Laurel’s courses have routinely sold out for years so this course is by application.
Essentially we are looking to select participants with an intermediate experience of working with clay and who are interested in developing hand-building skills and working with slips and oxides.
Applications are now open until 6pm on Saturday 12th July.
Applicants will be informed about selection by Monday 14th July.
This 5 day ceramics residential is for intermediate potters and will focus on handbuilding with the internationally recognised potter Laurel Keeley. Places are limited and allocated via an application process.
Laurel works with coloured slips and drawn line in stoneware and porcelain clays, with glazes and oxides.The slab bowls, plates and pots are vehicles for figurative designs of fish and fields, rivers, canals and glimpses of the world through windows. More recently she has been working with images of gardens and landscape, her method informed by painting.
Having exhibited her work at Coombe for over 20 years this course is a natural progression to introducing Laurel’s work to an increasingly wider audience. With the number of students per course kept deliberately low (max 6) to enable a high level of tuition for participants of all skill levels, Laurel’s courses regularly sell out.
“I learned so much from Laurel and I came away feeling relaxed, rested, inspired and extremely well-fed and cared for. You have created a small paradise in that beautiful valley and I feel very privileged to have been able to share it with you.”
The course is designed to focus on handbuilding using slabs, coils and moulds. Students will work in stoneware with coloured slips and drawn line with attention and focus on surface decoration. The scale of Laurel’s ceramics ranges from tiny pieces that fit in the palm of the hand, to coil built forms a metre high and students will have the chance to make and fire, both small and larger-scale work according to their own ambition.
Laurel graduated with BA Hons in English and American Arts and an MA in Commonwealth Literature. She studied ceramics at Exeter College of Art and Design and has been working as a potter for 30 years, selling work throughout the UK in selected galleries and exhibitions. Laurel has received two Arts Council England Major Awards for her work and is a member of The Devon Guild of Craftsmen. Her ceramic pieces are owned worldwide. This is a unique opportunity to work alongside and interact with Laurel through her work.
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This course is designed for those with an intermediate level of clay experience and is by application.
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Sunday
5-7pm Residents arrive
7.00pm non residents arrive
7.00pm Welcome Drinks
8.00pm Dinner
Monday -Thursday
8.30am Breakfast for residents
9.30am Tuition starts in studio
1.00pm Lunch
5pm Tuition ends
7pm Dinner for Residents
Friday
8.30am breakfast for residents
9.30am final tuition session
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Course closes
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Residential and non-residential spaces available. NB residents are not required to share bedrooms, see accommodation for more info.
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You will be working in stoneware and with slips and oxides. For costs of firing/keeping work see fees/costs below.
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Residential
£821 + VAT (£985) which covers all your tuition, accommodation and food from arrival on Sunday through to departure after lunch on Friday.
Non-residential
£593 + VAT including all tuition, welcome drinks on Sunday and lunch from Mon-Friday.
The work/materials
Any pieces that you decide to keep will be weighed and charged as follows:
Take home ‘green’ & fire yourself £2 per kilo to include clay and slips
Leave with us ‘green’ to glaze and fire for you £6 kilo to include clay, slips, glazes and glazing and 2 firings.
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All pottery tools and equipment will be provided. Please bring an apron, pencil/pen and a sketchbook. If you have your own tools that you like working wtih please feel free to bring them along.
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Our address is TQ6 0JA [What3words: What3words: fulfilled.exploring.branching] and we have plenty of free onsite parking. Trains > nearest station is Totnes then we can arrange lift shares or send taxi details. We are about 20 minutes from the station.
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Max 9 to enable Laurel to give everyone enough time and attention with their processes.
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Food is a key part of an immersive course at Coombe. Meals are taken at a long shared table with the other participants either inside in the cooler months or outside in our courtyard when the weather is warmer. Our onsite chef caters for you including all/any dietary requirements. We grow our own vegetables and keep chickens for fresh eggs daily. For those that enjoy wine, we have a fantastic wine merchant who supply us with a small range available to buy onsite.
