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Special Sgraffito Workshop with Visiting Artist Sarah Anderson
Master sgraffito techniques with Sarah Anderson! All-level workshop covering surface design, underglaze, carving & more. Materials provided.
program overview
Hey, it’s Sarah Anderson! Join me for a sgraffito workshop on June 15th at the Sonoma Community Center. As a class, we will deep dive into specifics like surface design techniques, using the elements and principles in clay, underglaze vs slip, whether to glaze or leave the clay body unglazed, how to control the work time of your clay, and much more. This workshop is for all levels, beginners through advanced. Materials will be provided for you during this workshop: carving tools, underglazes, and porcelain clay tiles.
You are encouraged to come with your own piece already thrown and trimmed, still at the leather hard stage, ready for carving! If you want to take your pottery to the next level, let’s talk sgraffito!
Supply List
- Students will be provided porcelain tiles for practicing, and are encouraged to bring their own leather hard pieces already created to practice carving.
- Notebook
- Snacks and Water Bottle
Schedule for the day
5-6 PM: Intro, painting our tiles and getting pieces prepped for carving. Students are encouraged to bring their own leather hard pieces to carve on. Test tiles provided by the studio will be distributed to each student. While drying, we will go over the specifics on consistency of clay at different moister points.
6-7 PM: Move into the surface decoration – bringing out books and examples of patterns, movement, line, and how I come up with my characters. If tiles are ready, starting this transfer process and practicing our new carving tools.
7-9 PM: Transferring images to the surfaces of our thrown pieces, if applicable. Moving on to carving the larger tiles and the thrown pieces. Explaining the carving process in detail, negative vs positive space, applying secondary colors for more depth.
instructor Overview
Sarah Anderson
Sarah Anderson is a full time ceramic artist that creates illustrative characters on the surface of clay through the use of sgraffito. Bright colors and exaggerated creatures are obvious statements in her work, creating a uniquely identifiable brand for herself. She graduated from Ball State University as a sculpture major, using multiple mediums to create large scale work in 2019. She was the ceramic department chair at the Indianapolis Art Center for three years before leaving to pursue her own work full time.
Her work has been featured across the nation at multiple galleries and studios, winning awards like the Best Teapot for the Strictly Functional Pottery National at the Lancaster, PA Museum in 2021. Sarah has been featured in many articles and publishers like Ceramics Monthly and Indianapolis Monthly, and teaches for many online platforms through virtual courses. She has taken her sgraffito workshop on the road to over 100 locations all across the United States in her renovated 1960’s Shasta camper. Sarah co-founded the organization Mobile Makers, a place for nomadic artists to find community online and in-person that you can read about in Ceramic Monthly’s February 2022 edition. Sarah’s work placed her as a demonstrating artist during NCECA 2023 at the Amaco Brent booth.
She will be opening a community studio called Dusty Pants Studio in the fall of 2026 with her partner Austin Coudriet, complete with clay therapy and a residency program.
https://www.instagram.com/sarahandersonceramics/
Membership Has It’s Benefits
All Silver Memberships and above receive 10% off the registration cost for any class purchase over $40.
Materials fees are not discounted.
Membership helps support our programs, events, and financial aid programs.
Become a member today and find community, connection, and creativity.
Class FAQ
We ask that you notify us at least 10 days in advance of a class if you need to cancel your registration. You may cancel by phone or email and we will gladly offer you a refund or credit toward a future class. If you cancel with less than 10 days’ notice, we will not be able to provide refunds, due to our contractual obligations and material purchases for each class.
Sometimes, the Sonoma Community Center has to cancel a class due to low enrollment or unforeseen circumstances, such as a natural disaster or health emergency. If this happens and we do not offer a reschedule date, you will be refunded 100% of your registration fee (minus the payment processing and services fee), or credit towards a future class. If we are able to offer a reschedule date but you are unable to make the new date, we will gladly offer credit towards a future class.
All credits must be used within 1 year.
You can view our full class policies and guidelines here.
The Sonoma Community Center is committed to creating an accessible learning environment. If you require any special considerations(medical, physical, learning) please share them with Sean Baskin, Program Associate, by emailing him at [email protected] so that he can forward them to the relevant Program Director and Instructor.
Late additions to any program, class, or workshop that has already begun will be allowed on a per-case basis depending upon the Program Director & instructors approval. Late additions will have to pay the full registration cost of the class, along with any materials fees, and will not be prorated for the time missed. You may reach out to the program directors directly, or the Program Associate Sean Baskin at [email protected] to request a late addition.
We are always looking for new instructors. You can fill out the form directly here.
Registration Cost:
$185
Materials Fee:
Included
Total Registration Cost:
$185
