Join artist Holly Dawes for a playful, hands-on exploration of wild clay and the materials found along our coastline.
We’ll begin with a short foraging session at Rock-a-Nore, learning to look for and identify natural clay in the landscape. We’ll then return to the studio to process the clay together, exploring how it behaves, how to test it, and what makes one clay different from another.
You’ll experiment with wild clay in a number of ways: using it as a slip to decorate commercial clay, working with it as a clay body, and mixing it with other natural clays and materials. Holly will also bring along wild clays collected from different places along the coastline, giving us the opportunity to compare their colours, textures and qualities.
The workshop is experimental and open-ended, with plenty of opportunity to get your hands dirty and see what the materials can do.
Everyone will make one piece during the workshop, which Holly will take away to fire. Finished work will then be available to collect from Hastings Contemporary after 1 month.
No previous experience with clay is necessary — just come ready to explore, experiment and get muddy.
