This workshop is still being developed. Registering your interest is an expression of interest only — it is not a confirmed booking and does not require payment.
An experimental, hands-on workshop exploring how existing moulds can be used to create decorative clay elements, and how those forms can be incorporated into sculptural work.
The workshop explores ideas of ornament, repetition, texture, surface and three-dimensional form, with a particular interest in creating new relationships between decorative elements and the sculptural human head.
Each participant begins with a provided head sculpture, and explores how mould-made elements, hand-built additions, surface treatments and other ceramic techniques can transform the character and visual language of the work.
You are welcome to arrive from 9:00 am to settle in, prepare your workspace and talk through the day’s program over a coffee. The workshop itself runs from 10:00 am to 3:45 pm, with demonstrations, individual feedback and a lunch break of about 45 minutes — roughly 20 hours of guided studio time across four consecutive weekends.
This is not a mould-making workshop. Participants are not taught how to make moulds. The moulds already exist, and are provided as a creative resource.
The workshop investigates what happens when decorative elements are introduced into sculptural form — not applied to a finished surface afterwards, but developed as part of the sculpture itself.
Ornament changes the way we understand a sculptural form. A repeated element creates rhythm. A raised form creates shadow. A textured surface changes the way light moves across the work. A decorative element can alter scale, proportion, character and visual weight.
The intention is not to produce an identical outcome. Each participant is encouraged to develop an individual response.
A prepared ceramic head with a simple upper torso is provided as the starting point for each participant’s creative development. Rather than beginning with a blank block of clay, an existing sculptural form gives you something to experiment with, alter, extend and transform from the first hour.
The head can become a starting point for exploring proportion, surface, ornament, texture, repetition, relief, layering, decorative form, sculptural additions and individual expression.
The developed sculpture belongs to the participant and may be kept, subject to appropriate drying, construction and firing requirements.
I have a collection of more than one hundred existing moulds available for participants to explore. These moulds are not the subject of the workshop, and participants are not taught mould-making. Instead, the moulds become a creative library to select shapes, motifs and decorative elements from.
Working with the mould-made forms, you can consider scale, repetition, arrangement, rhythm, contrast, texture, layering, relief, placement, and the relationship of a decorative element to the human form.
The important question is not simply what a mould produces, but what can happen when that element becomes part of a larger sculptural idea.
This is an exploration rather than a step-by-step project where everyone produces the same artwork. The process may move through:
Alongside the mould-made elements, participants can combine hand-building, sculpting, attaching clay elements, layering, carving, texturing, relief and surface manipulation — whatever the individual work asks for.
Each participant has their own height-adjustable rotating turntable with a pre-mounted armature, ready for sculpting from the beginning of the workshop. You need to be able to turn the sculpture continually and read it from every viewpoint while you work — particularly in this workshop, where ornament is placed and judged from every angle.
You do not need to buy or build an armature. Everything is prepared before you arrive.
Firing is carried out by the artist and studio operator only. Participants do not operate or handle the kiln.
4-Weekend Workshop · $980 per person
The fee covers the complete four-weekend workshop. The four weekends are one continuous course and each week builds on the one before it, so a place is taken for the whole workshop rather than for single days.
There is no deposit and no payment in advance. The fee is paid in four equal payments of $245, in cash, on the day of each weekend session.
Your place is confirmed by email once dates are set. Nothing is payable until the first weekend, and each payment covers the session you are attending that day.
This arrangement will apply once workshop dates are confirmed and places are offered. There is no online payment or booking at this stage — registering your interest costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
The moulds are worked in slip clay, which is included in the workshop fee. Slip is difficult to bring along and not something participants would sensibly buy in, so it is supplied here, already prepared and ready to use.
It is also the same clay body the head sculptures are made from. That matters: the mould-made elements and the head then shrink, dry and fire at the same rate, and the finished sculpture reads as one piece of work rather than parts that behave differently in the kiln.
Any underglaze is provided by the participant. Recommended colours and suppliers are set out under Recommended Tools & Materials below.
