May Workshop a Success!

Tom and I just completed our first Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic Workshop here in Ohio - as many of you know, this is a throwing demonstration & saggar firing intensive workshop. We had a great crowd, full of enthusiasm and eager to head home and try all they learned.



Despite the rainy weather, the workshop began on time and in full brightness with our saggar firing.



Students brought all types of organic material for the firing and learned the subtle language of saggar firing and vapor fuming on pots in a gas kiln.



Next, Tom was up with this platter demonstration. First he threw small platters - then he ended up with a 35" platter thrown from 36lbs of clay. Once the form was thrown, he flipped it and show many exciting altering techniques.



The day ended with my throwing demonstration on saggar forms & surface treatment. The kiln went off in a fast 3 hours and we were all full and exhausted by the end of Saturday. Sunday morning began bright and early with Tom's demo of a 75lb vessel, 3 feet tall - thrown in 3 sections.



The demo went over many issues that come up, how to center that much clay, how to get control of it and how to build a huge vessel in just 3 hours.

Though many of the students will not be going home and throwing such a large piece, it was great for them to see how to get large fast with some strategies they had not considered.
The saggar unloading yielded many smiling faces....



As the pots were pulled from the kiln we learned why flashes occurred in some areas and not others, why the colors changed, how to build the kiln, how to fire it and just about everything necessary to get these eager students home and experimenting.



Read on, we've asked our students to tell you in their own words, what the experience was like - it's all in the "POSTS" below.

Finally....we've added another workshop this July in New York. July 26 & 27, from 9 to 4pm we'll do a second version of our Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic workshop.

Please join us at Blue Moon Clay Studio in Greenwich, NY. For more information, see my website and check out the workshop page. That 2 day firing intensive and throwing demonstration workshop is $275 for the weekend. Bring 1 to 4 pots for the saggar firing.

Tell you friends about this event too. We hope to see you there.

Look for Us at NCECA

Tom and Brenda are heading to Pittsburgh this March to see all the happenings at NCECA and to promote the May 17 & 18th


"Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic" Workshop - an exploration of how to both double the amount of clay you throw overnight - and learn the secrets and mysticism of saggar firing.

Many of you may know Tom's work and visited his website, but many more will hear about him in the April issue of The Crafts Report, where he will be on the front cover with his ceramic tiles.



Tom was featured in the July/August, 2007 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated talking about rakuing his large platters. In April, 2008 he talks about his tile process and is featured on the cover of The Crafts Report.


Brenda is proud to announce 3 of her "Fire Paintings" on a tile canvas were published in the new 500 Tiles book, published by Lark Publishing.



The book is now in bookstores and ceramic supply stores nationwide. If you like tiles - it's a must get book, very inspiring. Look in the index for Brenda's saggar fired tile work.

We'll have postcards at NCECA promoting the workshop - and we're offering another workshop at our Port Washington, Ohio studio October, 25 & 26th, 2008 - a great time of year in the hills of Tuscarawas County.

So let your friends know and go to either of our websites to sign up. We look forward to seeing you there!
Brenda & Tom

LARGE & L O O S E... Polished & Poetic

May 17 - 18th, 2008....
Saturday & Sunday...

It's a 2-day THROWING DEMONSTRATION and FIRING INTENSIVE workshop in eastern Ohio.

Join Tom Radca & Brenda McMahon for this Spring Workshop at their 36-acre studio and art farm in Port Washington, Ohio.



During this workshop you will learn how to increase the amount of clay you throw and learn to loosen up in that process. You will also get a comprehensive overview of saggar firing, the philosopy and how to build a saggar kiln. Your bisque fired pots will be saggar fired at the farm, so you'll see the results the next day!



LARGE & L O O S E: Tom will teach participants how to double the amount of clay you currently throw and how to throw it with fluidity. Tom regularly makes 36" diameter platters like this one.



But you don't have to have that kind of skill to learn how to Throw Large & Loose. If you can throw 4 lbs comfortably, learn to throw 8 lbs overnight. If you can throw 8 lbs comfortably, you're ready to jump up to 16 lbs and on like that. It's fast and easy. You'll be amazed.



Polished & Poetic: Brenda has been making saggar fired pots for 15 years and teaches saggar workshops across the country. In the saggar section of the workshop you will learn the philosphy, ideas and conception behind saggar firing. How these dynamic blushes occur on the pots without the use of any glazes - it's a contemporary smoke fire process.



Saggar firing is not raku. Brenda describes it as a contemporary pit-firing because it is more rooted in primitive firing techniques than in Korean or Japanese raku firing. It is different in several ways. The most obvious is the color palette - soft blushes of color on saggar pots are achieved through a smoking & fuming process. There is no glaze, but minerals are used to encourage the fume.



Bring your pots to this workshop - 1 to 3 of them - and you'll learn how to use natural materials, mineral salts and fire to get magical flashes on your pots.

You don't have to burnish the pieces, but if you do, the finish is that much more enticing.



Brenda and Tom are eager to share their knowledge of clay and fire with all participants. For more information on Brenda or Tom's work - go to http://www.tomradca.com or http://www.bluemoonclay.com.