Exploring Surface Design with Guest Artist Suzanne Sullivan

In this one-day, hands-on workshop, we will consider drawing on clay. Students will use underglaze and precision decorators to experiment with line and pattern techniques. We will examine the relationship between the hand-built piece’s form and its decoration – the ways a piece’s form and function would seem to necessitate a particular surface illustration. For this workshop, students should plan to bring 3-4 pieces of bone dry greenware to work on. Greenware should not exceed more than 8" H x 8" W x 8" L. This work should be made using clay rated for a ^6 Glaze Firing (receipts or proof of firing temp required if clay is purchased outside of the studio). Workshop fee's include bisque and/or glaze firings of up to 4 piece per person. Bio: Suzanne Sullivan was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1965, and grew up influenced by the arts and crafts traditions of the Pacific Northwest.  She graduated in 1987, with a BFA in Photography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has been working with clay for more than 25 years. Her ceramics are hand-built and organic in form and feature intricate abstract patterns. She works primarily in porcelain and walks the line between functional and non-functional, considering what is craft and what is art.  She has installed numerous installations in various venues and galleries, inspired by themes including Homer’s “Odyssey,” “Æsop’s Fables, Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” and Martin Johnson Heade’s 1871 painting, “Cattleya Orchid