Workshop with
Tip Toland
Figurative Ceramic Sculpture
April 17–21, 2023
$800
Join us for "Expressions," a five-day, figurative ceramic sculpture workshop with artist Tip Toland. The workshop is scheduled for April 17–21, 2023 at Karen Russo Studio in Elmira, OR. Enrollment will be for nine students and cost $800. To join the waitlist, please email karenrussostudio@gmail.com or refer to the the registration information at the bottom of the page. It will be an exciting opportunity for learning how to sculpt human expression in clay!
Workshop Details
Tip Toland:
We’ll begin by putting together a simple pipe armature, then packing on solid clay to make a generic, proportional life size head. By the end of the first day we’ll have all the features in place and the beginning of an expression using photos for reference. At the close of the second day we will have finished the expression and cut it off the head creating a mask. The third day we’ll pack on more clay and begin a second mask with a new expression. Also that day we can hollow out the first mask and load it into the kiln. We can continue making faces with expressions using this technique as we want. On the final day, after the first mask is fired and out of the kiln, I’ll demonstrate a few techniques I use for painting. We’ll all be able to experiment with those and other techniques to paint our masks.
Artist Biography
Tip Toland lives in Vaughn, WA. She received her MFA from Montana State University in 1981. Tip is a full-time studio artist and a part-time instructor in Seattle, WA. She conducts workshops across the United States, Europe, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, and the Middle East. Tip Toland is represented by Traver Gallery in Seattle.
Tip’s work is in public and private collections, including: The Yellowstone Art Museum, The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, Nelson Atkins Museum, The Crocker Museum, St. Petersburg Museum of Art, The Daum Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Arizona State University Ceramics Research Center, The Eleanor Wilson Museum at Hollins University, Kohler Arts Center, Portland Art Museum, Racine Art Museum, Yingee Ceramics Museum, Zanesville Museum of Art, Fuller Craft Museum, Icheon Museum of Ceramics.
Artist Statement
Tip Toland:
I am and always have been attracted to the human figure in its private, unguarded and vulnerable states. The honesty of depicting the figure in these conditions is to view our humanity openly and unapologetically. My hope is that each sculpture will strike an empathic chord in the viewer. I believe that empathy is grounding and puts us all in the same boat to witness what it is to be human and to find relief in that as our shared common denominator. Perhaps one day we will embrace each other as full equals.
Note: Photographs of sculptures are provided by Tip Toland.
Registration Information
April 17–21, 2023 (5 days)
Workshop Fee ($800) includes:
Instruction
Demonstrations
50 lbs. of clay
9-Student enrollment
Experience in figure sculpting & hand-building
One bisque firing will be provided
Workshop Location
Contact Karen Russo
Information about Tip Toland