistent similar forms
- Talavera Decoration with Annie
- Fun Things with Glaze
- Altering Forms from the Wheel
- Throwing off the Hump
- Goblets
- Raku at Esther's Farm
- Pit-Firing at the Cottage
- Tips and Tricks from a guest potter - Chris Hierlihy
- Sectional Pieces - teapots, goblets etc.+
- Scraffito and Carving
- Developing a personal palette
- Field trip to the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum, Waterloo
- Field trip to the Gardiner Museum