classes!

Interested in taking ceramics classes? Alyssa Ettinger will be teaching them out of her studio in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

She's offering two kinds of workshops which run concurrently: Basic handbuilding, for those wanting to learn (or re-learn) how to work in clay, and textural tile-making using everyday objects--shells, leaves, fabric, rubber stamps, beads--and her treasured collection of gorgeous items she's found in NYC area dumps to make impressions in the clay. (See pictures, right. These pieces range from chunks of depression mixing bowls, art-deco vases, arts and crafts bowls, and even a parts of a pineapple themed McCoy planter.)

Workshops are six 2 1/2 hour sessions and are held Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for six weeks in a row.

Late summer classes are in full swing, Autumn classes begin the week of October 12. Class fees are all-inclusive and include all clay (white earthenware), firing fees and glaze. Payment is $400 per person payable on the first day of class, 4 students max per evening.

To keep the studio lively and curious, Ettinger will be inviting numerous establisted artists (most from completely different mediums) to work among students on a rotating basis. Classes are casual, curious, and filled with students with varying degress of experience--newbies encouraged! Combine these factors with some wine, snacks and great music, it's Ettinger's hope that her classes will have the feel of an artistic salon. For more information, shoot her an email.