We are in full swing settling in to our second location at 907 S Lombard! Brie made lovely curtains for our custom shelving and tables, which I think creates a more serene atmosphere. It was so important to me in building the space that it is airy, light, cheerful and visually not too crowded. This is a hard task when we have so much equipment and work in progress!
At all times, we have painting/drawing racks full of drawings, paintings, collages, and mixed media pieces. We have 3D printers and a CNC router running frequently. The kiln is on most days. And then there is all the ceramic equipment; slab roller, wheels, pugmill, recyling, glazes, surface decoration materials and special tables for wedging.
Camp is super fun and we are having a great time making art with all of our campers. Campers have been making ceramic objects on the wheel and a variety of handbuilt projects; such as peekaboo slab mugs, character plates, and flower and leaf stamped slab sculptures.
Digital fabrication lab is up and running and we are also hosting intensive camps to learn all the coding behind these amazing machines. Jenna's students have been fabricating all sorts of small sculptures and even functional items. The 3D printing has two options also; we have resin printing and extruded SLA plastic printing. In the back of my mind, I have contemplated ceramic 3D printing but the tech and maintenance on these machines is really intense.
Back at SF1, which we fondly call the Carpenter location, Skoelle, our resident mascot, holds down the fort. We are teaching older teens wheel and ceramics over here as well as running private lessons and intermediate + adult lessons.
Scroll down to see some pictures from our camps! Please do let me know if there is something you or your camper loved this summer and would like to see return next year! Always open to hearing how we can improve the slowfire experience.
Noelle
In the fall, at SF1, we are slowly rolling out a membership option for our adult students so they can continue to practice and make work outside of class time. The wheel is very reliant upon muscle memory and the more you can practice, the easier it is. The learning curve on the wheel can be steep and then much like learning an instrument, some days feel easier or harder depending on energy, stress, time of day, etc.
In the afternoon, Joss comes in to break up the day and the students are introduced to a variety of painting and drawing projects.
