Workshop: Ceramics

In the first part of this two-part workshop, Ceramicist Melanie Schopper taught a group of interior design students how to make reproducible clay tiles.  Fourteen students attended the workshop where they learned how to hand carve patterns they designed into 4 ½” x 4 ½” clay tiles.  Each student had the opportunity to design two tiles and many chose to work outside the traditional square form.  Triangles, trapezoids, and hexagons appeared and a few students carved their tile into smaller pieces that would fit back together after firing.  

Schopper showed students how to cast a plaster mold of their tiles, resulting in a reverse image of their patterns.  Students were given clay to press 8-9 tiles and will learn glazing techniques at the second part of the workshop.   

Melanie Schopper is a local artist who utilizes slip casting to create functional ceramics.  She has been the artist in residence at The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and is a co-founder of the all women's art group Handmade Austin Women.  She worked as an assistant to porcelain artist Sunyong Chung of Ginko Studios, where she trained in a process of plaster mold making that has informed her current process.  She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Art.  Her line of cups and bowls called M.Schopper Ceramics can be found at Women and Their Work and on the East Austin Studio Tour. 

This workshop is a coordinated effort with Interior Design Construction 2, taught by Tamie Glass (TA Heather Sutherland.)