malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Here’s the crew! Malcolm Greenwood and all 18 participants.

(As a note, this post is probably best viewed on your computer, not your phone.)

Sometimes words just don’t do justice to what you are trying to describe.  For the Malcolm Greenwood Workshop, that is definitely the case.

For as much planning, preparation, thought, worry – that goes into a workshop, the outcome is up for grabs.  There are so many elements that must fall into place to make it all work – the people, the weather, the equipment, the venue, the presenter – and in this case, ALL of these things surpassed my expectations! It all just worked.

The two main things that make this workshop work were:

Number ONE!! Malcolm Greenwood!!!

His knowledge, humour, expertise, patience, generosity, skill (and on and on) were amazing.

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Malcolm Greenwood

Number TWO!! The Participants!!

Each person brought a beautiful attitude of keenness, compassion for one another, a deep sharing, and patience.  As one person said after the workshop, “I felt like I might be the less skilled/experienced potter in the group on the first day during introductions, but I never felt that way again.”  Malcolm had a way of leveling the playing field.  We were ALL learning new techniques, making new tools, and hearing a new philosophy and way of creating.

THE PARTICIPANTS!

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
IlonaTopolcsanyl – Cone 11 Ceramics – Melbourne
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Lisa Benny – Harvest Clay – Tugan
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Rebecca Chua – Claypool – Sydney
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Margi Sanders – Gold Coast
Tali – Cohen – Franz – Keramika Ceramics – Ocean Shores
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery
Kristy Wong – Gold Coast
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Greg Furney – Villa Rustica Ceramics – Byron Bay
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Brett Stone – Claypool – Sydney
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Allessandro Di Sarno – Claypool – Sydney
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Warwick Anderson – Byron Bay
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Catherine Stainton – Wild Ceramics – Gold Coast
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Amy Coleman – Nerang
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Zeynep Testoni – Zeynep Testoni Ceramics – Gerroa, NSW
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery
Colin Hopkins – Cone 11 Ceramics – Melbourne
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery
Linda Cunningham – Pebuka Pottery – Murwillumbah
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery
Anna Zoeller – Brisbane
Amanda Thompson – Raksha Ceramics – Currumbin
Caitlin Purcell – Caitlin Pottery – Mansfield, Victoria

On top of that, the studio is like none other and is suited perfectly to the type of workshop that Malcolm teaches.  Making your own tools requires space, tools, wood, bamboo, woodworking equipment – we had it all.  We managed to borrow/bring enough wheels that everyone had a wheel to work on.   And this group!  No fussing or fighting over who got what…amazing…such a nice group of people!  Space for tables for handbuilding.  Space for relaxing when Ronnie served up tapas, wine and beer after a hard day.  Tables for lunch…etc, etc, etc.

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
18 Wheels in a circle with a wedging table in the middle.
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Plenty of demonstration tables.
Demonstration Tables.
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Everyone could get around to see what was going on.
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Wheel work demonstrations.
malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
Thrown bowls drying in the open air doors.

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,

I think that pictures will best convey what happened at this workshop…MAGIC!

The interesting thing about many of the pictures are the consultative and collaborative nature of the workshop.  Malcolm helping participants.  Participants helping participants.  So good.

WATCHING MALCOLM

Malcolm did demonstration after demonstration – lucky us!

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

ARTIST TALK AND DINNER

Wednesday evening, a dinner for guests and participants, allowed the clay community to have a chance to hear Malcolm talk about his practice.  It was so great!

WEDGING CLAY

Properly wedging clay was one of the key points that Malcolm wanted to get across.

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,

LUNCHES WITH MALCOLM

These lunches gave everyone a chance to talk about various issues in creating a career with ceramics.

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

MAKING TOOLS

Everyone got right into the power tools!

SPRAYING GLAZES FOR THE RAW FIRING

  • malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery,
    Intro to spraying glazes

FIRING RESULTS

For me, the raw firing of the pots was a first.  I also had never fired both kilns at the same time.  Thankfully, it all worked brilliantly!

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

malcolm greenwood workshop, marian williams pottery

Sorry for all the photos, but there are just so many good ones.  A week of brilliance with a Master and a beautiful group of people allows one to see and photograph many wonderful things.  I hope that you enjoy them.

So would we do it again?  Too soon to say, but you can get on a waiting list by contacting me…just in case…you wouldn’t want to miss it.

Peace Out!

Marian