I have been conducting workshops regularly in the recents years and have often been asked to create customized workshops for specific events. Just like creating a new product, there is a lot of research and development that goes on behind the scenes before a workshop is officially launched. I thought I should share some of the process here.
Some questions I ask myself while designing a workshop:
1. Product – Is this a useful and attractive product?
2. Process – Can the project be completed within the given time frame?
3. Level of difficulty – Will a beginner be able to do this and enjoy the process?
5. Technique – Will participants learn a new skill?
6. Materials – What are the materials needed, where to find them and what is the budget?
7. Packaging – How will the participants bring home their works?
Above are pictures of a recent research and development I did on a colored air-dry clay workshop. Most of the workshops I conduct require the works to be completed on the day itself. Thus I used air-dry clay instead of clay that needs to be fired as an alternative. I have stained the air-dry clay by kneading acrylic colors into the clay for sampling purposes. I started off with ‘Nerikomi’ technique where layers of colored clay is piled up and sliced at a cross-section to expose a pattern. After working on the clay for awhile, I realized that it was drying up too quickly and would be hard for a beginners’ class to handle.
Next, I tried creating a marbling effect by kneading the colored clay together as shown in the pictures. I later pinched the clay to create a planter. Even though this would be a much easier option, I felt that the final product looked a little dull after drying and did not match our aesthetics. There is still a lot of research and development that needs to be done before we can officially launch a colored clay workshop. Or maybe it’s technically impossible to create a nice product with air-dry clay as this technique is traditionally done with fired clay. Either way, we will need to keep experimenting to find out!
