Understanding porcelain with Antoinette Badenhorst

Working with porcelain is not as difficult as many potters think. If you know the character of the clay and understand porcelain, then you could make translucent porcelain bowls and sculptural vessels. 
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Break the myths and begin to understand the character of porcelain in these clear, close-up and detailed video demonstrations. With direct online access to Antoinette throughout the course, potters will be assisted to easily work with porcelain clay, while pushing their own limits. Whether hand building, throwing, trimming or altering on the potter’s wheel, beginners to advanced potters will learn to work easily and successfully with the “Diva of clay” and get translucent porcelain.

​Antoinette addresses design, firing and glazing techniques to prevent slumping and cracking and to ensure success with porcelain.

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​Understanding Porcelain
$208

6-week teaching, 4-week reviewing
Register anytime.
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10 weeks added to registration date. 

Register for class

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Preview e-course

How to get translucency in porcelain.

Contents of understanding porcelain

​Week 1
This class is designed to make a transition from stoneware or earthenware clay to porcelain. There are clear and specific differences in the approach between these clay mediums.
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• Introduction to porcelain clay.
• Explore the origin of clay and the history and character of porcelain clay.
• Clay comparison between stoneware, earthenware and porcelain.
• How to make fired clay samples
• ​Wedge the clay using the bull's head or ram's head wedging technique.
• ​How to reclaim clay.

​Week 2
Learning to control porcelain starts with pinching. This technique is a crucial element to learn and understand the specific porcelain that is in use and to learn about the drying stages thereof. Not all porcelains are the same. Once potters understand the differences in porcelain, they will be able to choose a porcelain for their specific needs and be able to know and understand how to approach it.

• Pinching porcelain clay
• Porcelain tools to make and or to buy
• Combining pinched pots and how to make a ball with captured air
• Trimming pinched porcelain and trimming tools for pinching
• Controlling the different drying stages of porcelain
• Learn when and how to use the pinching-in technique

​Week 3
During this week Antoinette helps beginners to learn to throw porcelain while Intermediate to advanced potters will learn to push the limits on the wheel to throw very thin and translucent walls. Regardless of the level on which you start, you will gain new knowledge that will help you to get to the next level of your ability to work with clay. Designing is an integral part of this week’s class.
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• Prepare clay and environment for wheel throwing
• Centering clay on the potter's wheel and opening techniques for porcelain bowls
• Understanding and controlling of clay particle movement
• Building the walls and hand movements for controlling the shape
• Throwing V-shape bowls
• Throwing U-shape bowls

​Week 4
If you have never trimmed porcelain, this is your chance to learn to do that successfully. With the right tools at different stages, you will learn how to trim smooth and even walls. You will learn to prevent slumping and cracking in the rims.  
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• Trimming basics for porcelain towards translucent porcelain
• Faults, cracks, remedies & resolutions
• Tools to use for trimming porcelain
• Right-side-up trimming techniques
• Trimming upside down
• Foot rims and other bottom considerations
• Re-positioning on the wheel 

​Week 5
​Porcelain is very susceptible to detail. As the "Diva of Clay" it is necessary to pay attention to those details. During this class the whole course begins to fall into place.
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• Aesthetic considerations
• Design considerations for porcelain
• Porcelain and the 30 degree rule
• Forms to use for successful firing
• ​Porcelain and decoration

​Week 6
​Glazing ad firing of porcelain are the final actions to ensure success with porcelain. With the right approaches, it becomes easy to obtain beautiful porcelain objects. 
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• Glazing and porcelain
• Glazing methods for porcelain
• Glazing errors
• Basic electric kiln operation
• Firing schedules and glaze defaults
• How to prevent slumping and plucking of porcelain
• Packing a pottery kiln
• How to support porcelain in the kiln
• How to get a smooth touch and feeling of porcelain after the firing in the kiln

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Registration policy

Who is the target audience for Understanding Porcelain?

• The  "Understanding Porcelain" e-course is geared towards potters that have experience in basic to advanced clay work. Potters interested to improve their general understanding of porcelain and that is interested in working in porcelain will benefit from this class. It is a wheel throwing, hand building and altering clay class, all in one. We review  basic to advanced techniques and go in depth into the character of porcelain, preparing potters for all our other porcelain classes and help to improve their general skills in clay. 
• If you never worked with clay before, or completely forgot what you've learned many years ago, this class is unfortunately not for you. We expect that you have a basic understanding of the full pottery making cycle, from the wedging to the final glazed product fired in the kiln and we advice you to get on our distribution list to be informed when we will present a beginners class.
• Our videos do not have written translations yet and the language used is English.

What do I need for this e-course?

• You must have access to a pottery wheel, workplace and kiln.
• You must have consistent access to a computer, iPad or iPhone or related technology.
• You must have basic computer knowledge. (Although we will assist you with the viewing of the videos, we cannot teach you how to use a computer). 
• You need basic knowledge of glazes; that is at least glazed some pottery before.
• When you consider this class you should understand the following terminology: 
•  Plastic potters clay; leather hard clay; bone dry; green ware; bisque ware; glaze; firing clay; kiln; cone; ceramics;  wheel throwing; pinching; press molding; potters plaster. 

This e-course will help you:

• if you worked on the wheel before, but experience difficulty with throwing and hand building porcelain
• if you want to understand and work with porcelain clay
• if you want to spray glaze
• if you want to learn how to use mason stains in your glazes
• if you want to learn how to control forms on the wheel
• understand the firing techniques associated with porcelain
• if you want to learn more about porcelain​

What can I expect from the e-course?

• You will learn how to throw, control and alter some basic forms on the potter's wheel. 
• You will learn and understand porcelain well enough to use this clay body effectively to push its limits. 
• When you completed this class, you should be able to throw or hand build porcelain easier and improve your skills with some practice.  Please see the contents list.

REFUND POLICY

• No refunding.
• Submitting an online registration indicates your agreement with this policy.

What students say about the porcelain class.
​"I think the class has been very well thought out. The details included in the PDF downloads complete the class. It is just as though I have a textbook to refer back to. l like this class format because it gives me time to experiment, and I get direct, specific, personal answers. I cannot think of any way the class itself can be improved." - Nancy (Washington)
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"Understanding Porcelain is a detailed explanation and hands on experience constructed to teach students how to think about and work with porcelain. It is excellent and definitely excels in accomplishing its goals. Antoinette communicates her knowledge and respect for porcelain throughout the workshop. I have definitely gained a greater understanding of how to work with and think about porcelain. I highly recommend Antoinette Badenhorst as an instructor and a creator of workshops which help potters of any level." - Marice Pappo (New York)