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Local artist Mari Yamato invites both college students and area residents to attend her fall ceramics course.
“I am very excited about working with the students,” Yamato said. “For the past year, we haven’t had ceramics due to COVID. I taught TRIO students this summer and enjoyed it, but it was a very condensed month-long course. I’m looking forward to this fall when I’ll have four months to teach and work with the students. In a full semester, we can relax and you can see the gradual growth in the students.”
Yamato said the class is project-based and designed for anyone who wants to learn basic ceramic techniques.
“Students will learn how to create their own pottery using pinch pot, coil, slab and sculpture techniques,” she said. “They also will work with the potter’s wheel and will learn how to make bowls, vases, plates and mugs.”
With Yamato’s assistance, students will learn how to fire pottery using the kiln, how to decorate and glaze pottery and how to keep a clean studio. Yamato also will teach basic vocabulary necessary for hobbyists. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with Raku, a process in which clay is fired outdoors utilizing a propane torch.
Participants will even have an opportunity to learn from one another.
“Every time a project is finished, we will come together as a class to do a critique,” Yamato said. “We will talk about what the goal of the artist was — what worked and what could have been done better to achieve that goal. Through the class, students will be able to develop their own style.”
Yamato, of Olney, has a background in illustration and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. She has taught art classes, including ceramics, at OCC for the past four years.
Introduction to Ceramics will meet from 1 to 3:50 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning Aug. 18. For more information or to register, call 618-395-7777.
