A previous SMAA monthly Zoom meeting featured a pottery wheel demonstration by Professor Allen Chen, an assistant professor of Ceramics at The University of Southern Mississippi. His presentation featured both a beginner pottery demo of several pieces. Professor Chen was born in Taiwan and moved to California at age 12. He earned a BFA from San Jose State University and an MFA from The University of Notre Dame. He has been a long term artist in residence at Mendocino Art Center, Red Lodge Clay Center and Lawrence Arts Center and was an assistant professor at Central State University from 2012~2014.

                                      

Another SMAA monthly Zoom meeting featured pottery artist, Andrea Kirkley live from her studio in Collins, Miss. Andrea demonstrated three pottery surface techniques on clay: underglaze transfer, sgraffito, and creation of 3-D animal mugs using clay & underglazes. There are various ways to use sgraffito do decorate pottery. Sgraffito is from the Italian word meaning “to scratch”) It is a pottery decorating technique produced by applying layers of color or colors (underglazes or colored slips) to leather hard pottery and then scratching off parts of the layer(s) to create contrasting images, patterns and texture and reveal the clay color underneath. Many thanks to Andrea Kirkley for sharing her techniques with us.