Answers to your most pressing questions
What experience level is this class for?
Our classes are designed for makers of all levels. We've had professionals with 50 years of experience and we've had folks take our classes after having one studio class at their local community college. Everyone comes out truly understanding glazes.
Are you going to talk about...
Let me stop you there. We are going to talk about EVERYTHING.
Temperatures? Yes? Clay Flaws? You bet your buttons. Atmosphere? You better believe it. Materials? No way around it. At the end of this course you will have a through understanding of ALL aspects of clays. For a full list of topics, see here.
I work at temperature X, is this class relevant to me?
Yes, we talk about clays as a whole. All firing temperatures are interrelated. We'll teach you all of the hows and whys of all glazes.
Why should I take this class? I've got books.
Books are great, but books are a supplement and a reference in education. The reason why school is still lecture classes, is because audio/visual learning is still the most powerful educational tool.
When I first started studying materials I got a book, and I read every word...and I understood about 1% of it. The experience of listening and looking helps us to truly UNDERSTAND a subject.
Are you going to teach about commercial clays?
Our goal is to help you make your work better. It is possible to make exciting dynamic glazes at ALL temperatures. Even if you are just working in your garage or community studio, with knowledge, a scale, and materials, we will help you understand your work better.
It seems a bit pricey.
This a full class, not just a primer or an overview. We teach our courses for some of the best ceramic programs in the world. We are able to do that, because our classes are the best.
Our goal is to help you make your studio the best it can be. Get more successful work out of the kiln. Have you suffer from less "Post Firing Depression". You value your studio time. We want to help you get the most work and the best work out of your studio.
To do this, we focus on two things.
1) The real science behind how clays work.
2) How do ceramists think about materials and how do they learn best.
Science? Are you going to make me learn chemistry?
Yes! Ceramics are chemical reactions, and to understand them, we have to understand chemistry.
Have no fear, part of how we teach is to craft information to make it relevant and understandable for you.
But I'm an artist. Science doesn't apply to us. We use materials differently.
Science always applies. Yes, artists have a special approach to how we think about and use materials. We have to be considerate of what it going on in our materials. Ceramics is a scientific process, even if the result is art.
The ceramics community is wonderful, but is also filled with rumors and speculation about how things work. That information is often wrong or misleading, that can lead to work not surviving the making process. We use the best information and research to teach you how your materials REALLY work. All of our teachings are backed up by research and data, no rumors or speculation.
How does this "Online Class" thing work?
The class itself is a series of 14 one and a half to two hour, on demand lectures. Once a week a new lecture becomes available for you to watch. You can watch a sample of a lecture below.
When are your clay classes held?
Our clay class runs twice a year in January and July.
Our classes are designed for makers of all levels. We've had professionals with 50 years of experience and we've had folks take our classes after having one studio class at their local community college. Everyone comes out truly understanding glazes.
Are you going to talk about...
Let me stop you there. We are going to talk about EVERYTHING.
Temperatures? Yes? Clay Flaws? You bet your buttons. Atmosphere? You better believe it. Materials? No way around it. At the end of this course you will have a through understanding of ALL aspects of clays. For a full list of topics, see here.
I work at temperature X, is this class relevant to me?
Yes, we talk about clays as a whole. All firing temperatures are interrelated. We'll teach you all of the hows and whys of all glazes.
Why should I take this class? I've got books.
Books are great, but books are a supplement and a reference in education. The reason why school is still lecture classes, is because audio/visual learning is still the most powerful educational tool.
When I first started studying materials I got a book, and I read every word...and I understood about 1% of it. The experience of listening and looking helps us to truly UNDERSTAND a subject.
Are you going to teach about commercial clays?
Our goal is to help you make your work better. It is possible to make exciting dynamic glazes at ALL temperatures. Even if you are just working in your garage or community studio, with knowledge, a scale, and materials, we will help you understand your work better.
It seems a bit pricey.
This a full class, not just a primer or an overview. We teach our courses for some of the best ceramic programs in the world. We are able to do that, because our classes are the best.
Our goal is to help you make your studio the best it can be. Get more successful work out of the kiln. Have you suffer from less "Post Firing Depression". You value your studio time. We want to help you get the most work and the best work out of your studio.
To do this, we focus on two things.
1) The real science behind how clays work.
2) How do ceramists think about materials and how do they learn best.
Science? Are you going to make me learn chemistry?
Yes! Ceramics are chemical reactions, and to understand them, we have to understand chemistry.
Have no fear, part of how we teach is to craft information to make it relevant and understandable for you.
