Constructions in Clay: Handbuilding Techniques

This course is designed for beginners as well as those looking to expand their ceramic practice and handbuilding skills. Students are guided through the process of handbuilding vessels or sculptural forms using slab and coiling techniques. Bring photographs of personally significant domestic artifacts, which will serve as creative inspiration for your ceramic creations.

Lynda Draper gives research presentations and practical demonstrations including how to construct pattern board maquettes, rolling and preparing clay slabs to be used for the clay sculptures. Students will learn to roll out their own clay slabs to begin their sculptures, and as the course continues, they will explore slab construction, surface treatment with coloured slips, and coiling methods to create sculptural forms. The final stages of the course will focus on completing the coiled and slab constructions and refining the surface treatments to bring their creations to life. Selected works will be fired and ready for pick up at a later date.

* NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over.

* What to bring? Please refer to the list of required materials in the Art Materials field below.

Lynda Draper is an artist and educator who primarily works in the ceramic medium.  She exhibited in The National 4: Australian Art Now with her exhibition Talismans for Unsettled Times at Campbelltown Arts Centre in 2024. Draper has received numerous national and international awards, including being the recipient of the 2019 Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award. Other awards include the 16th International Gold Coast Ceramic Award, Queensland; Fisher’s Ghost Award (ceramics), Sydney; and 54th Acquisition Award MIC, Faenza, Italy.

Her works are held in significant national and international collections, including the National Gallery of Australia,  Canberra ; Art Gallery  NSW, Sydney :International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy; FA Grue Collection, Italy; Renwick Alliance Gallery, Smithsonian Institute Washington; Artbank, Australia; Collection of the Dutch Royal Family, Netherlands; IAC Collection FLICAM Museum, Fuping, China; Shepparton Art Museum (SAM), Victoria; The Myer Foundation, Victoria; Campbelltown City Art Gallery; Gold Coast City Art Gallery; and the University of Wollongong, New South Wales. Lynda is the former Head of Ceramics at the National Art School and has been a ceramics lecturer for over thirty years.

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below. 

• Notebook and pencils/pens
• Thick black felt marker
• Sketchpad A4 or A3
• 2 x A1 craft board (225 gsm)
• Small vegetable knife
• Ceramics tool kit - sponge, wooden modelling tool, cutting wire, metal kidney
• P2 KN95 disposable mask
• 4 x large plastic garbage bags size 74x90cm (50 litre)
• Towel and protective clothes
• All clay and other materials are provided
• Enclosed footwear is essential in all studios on campus.