Decorating and Mark Making in Porcelain

About the course

This three-day workshop will focus on throwing pieces such as stem vases and bowls, with porcelain. The pieces will then be trimmed and then decorated using Ali’s beautiful mark-making techniques.

Ali Tomlin creates wheel-thrown porcelain. She uses porcelain for its smooth, white surface and quality which creates a canvas for making clean, elegant shapes. Using careful decoration and adding colours and marks she creates her well-known range of contemporary ceramics. 

Working with the dry, chalky surface, Ali applies a bold, but muted palette of stains, oxides and slips, splashing and sponging away areas, adding inlaid and sgraffito lines, aiming to create imperfect and unpredictable marks. Most of her decorating is carried out on the wheel to convey a feeling of movement and spontaneity.​ 

Ali has always been passionate about drawing and design, enjoying the energy of random lines or marks whether in a sketch, a painting or while beachcombing. 

Ali says that she loves working with colour, line and marks, and luckily there's a never ending supply of them!

Ali would like to encourage students to bring inspiration with them to the class: sketchbooks, scrapbooks, anything at all. Ali will be encouraging students to play with how to apply marks and colour to the raw, dry clay.

There will be no specific kiln firing during the week, however we will encourage you to keep, and finish, a few carefully selected pieces. These will be fired and be ready for collection a few weeks later (there will be a small additional firing charge).

The Schedule

Wednesday 17th May - Arrive at 9am

Welcome breakfast (9am - 10am).

Thursday 18th, Friday 19th May - arrive at 9:30am

On Thursday the sessions will run from 09:30am until 5pm. On Friday the session will run from 09:30am until 4pm.

A two-course lunch is provided every day. Please inform us of any special dietary requirements at the time of booking. 

Payment

This cost for this three-day course is £750. This cost includes all necessary materials, tools, refreshments and a superb two-course lunch every day. Also included is a Welcome breakfast which will be provided on the first day of the course.

If you would prefer to pay a deposit or pay in instalments then please contact us today on info@theceramicstudio.co.uk.

Before you book a course, please make sure you read our terms and conditions page here.

Travel & Accommodation

The Ceramic Studio is located on a beautiful orchard in Brenchley, and there are lots of lovely surrounding towns and villages offering numerous places to stay.

We are happy to arrange transits to and from your accommodation to the studio for the duration of your course. Please get in touch to arrange this. Please email the office team at info@theceramicstudio.co.uk. To see examples of local accomodation, click here.

Date: 17-19 May 2023

Venue: The Ceramic Studio (Brenchley)

Class Size: Maximum 10 students

Level: Suitable for those with some porcelain experience and an interest in surface decoration. 

Cost: £750 (pay in full or in instalments)