Drawn to Clay: Exploring the Threw & Through with Misty Mawn – G26040403
Join me for an expansive week devoted to studying form through drawing and clay, as a way to see more clearly, create with intention, and deepen your understanding of how shapes take on meaning. This transformative retreat invites you to slow down, tune in, and connect deeply with shape, structure, and the quiet stories that forms can tell. Through the tactile, meditative practices of hand-building, wheel work, and observational drawing, we’ll explore the relationship between line, mass, gesture, and meaning.
Each day, we’ll shift between drawing and working with clay—allowing sketches to inform sculptural ideas and letting the clay itself suggest lines, edges, and silhouettes. We’ll observe how forms hold space, function in nature, and communicate emotion, movement, and presence. In paying close attention, we invite a dialogue: between eye and hand, between material and maker, between what is seen and what is sensed.
We’ll take inspiration from the natural world around us—its elegance, asymmetry, and imperfection—to develop a small body of work. Our week will culminate in a simple firing to solidify our work and time together.
This retreat is an invitation to dwell in the details, to discover the poetry of form, and to witness how shaping the material world can shape us in return. All you need is a bit of curiosity, a readiness to slow down, and a willingness to draw, shape, and see what unfolds.
Instructor
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Misty MawnMisty Mawn is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative roots are in ceramics. Her connection to clay began early and has remained central to her practice. Whether at the wheel or hand-building, she values the medium for its honesty and the discipline it cultivates. Also a painter and poet, Misty brings a thoughtful, process-driven approach to all of her work.
Outside the studio, she draws inspiration from nature, daily life, and movement. A mother, teacher, and animal lover, she approaches life with curiosity and care. As the author of Unfurling: A Mixed Media Workshop and an experienced international instructor, Misty is dedicated to helping others explore their creative potential. Her work has appeared in Somerset Studio, Cloth Paper Scissors, and Spirituality & Health Magazine.