Basics of Brush Making Workshop with Paul Wisotzky

Registration is open now to anyone age 18+

In this fun three-hour workshop, you will learn how to make brushes for decorating pottery. Brushes can be used to apply slips, underglazes, glazes, oxide washes, and wax resist. We’ll be working with several types of animal hair for the brush heads and bamboo for the handles. We’ll also review how you can make your own brush handles from clay. You’ll leave the workshop with several brushes you made yourself to add to your decorating tool kit along with the skills to continue making your own. No experience is necessary.

Instructor Paul Wisotzky learned to make brushes from the late Kent McLaughlin of Fork Mountain Pottery in Bakersville, North Carolina. Kent was one of many artists who generously shared their skills with the Ceramics Program community during our Fall 2020 online programming. All materials are included in the cost of registration and participants can plan on making 3-5 handmade brushes during the workshop.

Artist Biography: Paul Wisotzky is a studio potter and educator from Truro, Massachusetts. He makes functional pottery from porcelain and stoneware and fires his work in soda and reduction atmospheres at his studio Blueberry Lane Pottery. Paul teaches at the Harvard University Ceramics Program and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. As an Open Studio Resident at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Paul developed a process of digitally designing and fabricating sponge stamps using graphic design software and a laser cutter. This process was featured in Ceramics Monthly Magazine and in an instructional video available now through the Ceramic Arts Network and CLAYflicks. Paul uses stamps to decorate his pottery as well as teach others how to use them in his workshops and classes. He is a founder and co-producer of SodaPosium- a national educational gathering and celebration of soda firing.

Workshop Fee: $100.00 for Adult Community and Harvard Graduate students; FREE for Harvard Undergraduates. Registration will open on June 5, 2024 at 2:00pm.

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