Carson Culp & Pietro Maddalena: Endless Forms, Limited Palette | La Meridiana, The International School of Ceramic Arts | Tuscany, Italy July 6 - 19 , 2025

Introduction

Immerse yourself in a two week workshop at La Meridiana, The International School of Ceramic Art in Tuscany, Italy where we focus on expressing beauty through form and traditional glazes. The two instructors are from different generations, but their vision of ceramics is akin, because influenced by the message of Bernard Leach. Carson Culp, former Leach Potter, cannot help but be influenced by tradition, meaning the passing of beliefs or customs from generation to generation. Pietro Maddalena sees the craft object as a projection of the human spirit and the culture in which it was nurtured.

Course Contents

We will explore forms and their silhouettes with the use of the potter’s wheel; students will study many shapes including shallow bowls, platters, jars, teapots and jugs. In making we will pay attention of how a glaze may be fluid or break over texture, facets, sharp rims, attached handles, and how it behaves in dedicated areas for pooling. By restricting the palette to the selected glazes of Tenmoku, Celadon, Copper Red, and Chun, a homage to the past, participants will challenge themselves to innovate within these limits. Their discovery and use date back to over 1,000 years by the Chinese and the Western World was introduced to them predominantly through the writings and recipes in Bernard Leach’s “A Potter’s Book”.

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