Join MAKE Southwest Makers Members, Tressa Thomas and Maia Walton, to learn new ways of getting into creative practice in this hands-on, playful, and sensation-led sculpting workshop. 

Stuck in your creative practice? Keen to have a go at ceramics? Feel like you never have time to finish, or even start, a creative project? Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced artist, this workshop is perfect for anyone interested in expanding their creative skill set! Discover new techniques, experiment and learn more about the tactile appeal of clay in a relaxed and supportive environment.

Buy tickets – Intuitive Sculpting: A Way Into Intuitive Creative Practice – MAKE Southwest

What will I learn?

This workshop is designed to teach participants a technique we call “intuitive sculpting” - an experimental way of working with clay that does not aim toward a specific outcome. Resulting pieces are varied and not able to be replicated; we work with instinct, response, and improvisation to make marks. Maia has been using this method to sculpt her abstract, skeletal pieces for years. Participants will learn both the meditative techniques we employ to help us warm up or prepare for this kind of making, as well as the body movements and gestures one may use to experiment with the form, texture, and structures of their clay sculptures.

This workshop has a focus on process over product.

Do I need to bring anything?

Please wear clothing you feel comfortable moving in / getting clay dust on.

What if I have physical restrictions?

Our workshops are for any body. We work with a ‘choose your own challenge’ format, which means while some folks may sit on the floor or use big gestures to work with their clay, others are welcome to sit at tables or on chairs, or work however they are most comfortable / supported.

Please be aware that there are two steps between Flamework’s front garden and entrance. Additionally, while the building does contain stairs, there are no stairs within the workshop’s working area: front door, toilet, kitchen, education room.

How many people will be there?

Workshops have a maximum occupancy of 15 students + two facilitators.

Do I have to be an artist to join?

Absolutely not. This workshop is for anyone looking for the following: to learn something new, to meet people with similar interests, to shake up their current art practice, to inspire them to make more art / a different kind of art / reawaken their practice, to have something to do on a weekend sans kids (or with their kids!).

Can kids come?

Children may come, as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the duration of the workshop. Please consider if your child would be interested in engaging with the following: mindfulness techniques, gentle body movements, and intentional, reflective making.

Where is it?

This workshop is located at MAKE Southwest’s contemporary gallery and education space in Bovey Tracey (Riverside Mill, Bovey Tracey, Devon, TQ13 9AF).

Do we get to keep the sculptures?

This workshop prioritises experience and learning new creative skills and so, to encourage participants to embrace experimental making, you won’t be keeping any pieces of work. We do not fire anything and all the clay will be recycled at the end of the workshop so as to reduce waste. In the workshop we go through a series of exercises that focus on sensory engagement with material and responsive making. 

The majority of participants feed back that because none of the sculptures created are permanent they found the workshop experience liberating and felt safe to be more experimental.

What have past participants said about the workshop?

“Thank you both so much for our intuitive sculpture experience yesterday afternoon at Flameworks. Your comprehensive awareness of sculpture and meditation effortlessly combine to enhance our haptic perception and subconscious expression”

“I was amazed by all our efforts and collaborating together coaxed expertly by Tressa and Maia....[I was] further inspired from our group activity which led me to write a poem based on some points/highlights we mentioned in our group after-discussion / de-brief”

“I was lucky enough to attend these beautiful humans’ workshops in April. It really helped my practice. Tressa and Maia will take you on such a journey.”

Questions?

Email Tressa and Maia and inthemaking.collaboration@gmail.com