Term 4 2026 | Clay Critters with Alison Smiles (SAT)

Lecturer: Alison Smiles Sat 24 Oct – 7 Nov (3 Saturdays) 10:00am – 4:00pm Level– Beginners onwards Age – 16+ This is an adult class and is not suitable for students under 16 years of age. Students under 18 must obtain parental or guardian consent and submit a completed consent form before the class commences. The first session will involve planning your sculpture and making a maquette – a smaller version of your sculpture so that you can experiment with poses and textures of fur, feathers etc. Alison will then take these maquettes and fire them so that you have some further information on how colours may look, and how much the work will shrink in the firing. From there we will move on to the larger works, developing skills in hand building with clay coils and modelling claws, paws, beaks and tails, attaching them all securely to your sculpture and then refining all the little details and making your surface sing. This course will run over three Saturdays. Please note that you are responsible for taking your final work to be fired off site. Materials students are required to bring: Soft hair brushes for painting on clay – Chinese/Japanese calligraphy brushes are best but not essential (synthetic taklon /golden sable is fine) in a range of sizes/shapes. Underglaze/coloured slip of choice for final large work. Not needed for first class as Alison will supply some materials to experiment with and further information on what to purchase. Materials supplied as part of the course: Bennetts Terracotta Plastic sheeting Rolling pins wire cutters wooden sticks for rolling to correct depth boards for rolling out & working on Fabric for laying under slabs White Slip for painting on terracotta Coloured stains for demonstrating Tools for carving: Looped clay tools’ bamboo skewers, homemade kidneys and knives/hacksaw blades Carved poking tools Alison Smiles works in figurative ceramic sculpture and functional slip cast and wheel – thrown pottery. Her work is both colourful and playful and she is inspired by wonky historic staffordshire figurines and mid-century pottery. Alison holds a BA in ceramics from UNISA and completed her honours study at Adelaide Central School in 2018. While completing her studies, she attended the University of Sunderland, UK (2009) developing skills in slip casting, and refined her wheel throwing skills as an associate at the Jam Factory in 2012. Alison has attended residencies and symposiums in South Korea, China and Japan, as well as lecturing in ceramics at Adelaide College of the Arts and Flinders University. Alison now works from her own studio and provides academic support at Adelaide Central School. Alison has recently exhibited at Praxis Gallery, Newmarch Gallery and Gallery LnL in Sydney. Images: Courtesy of Alison Smiles Please read the Terms and Conditions before completing your enrolment. Book before 1 September to receive the early-bird discount!