Ailsa J Brown, a ceramic artist, and painter from Vancouver in Canada, embarked on her art studies attending the Chelsea School of Art in London, England. After completing her first year abroad, she returned home and earned her diploma at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. Ailsa has passed on her knowledge teaching wheel throwing and her "Painted Pot" workshops, sharing various methods and techniques of surface treatment to develop one's own visual language through self-exploration and discovery. 

Ailsa is a former student of TeachinArt and completed the Understanding Porcelain online class with Antoinette Badenhorst in Jul-Oct in 2020. 

Here is Ailsa in her own words.
​
My exploration into the world of porcelain came with the desire to have a pure white surface for my painted underglaze surface decoration. Up until this time, I had been using a cone 6 white clay body. This however, had its drawbacks, as I was experimenting with an unglazed surface and at cone 6 the white clay fired to more of an ivory/tan colour. The results were great at the bisque stage but the higher temperature diminished the brilliance and consequently, the underglazes lost their vibrancy and dulled them down. This was not the effect I was after. 

Fortunately, I discovered Antoinette's course on porcelain and plunged into adapting my process using this new medium. Initially, I embarked on a full cleansing of my studio in preparation for working with this wonderful, white “diva” that Antointette affectionately refers to it as. I must admit, there was a period of adjustment learning the characteristics and particulars of this new material and also of its limitations. Antoinette’s guidance and instruction helped me over the major hurdles and I found myself well on my way.  I have nowhere near discovered all the intricacies and will surely face many more challenges along the way however, the luminosity of the finished product has me hooked.  I now have a surface that sings and highlights my painted decoration beautifully.

​As a painter and a potter, I love to combine my two passions by applying a colourful nature inspired surface treatment that compliments my wheel thrown and hand built vessels. My main artistic inspiration is the flowing organic forms found on the bark of trees and other diverse plant life here on the west coast of BC, Canada. Sketches are done outdoors and then, back in the studio, are simplified and applied to my vessels in a controlled but loose manner using underglaze paints that are further refined with line work, sgraffito and slip trailing. I am also fascinated with the ancient pottery forms and decoration of the Minoan Civilization and this intrigue has prompted additional patterned imagery resulting in a blend of contemporary and antiquity. 

As any potter knows, there are always ups and downs using any clay - from wedging to throwing, glazing to firing - and porcelain is no exception. It takes a patient heart and a determined mind to persevere in this practice along with a strong will to succeed. But, is it not so gratifying? When that one pot emerges from the kiln and lights you up with its honesty, humbleness and beauty, it is the most rewarding and satisfying delight. And so, I carry on in my pursuit to create the perfect porcelain pot.

​Gail Altschuler is a ceramic artist from South Africa, who works from her home/studio in North London, England, UK. She was one of the first online students of TeachinArt and completed the understanding porcelain e-course in August of 2014.

​Drawing inspiration from sketchbook observations of life. Gail’s ceramic work is illustrated with her line drawings of people, plants and images from art history. "A picture says more than 1,000 words".

​Recent Exhibitions
2021 Selected member of the Craft Potters Association
Selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Exhibiting at Silson Contemporary Art, Harrogate
Exhibited at Fillingdon Fine Art High Wycombe
Selected for the ‘Figurative Art Now’, Mall Galleries, FBA, online exhibition

Patricia Neysens is a potter and bio-engineer from Belgium who completed the colored clay e-course with Curtis Benzle at TeachinArt.​ Here is she in her own words.
I was born in Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Brussels, Belgium) and spent my entire childhood in the pictoresque municipality of Beersel. We lived close to the famous medieval castle of Beersel and were surrounded by a beautifull nature and numerous local geuze breweries.
​​​

​My finished forms are mostly defined and inspired by the beauty, fragility and strenght of nature. I aim my sculptures to look elegant, refined and vulnerable and hope them to engage the viewers in their tale. To me my works are an instrument to express my own emotions and feelings.

I am an Alexandria, Virginia based artist that taught special needs students and art for 30 years for Fairfax Co. Public Schools. As a life long educator, I have planned and taught workshops for various local community organizations as well as for the Smithsonian Institution, the African American Museum of Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Two of my most favorite workshops I developed and organized was in Oaxaca, Mexico for disabled women and in Ayacucho, Peru for women that had been victimized by the terrorist group, “The Shining Path”.

​After my retirement, I missed teaching and researching new ideas to create lessons so I began taking ceramic classes, which I absolutely loved! Even though I had taught ceramics for elementary school students, the classes I took exposed me to a broader aspect of what I could do with clay. After two years of taking classes, I was asked to teach a children’s class, and then, to teach a creative hand building class for adults. As my adult class grew, I decided to focus only on the adults and once again retired from teaching the kids.

​I create my sculptures through hand building techniques. I’m continually exploring the number of ways I can manipulate the clay to create very textural surfaces. I like the idea of being able to visually explore every aspect of the sculpture with curiosity and discoveries of what can be appealing as well as tactually stimulating. I’ll use all techniques of hand building, pinching, coiling, and slabs. I have an arsenal of approaches for the surface design, slip trailing, stamping, appliqué, and using nichrome wire are just a few of my favorites.

​Although I do use traditional glazes to decorate my pieces, I don’t necessarily stop at glazes alone to decorate my work. I like to extend that yearning for texture into my surface treatments. I do a lot of experimentation in glaze combinations as well as other mediums of paints such as oils, enamels, acrylics, chalk paint, and latex. My sewing background has followed me into this genre in the area of mixing media such as dipping cloth into slip, adding non traditional elements to the clay body, even dipping metal into slip to create fragile appendages.

​Finding Marie Gibbons class, Post Fired Finishes, has opened up a new door for me in completing my work. Even though I had been using acrylics in my work before, the paint left my work looking flat and plastic. I love how Marie has taught me how to add more dimension to my work with her layering style of colors. As an educator, I never feel like I know so much, that I can’t learn more. Learning new techniques excites me, it keeps the thrill of creating fresh and explorative.

The format that TeachinArt uses to teach their classes is fantastic, informative, detailed instruction on the technique, and sequentially builds on the procedure. Marie is down to earth in her approach to teaching, which left me feeling like I had known her for years. I have been highly inspired by taking this class and very appreciative for having the opportunity to take this class.

​​I have been doing ceramics for about 8 years – both sculpture and wheel/hand built pots under the initial tutelage of the wonderful Midge Johannsen at the Sculptors’ Society Gold Coast but now I teach from my own home studio and am Treasurer of the Society. I developed an early interest in raku after having done a workshop with the Gold Coast Potters Association of which I am also a member. Since then I have built and owned 3 raku kilns and do at least two or three firings each month. I did the Alternative Firing online course of Marcia Selsor and found it very useful since I also intend doing regular wood firings later this year.

​I have entered a number of ceramic competitions and exhibitions and have taken part in several two and three people shows locally. Last year I won the Tony Palmer Sculpture Award for my piece Hark the Herald Angels.

I like to mix and combine materials. I started weaving natural fibres onto raku. From there I moved to combining natural timber with raku and now I use found metal objects with raku. I find raku goes with everything! I am very fortunate in that I have a wonderful partner who is happy to weld or wood turn as required.

​​I teach a popular monthly class for the CWA (the Country Women’s Association) and after Easter I will start a regular weekly raku group at the Society’s teaching studio nearby.

I have held a couple of raku workshops up here at Bliss for the Society which have been popular. Everyone seems to love raku!

I guess the thing I love most about it is the immediacy of the art along with the (often) unexpected results you can get. I am not noted for my patience LOL.