Nationally known ceramic artist Patrick Dragon will demonstrate and share his techniques and formulas with participants in this one-day workshop. He has developed several ways to “paint with clay” using a variety of custom formulated slips and materials. Each participant will receive a 6 inch greenware tile to actively explore and use these techniques and materials on the surface of their tile. This workshop is designed for beginners as well as advanced students. Dragon will also share his unique way of firing his vessels as well as talking about his adventures and travels relating to his career in ceramics. To register or for more information about this upcoming workshop, visit crealde.org or call 407-671-1886. http://crealde.org/classes/paint-clay-surface-details-workshop-patrick-dragon/ Patrick Dragon's Artist Statement: The appeal of the vessel form is its universality and simplicity. It is a neutral format in which artistic styles can take flight. The vessel's basic elements-foot, wall, and rim are inherently sculptural and impose few limits on the imagination. My wheel-thrown, thin-walled vessels are carved, hammered, and manipulated to create exterior shapes and patterns that contrast vibrantly with their smooth, empty interior volumes. Many are burnished and covered with fine particles of decanted clay called terra sigillata and sagger-fired in wood, facilitating subtle color variations. In this process, exterior surfaces remain porous after each firing, allowing me, like the natural world from which these materials come, to slowly build up layers of color and clay. The vessels interiors are double glazed, creating richly contrasting colors and textures. Some are further enhanced with slip trailing using black slips of varying thickness. The open vessel forms I create become biomorphic objects expressing the patterns and shapes I observe and sense on the surface of the earth - the layers of rock, water, plants, and diverse life forms.