Enchanted Mugs Workshop (9 June 2024)

Enchanted Mugs Workshop with Carys Martin: 10–12 noon Sunday 9 June 2024.

We're making exquisite mugs with ceramicist Carys Martin who will be exhibiting her work at Plant Empire this year. In this workshop, we're going to learn how to decorate your own bisque-fired mug using your choice of underglazes, underglaze pencils and tissue transfers.

In preparation for the workshop, Carys will bring along a wheel-thrown and bisque-fired mug ready for you to decorate. For your mug's design, you might like to draw inspiration from an existing image, or else you can draw your own design that you'd like to transfer onto the mug. Carys will show you a number of techniques you can use with underglazes to create your design and how to apply tissue transfers to add details. You will learn how to create intricate details and to achieve different effects with these materials.

Completed work can be collected from Plant Empire in Yeerongpilly two weeks following the workshop. Gold lustre is available upon request for an additional cost. If you'd like this option, 12-carat gold lustre is applied after the glaze firing, so Carys will work out these details with you at the workshop. Please note that mugs with lustre aren't suitable for use in microwaves or dishwashers. 

Carys Martin is a full-time artist with a ceramics studio in Cleveland where she produces both practical, functional art and one-off artworks. Her work features detailed surface decorations inspired by nature and the woodlands and folklore of Cumbria where she spent her childhood. She creates artworks that are beautiful, hold meaning, and tell a story.

This workshop is suitable for absolute beginners wanting to learn how to throw a vessel on a pottery wheel, as well as more advanced students who would like to learn from Carys. All materials and equipment for the workshop will be supplied, including clay, firing and glazes. Please wear closed shoes and clothes that you don't mind getting covered in clay, and avoid loose clothing, hair or jewellery.

Cost: $100 / $90 (Multi-pass)

Multi-pass discount: Sign up for 2 or more Plant Empire events, or register 2 or more people for the same event, to receive 10% off the ticket price (discount will appear at checkout).