Clay and Texture: Impressions From Nature

Date: October 24 & 31, 2026

Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Location: Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture

Join us for a hands-on ceramics workshop at PMRCAA led by local artist Laura Dortmans. Participants learn the fundamentals of hand-building with clay while drawing inspiration directly from the landscape of Pine Meadow Ranch. Using natural materials such as leaves, bark, rocks, and other organic textures, students create unique surface designs through press-molding and imprinting techniques.

Throughout the 2 sessions of the workshop, participants create forms and design their own functional ceramic pieces, exploring both form and texture. They learn basic hand-building techniques before their pieces are fired, followed by glazing, resulting in beautiful, food & dishwasher-safe final pieces. Finished works may include bowls, vases, platters, and other decorative or functional objects that reflect both the creative process and the natural environment that inspires them.

This workshop will take place over 2 Saturdays and the final pieces will be available for pick up after the final firing.

No previous ceramics experience required. All materials will be provided.

For ages 16 and older. Those under age 16 may attend accompanied by an adult.

About the Instructor:

Laura Dortmans is a ceramic artist originally from the south-eastern coast of Australia. She completed her MFA in Ceramics at the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2024 and is now based in Sisters, Oregon. Laura’s studio research explores materiality and body. Working with experimental processes, her ceramic sculptures perform as a surrogate for her own physicality and the sensations of the body – not as direct representation, but as the feeling of being in her body. Laura seeks a material language that conveys movement, visual tension and spaciousness.

Laura was a 2024 Artist Fellow with the Aspen Art Museum. In 2023, she received the Emerging Australian Artist Prize from the Australian Consulate-General in New York and presented her first solo exhibition, Perpetual Motion. She was also awarded the American Australian Association Arts Scholarship. Laura has written for the Journal of Australian Ceramics, Buxton Contemporary, and Gippsland Art Gallery. Her work has been exhibited in Australia, Japan and the USA.

Cancellation Policy

- $20 cancellation fee

- 0% refund for cancellations less than 1 week before the workshop

- 50% refund for cancellations 7-14 days prior

- Full refunds will be provided if PMRCAA cancels the event due to inclement weather or if an instructor is unavailable.

Please submit all cancellation requests in writing to [email protected].

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