Introduction

Intensive course On Centre is aimed at committed people who wish to develop in-depth skills for a professional approach to clay with focused training and instruction about material and processes.  As a result, students will improve their throwing skills and visual awareness consistently.

Aims

The primary aim of the intensive course On Centre is to help participants achieve confidence and fluency, which comes from the ability to efficiently throw items in quantity. Secondly, participants will explore the possibilities  of high fire materials, so that they can be select, adapt and use them with competence.  Through continuous training, worki in a small group of eight participants and one-on-one attention from the instructors, sudents will achieve  consistent progress at an individual pace. Furthermore, the exchange  of information and the discussion within the group will contribute to the active learning environment.

Logistics

Students will  stay and study in the supportive environment of La Meridiana, with logistics like lodging, transportation and lunch taken care of. They will have a generous working space at their disposal. On every working day, a delicious lunch will be served. Two foremost ceramicists of wide experience will tutor the selected group of eight students.

Instructors

Pietro Elia Maddalena studied ceramics at the West Surrey College of Art & Design in England. After two more years of work at Dartington Workshop, he returned to Italy where in 1980 he established a studio in Certaldo, near Florence. Pietro is the founder and director of the International School of Ceramics LA MERIDIANA located in Tuscany, Italy. Also instructor and maker he says of himself : “ I am totally and continuously interested in the process of making. I see the craft object as a projection of the human spirit and the culture in which it was nurtured. In elaborating concept, material and process, my ultimate goal is the expression of beauty through sophisticated and sensual forms”.www.pietro.net

Franco Rampi started working as a potter in 1981. After an apprenticeship in England and a cycle of studies in Italy, he went on to open his own studio in Tuscany. With his roots and training in wheel thrown production pottery, Franco’s personal works are individual in their form and idea, experimenting with unusual processes and combinations of clays and slips. He has been one of La Meridiana’s most treasured collaborators over the last decade. www.francorampi.it