Series: Three classes, each three hours - nine hours

Dates: Thursdays on Feb 12th, Feb 26th and March 12

Time: 3:30-6:30pm

Ages: 9-14     

Instructor: Patrick Ertel 

Class Size: Max 5 students/Min 3 students

All supplies and materials included. 

Ausable Artisan Village members may use their membership promo code at checkout. If you need help with that, contact AAV.

Class Description:

Join in the Clay Club fun as students engage in an introductory 3D class on the art of creating with stoneware clay.  (Series 1 was polymer clay.). Patrick Ertel, local pottery artist and experienced "kids" pottery teacher, will guide students as they develop hands-on knowledge, experience and skills with stoneware clay. Each class will build on the skills presented in the previous classes. 

Patrick loves kids and he loves pottery. He says, "It's about exploration and learning for kids this age, not about production." 

Ceramic Clay: 

Working with ceramic clay is a fun, educational process where children develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, focus, and creativity by shaping clay into unique forms.

Ceramic clay, which is a natural material that hardens by drying in the air then firing in a kiln, while polymer clay is a plastic-based, man-made modeling material that requires baking in a home oven to become hard and durable.

Class 1: Overview & Handbuilding with Clay

Students will learn the fundamentals of working with ceramic clay. Techniques such as slab rolling, stamping, cutting, scoring, and slip/joining to create tiles, pinch pots, figurines, decorative wall art. Projects are only limited by the imagination!

Class 2: Potter's Wheel

Join us for some muddy fun as we learn how to throw clay on the pottery wheel. Maybe a mug? Maybe a bowl? Maybe just a mess!

This class is more about learning how the clay, the wheel and the potter interact. Students will learn the basics of securing the ball of clay to the wheel, centering and opening, and pulling to a desired shape.

Class 3: Glaze Day

On the last day of Clay Club, students will finish their clay creations by glazing their work. Each student will use colorful glazes, called “underglazes” to decorate their pottery. Students may use a variety of different techniques, such as painting, using stencils, or fine details with squirt bottles to create their unique designs.

At the end of this series, each student will be able to complete and keep three to five pieces.

Feel free to bring a snack, since class is right after school.

Class Disclaimers:

A refund minus the processing fees is issued if registration is canceled more than seven days before the class begins. No refunds after that time. Full refunds if AAV cancels the class at any time.

AAV is handicapped accessible.

AAV takes precautions to provide a safe environment and our instructors are educated in providing options for individual limitations.

Please make your own individual decisions regarding health precautions.

Meet The Masters Series: Wassily Kandinsky

Ages: Preschool ages 3-5 years old (younger with an adult)

Date: Saturday, Feb. 21st

Time: 10:00 am -11:30 am

Class Notes: 

Be sure to wear play clothing, it could get messy.

Snacks and drinks provided!

Class size: 5 students

Instructor: Val Whaley

Class Description:

Meet a Master Artist: Wassily Kandinsky

Join teacher Val Whaley to study Wassily Kandinsky.  He was a Russian painter born in 1866.  He used bold colors and dynamic lines in his art.  Also, he felt that you could express feelings and music through colors and shapes.  

Kandinsky is best known for his work called “Squares with Concentric Circles”. 

February is a great month for using the heart shape to explore creativity. This class will create using Kaninsky's model, but using the heart shape. After finishing their first piece, the class will further explore shapes and colors while listening to classical music.  

Class Disclaimer:

Use the PROMO CODE sent to Grayling students by the school to reduce the cost.  Enter it on the final payment page in the upper right.  Contact the school or the Artisan Village Gallery if you need help.

A refund minus the processing fees is issued if registration is canceled more than seven days before the class begins. No refunds after that time. Full refunds if AAV cancels the class at any time. 

AAV is handicapped accessible.

AAV takes precautions to provide a safe environment and our instructors are educated in providing options for individual limitations.

Please make your own individual decisions regarding health precautions.

Meet The Masters Series: Overview

6-13 years old 

Feb. 21

12:30-2:30pm

Class size:  8 

Meet a Masters - Overview

If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy Newbold (illustrated by Greg Newbold) is a children's book that reimagines a snowman in the styles of 17 famous artists, from Picasso and Van Gogh to Pollock and O'Keeffe.  The book starts with a traditional snowman and then shows how various artists would have painted it.

Join teacher Val Whaley to learn about some of the 17 famous artists in the book.  Students will use their own creativity to draw a sketch of a snowman. Then, after learning how some "master artists" would have changed a picture, they will transform their piece to reflect the "style" of one of the MASTER ARTISTS they learned about.  Using a variety of art supplies they will complete a picture showing a snowman, or two, in the style(s) of MASTER ARTISTS. 

Be sure to wear play clothing, it could get messy.

Snacks and drinks provided.

Use the PROMO CODE sent to Grayling students by the school to reduce the cost.  Enter it on the final payment page in the upper right.  Contact the school or the Artisan Village Gallery if you need help.

A refund minus the processing fees is issued if registration is canceled more than seven days before the class begins. No refunds after that time. Full refunds if AAV cancels the class at any time. 

AAV is handicapped accessible.

AAV takes precautions to provide a safe environment and our instructors are educated in providing options for individual limitations.

Please make your own individual decisions regarding health precautions.