But I'm an artist. Science doesn't apply to us. We use materials differently.
Science always applies. Yes, artists have a special approach to how we think about and use materials. We have to be considerate of what it going on in our materials. Ceramics is a scientific process, even if the result is art.
The ceramics community is wonderful, but is also filled with rumors and speculation about how things work. That information is often wrong or misleading, that can lead to work not surviving the making process. We use the best information and research to teach you how your materials REALLY work. All of our teachings are backed up by research and data, no rumors or speculation.
How does this "Online Class" thing work?
The class itself is a series of 14 one and a half to two hour, on demand lectures. Once a week a new lecture becomes available for you to watch. You can watch a sample of a lecture below.
When are your clay classes held?
Our clay class runs twice a year in January and July.
How long do I have to watch a lecture?
Once a lecture is made available, it is there for you to watch as often as you can, for the duration of the class.
What if I missed something in the lecture?
Rewind and watch it again. You can watch it as often as you need?
What devices can I watch the lectures on?
Any device at all, All that is required is good internet connection.
I live in Country X, can I participate?
We've taught people on every continent except Antarctica (Still no kilns down there, last we heard). The great thing about glaze chemistry is that it is universal. You may have different materials, than we do, but it makes no difference to how clays work.
Is the class just lectures?
We have two versions, there is the "Just Lectures" which is just that. We also have our "Full Course" which is the lectures plus many other features.
If I sign up for "Just Lectures" and want to switch to the full course, do I have to pay all over again?
Nope, There are instructions in the "Just Lecture" classes on how to switch over. You just have to pay the difference and a small processing fee.
What are the features of the Full Course?
We have live, online, video discussion every other week. Where we can discuss class content, experiments or whatever is on your mind. We also have experiments (labs), readings, discussion boards, and at the end you will receive a copy of our lecture notes.
When is the live hangout scheduled for?
We don't schedule the actual meeting time until the course begins. That way we can accommodate the majority of the students. That said, they tend to be 8 p.m. (20:00, -6 GMT) Eastern Standard Time on a weekday.
If I can't make it, am I out of luck?
NO! All the live hangouts are recorded, so you can go back and watch them later.
How long does the class run?
All our classes are three months (12 weeks)
After three months do I have access to the classes?
After the three month class has ended you will have one more month of accesses. After four months you can regain access to the class content by supporting us on Patreon. You will have access to the class as long as you support CMW's efforts to spread great ceramics information.
Do you talk about glazes in this class?
There is some discussion of glazes in the class, but this is a clays-centric class. We have a class exclusively on Glazes.
Can I take this course for academic credit?
No, this version of the class is not for academic credit. We do offer a version though Alfred University that does offer academic credit.
Once a lecture is made available, it is there for you to watch as often as you can, for the duration of the class.
What if I missed something in the lecture?
Rewind and watch it again. You can watch it as often as you need?
What devices can I watch the lectures on?
Any device at all, All that is required is good internet connection.
I live in Country X, can I participate?
We've taught people on every continent except Antarctica (Still no kilns down there, last we heard). The great thing about glaze chemistry is that it is universal. You may have different materials, than we do, but it makes no difference to how clays work.
Is the class just lectures?
We have two versions, there is the "Just Lectures" which is just that. We also have our "Full Course" which is the lectures plus many other features.
If I sign up for "Just Lectures" and want to switch to the full course, do I have to pay all over again?
Nope, There are instructions in the "Just Lecture" classes on how to switch over. You just have to pay the difference and a small processing fee.
What are the features of the Full Course?
We have live, online, video discussion every other week. Where we can discuss class content, experiments or whatever is on your mind. We also have experiments (labs), readings, discussion boards, and at the end you will receive a copy of our lecture notes.
When is the live hangout scheduled for?
We don't schedule the actual meeting time until the course begins. That way we can accommodate the majority of the students. That said, they tend to be 8 p.m. (20:00, -6 GMT) Eastern Standard Time on a weekday.
If I can't make it, am I out of luck?
NO! All the live hangouts are recorded, so you can go back and watch them later.
How long does the class run?
All our classes are three months (12 weeks)
After three months do I have access to the classes?
After the three month class has ended you will have one more month of accesses. After four months you can regain access to the class content by supporting us on Patreon. You will have access to the class as long as you support CMW's efforts to spread great ceramics information.
Do you talk about glazes in this class?
There is some discussion of glazes in the class, but this is a clays-centric class. We have a class exclusively on Glazes.
Can I take this course for academic credit?
No, this version of the class is not for academic credit. We do offer a version though Alfred University that does offer academic credit.