Learning to Make Wazumi coil pots
Visiting Artist-Ceramics | Available
Learning to make Wazumi coil pots with Chris Kelly. Wazumi is a traditional Japanese coil-building technique, historically practiced in Echizen, known for creating large, utilitarian ceramic vessels. As the potter works, they move around the vessel in both clockwise and counterclockwise circles. One hand is placed inside the vessel to support the structure, while a wooden scraper is used outside to smooth the surface and refine the shape. You will learn to build the vessel without using a potter's wheel in this method. Instead, long, thick coils of clay are rolled out and stacked on top of each other to build the form.
Chris is the Associate Dean of Fine Arts at Piedmont University. In Echizen, Japan, Chris studied with Mr. Fujita Juroemon VII, learning coilbuilding and wood firing techniques unique to the area.
- Each student will receive 50 lbs of Starworks New Catawba clay for this workshop.
Chris Kelly
Chris Kelly, a ceramic artist from Tennessee, completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Next, apprenticing in Japan, he livedin the Echizen Pottery Village, one of Japan’s Six Ancient kiln sites with over 800 years of history. In Echizen, he studied with Fujita Juroemon VII, learning coilbuilding and wood firing techniques unique to the area. Upon returning to the States, he earned a Master of Fine Arts from The School of American Crafts atRochester Institute of Technology. He taught at several colleges and then came to Piedmont University in 2008; Chris chaired the department until 2022 when hebecame Associate Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Communications. He continues to teach Ceramics and Sculpture.While at Piedmont, Chris maintained a close relationship with Echizen by building an anagama (wood-firing) kiln with the help of Fujita Juroemon IX and leadingtravel study trips to Echizen. Chris exhibits his ceramic work nationally and internationally and writes articles on wood firing for various exhibitions andpublications. He and his wife, Kathryn, live in the Northeast GA and have three children.