In this one-day demo-only workshop, Tom Bartel will demonstrate his unique approach to the human figure using handbuilding techniques such as coil-building and press mold construction. Paying special attention to the challenge of modeling the human head, Bartel will show his techniques for rendering eyes, nose, mouth, teeth and ears. Bartel will present an artist talk as well as share slip application techniques and multi-firing surface treatments.

Tom Bartel grew up on the Erie shores of Cleveland, Ohio, and is known for his disturbing and humorous fragmented figures that take cues from a “shotgun blast” of influences ranging from antiquity to popular culture. He received his MFA from Indiana University–Bloomington and a BFA from Kent State University in Ohio. Bartel has lectured, conducted workshops and exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally. His work is included in numerous public and private collections and he has received Individual Artist Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Arts Council, the Kentucky Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council. He has been published in numerous publications, including American Craft, Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Ceramics: Art and Perception, as well as many other periodicals and books. Bartel is currently an associate professor and ceramics chairperson at Ohio University in Athens.

To learn more about Tom Bartel, visit his website at tombartel.net.