Mike Stumbras: History, Production, and Practice
Free online Lecture. Archived on YouTube
Zoom Webinar
Thurs, June 10, 2021
7 - 8 PM Eastern Time
In this online lecture, Mike Stumbras will speak about his journey and clay and the peculiarities in the connections between 18th-century European production ceramics and contemporary studio ceramic practices. Stumbras will discuss his influences, design philosophy, and the technical considerations involved in his process including wheel throwing, slip trailing, and water etching. With attention to Josiah Wedgwood and the Staffordshire potteries, trends in early American ceramics, and the emergence of the contemporary American studio ceramics movement, Stumbras will discuss the strangeness and wonder of working to make functional pots today.
-JUL 10-14 2023 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI)
Form and Surface: Finding a Voice in Clay at the Touchstone Center for Crafts, Farmington, PA
-Mike Stumbras – The Beauty & Horror of Existential Uncertainty, July 21st-23 2023 at Roadrunner Ceramics, San Antonio, TX
Ongoing and archived:
Saratoga Clay Arts Center February 18 - (Virtual) Constructing Multicomponent Forms: Handled Vases with Mike Stumbras
45.00
In this three-hour workshop, Mike Stumbras will demonstrate making a multi-part vase with handles on the wheel. Mike will talk about the numerous technical and design oriented challenges with planning and constructing a complex and well balanced form. Including wheel throwing, altering, pulling handles and making attachments, as well as an overview of surface considerations such as slip trailing, water etching, spraying glazes and using gold luster. Mike will speak in depth about his design philosophy, elements of ceramic history, and the concepts that are central to his work. Included with the workshop are handouts containing clay and glaze recipes, as well as notes detailing crucial parts of his process.
Thursday, February 18, 3 - 6pm EST
A zoom link will be emailed to all registered students the day prior to the workshop. The workshop will be recorded and made available after the workshop to all registrants.
Considering the Teapot - Online at The Art School at Old Church
Teapots are one of the most difficult and exciting forms to make in studio ceramics. They present a unique opportunity to celebrate an artist’s aesthetic and conceptual voice, but they also present unique visual, technical, and functional challenges in balancing multiple added components. Join Mike Stumbras from his studio as he throws, alters, and handbuilds a teapot while discussing historical teapots and functional design considerations. Mike will also speak about his own historical inspirations and how making choices on and off the wheel can build a work of ceramic art with significant conceptual power.
Additional Information:
This workshop will take place on ZOOM. Emails with ZOOM login details will be sent the day of the workshop. Please be aware that class times take place in EST.
December 3rd, 4:00-6:00 pm EST
SURFACE AND DIMENSION: WATER ETCHING AND SLIP TRAILING
November 1 & 8, 2020
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. EsT
ONLINE WORKSHOP through the Pocosin Arts school of Fine Craft
In this workshop, ceramic artist Mike Stumbras will give an overview of his process from start to finish with a particular emphasis on surface composition on porcelain. Mike will demonstrate slip trailing, water etching with shellac, spray glazing techniques and applying gold luster. Mike will give technical advice and speak about his design philosophy as it relates to historical production pottery. Glaze recipes and handouts will be provided. Students will have the opportunity to practice these techniques and participate in a follow-up zoom meeting to compare results and discuss matters relevant to the demo and their own art.
Additional Information:
This workshop will take place on ZOOM.
https://pocosinarts.org/zoom-workshops-ceramics/
Glazing and Soda Firing Workshop with Mike Stumbras
November 14th and 15tth
In person at the Kansas City Clay Guild
The soda firing process can often appear to be as technically complex as the results are beautiful. Crucial to learning to easily incorporate difficult firing practices into your artistic repertoire involves participating in the firing process directly. In this workshop, students will learn about and participate in the firing of a Cone 10 reduction soda kiln. Mike will speak about strategies for glazing and preparing work for soda, as well as the many possible methods of influencing the atmosphere inside the kiln during firing. While the work heats up, Mike will talk about some of the considerations involved with making decisions in raw clay that can help take advantage of the effects of atmospheric firing — including wheel throwing, slip trailing, and water etching.
Students should come prepared with some bisque ware* for glazing at the start of the workshop. Any clay body works well, but lots of the discussion will focus on porcelain.
*If your work will be bisque fired at KC Clay Guild, it should be on the greenware shelves and nearly dry by 11/7/20. You don't need to pay for these pieces to be fired, just leave a note with them that says they are for the Glazing and Soda Firing Workshop.
If you are making work for this workshop at KC Clay Guild, you will need to do so during Open Studio. You can register and pay online (click here).
Schedule:
11/14/20
Students arrive at 2pm Glazing demo, including layering sprayed glazes, dipping glazes, resisting, and flashing slip considerations for soda firing. In the afternoon, loading and candling the kiln. Finish loading before 8:pm
11/15/20
Mike arrives around 6-7am to bump kiln. Students arrive around 10:00 Am. In the morning, we will talk about soda firing considerations. Spraying equipment, reduction firing troubleshooting and considerations. Afternoon, wet work demos for dimensional processes — throwing, hand building, slip trailing and water etching. Evening, Soda spraying demo and participation between 7-8pm.
11/21/20
10am-1pm Unloading, and critique of work. Cleanup considerations.
Register Below:
https://kcclayguild.org/event-3995482
TBA, Online Workshop with the Art School at OLD Church. Stay Tuned for Early December.
click here for information about Hosting a Workshop