IThis workshop is open to anyone who wants to discover this fascinating material with its many expressive possibilities, and to experiment freely with their creativity.

Objectives
To stimulate creative, exploratory and practical skills – To expand expressive and communicative methods – To develop each participant’s unique personality – To rediscover a hands-on activity in an increasingly virtual world – To take a break and find some calm – To highlight the importance of the pure pleasure of making something by hand

Contents – August 2024
The properties, characteristics and uses of clay
Presentation of the main techniques and working tools
Creation of 3 pieces per person with a single firing in my electric kiln, without glazes, resulting in porous, red brick terracotta

Activity structure
1st session
Introduction: description of clay and workshop contents
The pinching technique
2nd session
The slab technique
3rd session
The coiling technique

Duration
Three 2-hour sessions – maximum 10 participants

Michela Maruzzi
My first encounter with clay, about 25 years ago, initially led me to teaching myself. Later, I took part in courses and workshops on wheel throwing and high-temperature glazes with various artists (Crippa, Patrucco, Biavati, Hugentobler, Tripaldi).
I began using low-temperature clays to create useful objects. My current pieces are made using stoneware and semi-refractory clay, and I produce my own glazes. I use various techniques: slab, wheel throwing and pinching. I imprint marks into the clay with things I find in nature.
Since 2014, I have held workshops where I teach the basic techniques. In June 2015, at the headquarters of the Bruno Munari Association in Faenza, “Mabilab,” I took part in the first-level educational training course “B. Munari Method.”
I have taken part in several group exhibitions, craft fairs and markets.

Artistic philosophy
“For me, creating art means observing and imagining, with eyes and thoughts, and then creating. Observation, particularly of the plant world where I feel in harmony and balance, and imagination are starting points for experimentation and research of shapes. Creating is constantly being amazed. Often, I am just a bridge between plants and the material. In this process, clay is the material that best represents me. Through clay, I find balance and security. The movements of my hands are meditative.”