Illustration on Clay

Illustration on Clay with Amy Higgason (5-week class)
Intermediate and advanced students and studio members

Dates: Wednesdays in June 6/1, 8, 15, 22, 29 (5-week class) ** June 15 class postponed until July 6**
Time: 6-9pm
Instructor: Amy Higgason
Price: $215 (includes 1 25lb bag of clay)

This class will focus on different methods of using clay as a canvas for expression. The class will include demonstrations of techniques such as sgraffito, stencils, inlay and painting with underglaze and slips. It will also go deeper to discuss composition and ways to use image source materials. Time will be spent looking at work of artists who’s work is focused on illustration.
Amy will work with students one on one to help them develop individual projects.
This class is for intermediate students who make work on the wheel or by handbuilding.

Max of 8 students.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Amy Higgason by email at [email protected] or through her website: https://www.pigeonroadpottery.com

Potter Amy Higgason has spent 25 years exploring surface decoration techniques on clay. Her interest in combining drawn imagery with textures and color has led to a distinctive and recognizable body of work.

“Throwing clay is exhilarating. On the first night I sat at a potter’s wheel, the feeling of wet clay spinning through my fingers drew me in. With my hands I can form a bowl, cup or plate from a lump of clay. Years later, it still amazes me.

I’ve always loved to draw. From early on my favorite subjects were plants and flowers. First with crayon, then with ink and now on clay. I wrap drawings and patterns around three-dimensional forms that I’ve created. The marriage of two disciplines fascinates me. Creating the right balance is my focus. Because carving is labor intensive I spend a long time interacting with each piece. My goal is to make my marks loose and spontaneous… as if they grew from the piece itself. Over time I’ve developed a “catalog” of personal imagery. This allows me to carve with unplanned, impulsive abandon.

I received my BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois in the mid 80s. While working as an Art Director in Chicago I began attending various community center pottery classes as a creative outlet. Eventually I found Lillstreet Art Center where my passion for clay was nurtured. I studied with a variety of instructors for 5 years. Then I became a private studio member and teacher at Lillstreet.

In April of 2003 I  relocated to Wisconsin’s Northwoods to pursue a pottery career at a small local art center. As a resident artist I was able to work daily in the studio, teach classes, and help manage a gallery. By 2005, this former “city girl” made the Northwoods her permanent home. I bought a “little blue house in the woods” in Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin and built my studio (Pigeon Road Pottery). After juggling pottery making and part time jobs for more than 10 years, I made the leap to full-time potter in the fall of 2014. I am a proud member of a vibrant and thriving art community. It’s been the most rewarding struggle of my life.

Moving to the woods was instrumental to my evolution as an art potter. The forest is alive with texture and movement. I draw inspiration from the plants that envelop my surroundings every summer. During the long winters I find them in my imagination. My decorative stoneware dishes are intentional, functional, one-of-a-kind objects. The greatest compliment I receive is hearing that a piece I’ve made has a special spot in someone’s home, but is also used at their table.”