2023 workshops
Mexican American Gothic
El Chapulin
La Flor El Nicho y sus Memorias
Embellished Stories
With George Rodriguez
Location: Western New Mexico University
When: July 10 - July 14, 2023 : In-Person 5 Day Workshop
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Price: $535.00
Participants: 10
Bring your imagination to life in this fun sculpture class that encourages embellished storytelling in clay. We will explore narrative vases, wall mounted heads and free-standing sculptures. Working from photographs or drawings, we will use basic slab and modeling techniques to build our creations. George will demonstrate continuous hollow construction as well as how to build in sections for smaller kilns or larger sculptures. Concurrently, we will make one-part plaster press molds to embellish our sculptures and bring texture to the surface. Each participant’s project will be unique, so we will discuss individual plans to make construction easier. Open to all levels.
**Clay and continental breakfast included. Material list to be sent prior to arrival. Lodging not provided.
George Rodriguez
Born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates highly ornamented, figurative ceramic sculptures, often underlined by a connection to the sociopolitical issues the artist explores. Rodriguez holds a BFA from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA in ceramics from the University of Washington, Seattle. His world curiosity grew as a recipient of a Bonderman Travel Fellowship where he traveled the world through most of 2010. His work has shown at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA; Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem, OR; Canton Art Museum, Canton, OH and others. His sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; the University of Washington, Paul G. Allen College of Computer Science and Engineering, Seattle, WA; and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem, OR; among others. Most recently, Rodriguez’s 39th piece, Mexican American Gothic was added to the collection at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Seven Indulgences was added to the collection of the National Museum in Stockholm Sweden. George is represented by Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, WA.
Printing on Clay
With Mary Fischer
Location: Bear Mountain Lodge | 60 Bear Mountain Ranch Rd, Silver City, NM 88061
When: July 13 - July 15, 2023: In-Person 3 Day Workshop
Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Participants: Max. 8
Price: $350 w/lunch included
* $890 : Workshop special: 3 nights at the Lodge. This includes workshop fees, breakfast and lunch daily. All taxes are included in price.
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE THE WORKSHOP SPECIAL
Follow instructions below to register for Mary Fischer’s Workshop:
On https://www.bearmountainlodge.com/, go to:
About the Lodge > Event Inquiry > Scroll down to fill out the ‘Contact and Event Form’.
Enter NAME, PHONE # and EMAIL ADDRESS.
OR call Bear Mountain Lodge at 575-538-2538 for registration.
For inquiries directly for artist Mary Fischer, contact her at mfischerclay@gmail.com.
We will use mason stains and slips to learn several different techniques for printing on clay. We will also learn to make ceramic ink to use for printing etching plates, linoleum blocks and laser photocopies.
Silk screens and decals will not be part of this class. These are techniques that I learned in a workshop taught by Paul Scott. After each demonstration students will be given time to practice the technique. Students are encouraged to bring images they wish to work with. They should also bring stamps, lino cuts, laser photocopies, and etching plates they wish to print.
BIO
I was born and raised in New Braunfels, by German Texans. After graduating from North Texas State University with a degree in history, I joined the Air Force as a way of getting out of the state and seeing something of the world. Surely, I thought, not every place would be as hot and drought ridden as Texas. After tours in Tennessee, Denver, Thailand and Okinawa, I came back to Texas knowing that every place has its hot and dry spells. So ended that eight year career. Next I took up map making and spent years working for various environmental consulting companies in Austin, Texas. For our fortieth birthdays, a friend and I gave ourselves clay lessons at a city funded facility a few blocks from my house. After becoming addicted, I took classes at the Southwest Craft Center, now the Southwest School of Art, in San Antonio, which offered a wider range of courses and experience. Also because the facility in Austin burned. After buying a few acres west of Austin, I built a small house and smaller studio where I work and feed deer, which are much less trouble than the horse I owned in Tennessee.
I make what I do in clay because I want to. Talking about the why and wherefore usually means taking liberties with the truth. What is true one day may not be the next. What you swear by one day, you curse the next. As with all things in nature, a state of flux is the rule and means all is well.
CANCELLATION POLICY: 50% of your fee will be refunded if you cancel 2 weeks prior to the workshop. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made later than 2 weeks before the workshop.
