All day Handbuilding Workshop | $200
Sunday, January 18, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

This hands-on workshop draws inspiration from the rich inventory of the historic General Store—ceramic crocks, enamelware, oil cans, bottles, flasks, and other functional wares. Using soft-slab construction techniques along with simple molds and templates, participants will explore and reimagine these familiar “old-timey” forms in clay.

We’ll begin with an artist talk to set the tone for the day, followed by guided demonstrations including cylinders, truncated cones, spouts, and handles. Throughout the session, we’ll discuss exaggerating and altering forms, surface treatments, and thoughtful approaches to working in series. The day will conclude with a brief group discussion and a review of the new “inventory” we’ve created.

Come ready to experiment, reinterpret tradition, and expand your slab-building skills.

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The day begins with pastries and coffee, with a catered lunch included so the workshop can unfold without interruption.

This workshop is designed for people with experience working with clay who are comfortable handling and building with the material. Participants may take their pieces home at the end of the day or have them bisqued and glazed in Maine Clay’s kilns.

All materials and firings are included. Limited studio tools are available to borrow, and participants are encouraged to bring their preferred tools. Additional tools are available for purchase in the on-site supply shop.

On-street parking is available nearby, and the studio is ADA accessible.

This workshop is limited to nine participants.

Artists Statement

My approach to art making is rooted in my design training and the belief that the best solutions often emerge from the problem itself. Solving diverse visual problems I work in a wide range of disciplines and mediums including ceramics, encaustic, printmaking and photography. Allowing each project to evolve organically through a process of inquiry, research, and immersion—I distill visual opportunities into solutions that are specific, unique, and meaningful.

Guided by a minimalist sensibility and working primarily in clay, I use slab construction and molds to create both sculptural and functional forms. As a hand-builder, I’m drawn to the tactile and the structural, letting form and surface speak quietly but with intent.

Growing up in the Midwest, I found inspiration in abandoned buildings, worn tools, and industrial fittings—objects shaped by use and time. My recent work reflects a personal response to movement and place, drawing from the visual language of bridge trusses, industrial castings, and USGS survey markers. These influences inform a body of abstract ceramic sculptures that reinterpret utilitarian forms as refined, elegant and ambiguous objects.

Biography

Tom Hubbard is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose practice includes ceramics, photography, mixed media, and public art installations. Characterized by a minimalist approach, his work often explores themes of loss, and the effects of mobility or reinterprets industrial forms as elegant, ambiguous objects.

Widely recognized for his artistic contributions, he has taught classes, led workshops and shared insights into his creative process as an instructor at the Harvard University Ceramics Program. He has also shared his work through lectures and presentations and his work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly and Ceramics: Art & Perception. Exhibited widely in both the U.S. and The Netherlands his work is included in several private and corporate collections

including the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area. Notable commissions include the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as public art installations for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and the City of Columbus, OH. Hubbard was recently named a McKnight Foundation Ceramic Artist and completed a short term residencies at the Northern Clay Center and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts..

Born in San Francisco and holding a BFA from Indiana University, Hubbard grew up in the Midwest and lived in Maine, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and The Netherlands. He currently resides in Massachusetts with his wife and a rescue dog from Mississippi.