Participants supply their own basic sculpting tools. Everything else is prepared for you — your turntable, pre-mounted armature, workspace, starting sculpture and clay slip are all ready before you arrive.
The essential tools below are the ones to bring. The additional items are suggestions for anyone who would like to build a fuller toolkit — you are not required to buy everything listed.
Buy tools from a ceramics supplier rather than a cheap pottery set from a general art shop. The cheap sets are unpleasant to use and will hold your sculpting back; good basic tools are not expensive and will serve your own practice long after the workshop.
Participants who would like a more comprehensive selection may also consider the Clay Shed All Purpose Tool Kit.
Underglaze is how the individual elements are given their colour and decoration — each moulded form, each hand-built addition, each area of surface can be treated differently. Bring a variety of colours so you have real choice as the sculpture develops. As a minimum range, bring the primary and secondary colours, plus black and white.
I recommend the Walker Ceramics Cesco Underglaze Set — seven colours plus colour extender, 20 ml each, firing range 1000–1280 °C.
A fuller recommended list will be provided closer to the workshop.
Ceramic sculpture must be thoroughly and appropriately dried before it can be fired. Depending on the construction, thickness, size and conditions at the time, drying may take several weeks. The completed work is assessed before firing, to make sure it has been appropriately constructed and prepared.
The first/bisque firing of a suitable completed sculpture is included in the workshop fee. Before firing, I will assess the sculpture to make sure it has been appropriately constructed and prepared. As the kiln owner and operator, Lee Anchor reserves the right to decline to fire any sculpture that is considered unsuitable or unsafe for kiln firing. Examples may include excessive clay thickness, insufficient hollowing, no or inadequate ventilation holes, trapped air, excessive weight, poor or unsafe construction, significant weaknesses or cracks, insufficient drying, or other technical issues that may present a risk during firing.
The purpose of this assessment is to protect the participant’s work, other work in the kiln, the kiln and the studio. Participants do not operate, load, unload or handle the kiln.
If a second firing is required and the sculpture is considered suitable for further firing, an additional firing service may be available in accordance with the studio’s current Firing Service rates and requirements. The second firing is separate from the workshop fee.
The workshop is held within my private artist studio, using a covered outdoor working area designed for hands-on ceramic sculpture. It is an intimate, small-scale environment where participants work closely with the artist, watch demonstrations and receive individual guidance — a working artist’s studio rather than a commercial ceramics school.
The working area has a level concrete floor and individual workstations. Participants also have access to bathroom facilities within the house, which requires negotiating a step between the outdoor studio area and the house. Please wear comfortable clothing and enclosed, sensible footwear. Clay, modelling tools, repetitive hand activity, water, workstations and ceramic materials all require participants to follow the studio’s safety instructions.
As the workshop is held in a covered outdoor studio area, workshops are scheduled during the warmer months, when conditions are most comfortable for working with clay. The exact timing may vary from one workshop to the next, depending on the weather and on availability.
The exact location is provided after registration and confirmation.
Before attending, participants are asked to read and sign a Participant Acknowledgement, Safety & Workshop Agreement. The agreement covers the workshop environment, general studio safety expectations, the use of clay and hand-held sculpting tools, participant responsibilities, following reasonable studio instructions, appropriate footwear and clothing, the process for drying and firing ceramic work, and payment, cancellation and participation conditions.
You receive the workshop information and the agreement before your place is confirmed, with an opportunity to ask questions.
This workshop is currently being developed. Workshop dates will be announced when they are confirmed.
Workshop dates are yet to be confirmed. Completing the form below is an expression of interest only — it does not create a confirmed booking and does not require payment.
Places are limited to four participants, so confirming a place is a commitment to the complete four-week workshop. Please contact Lee as soon as possible if you find you are unable to attend. Further cancellation and participation conditions are provided when a place is confirmed.
Coming Soon
Interested in joining this workshop? Register your interest and I will contact you when dates, format and registration details are confirmed.