Wheel Throwing

How can one discuss pottery in this day and age without talking about the wheel?! The wheel like any other item in pottery is just a tool to aid you in the creation process. There is a level of meditation in throwing that is unique and all encompassing. It takes some time to develop the skills necessary to have even and symmetrical forms but for those with the patience it’s well worth it.
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In the workshop participants will learn how to throw their very own ceramic piece on the wheel! This workshop is ideal for people who have never thrown on the wheel before or for those who have only done it a handful of times. A step-by-step demo will take place throughout the session as well as 2 balls of pre-wedged clay for each participant.

Coil Building

Many of those who haven’t worked with clay much before often say their association to coil building is with air dry clay from elementary or middle school. Although accurate and adorably nostalgic the wonders of coil building can be vast and help you create things you’d never imagine otherwise. This technique can be used to make ceremonial, decorative, functional, and sculptural work depending on how the creator uses it. For those interested in learning this wild style send an email to schedule your first lesson!
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Coil Building is wonderful in that it appeals to every level of experience. The coil building technique has something to offer whether you’re making your first piece ever, have some experience hand building, or are a full-fledged sculptor. In this workshop we will go over how to roll an even coil, attaching pieces of clay, free form design, and decorative techniques.

Slab Building

Another extremely popular hand building technique used in the creation process. Similar to coil building, slabs can create functional, sculptural, ceremonial, and decorative works. The forms in slab building traditionally have dramatically flat surfaces and push the angular aesthetic. For those interested in learning this wild style send an email to schedule your first lesson!
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In this workshop we will go over how to roll an even slab, how to attach pieces of clay, architectural supports, and decorative techniques.

Hey, fellow nature enthusiast, my name is Phillip and I’d like to introduce myself, who I am, and why I’m so passionate about wildlife! Being raised in a big city during a time in which the world was transitioning into the era of technology didn’t allow for me to have much of an experience with or within nature. We had our occasional field trips in grade school when we would go to a state park for a day full of organized sports and activities. Unfortunately, we were never given the time nor opportunity to just be curious kids amongst nature. Years go by and eventually I found myself attending a small Liberal Arts college in Alfred, New York where my need for nature/wildlife was finally answered. For the first time in my adult life I was able to take a ton of special interest courses that were mostly field-work oriented and majority of those classes were held outside. With the guidance of amazing professors, I, the city kid, was able to get hands on experience with various aspects of Ornithology (the study of birds), Herpetology (the study of amphibians.), and other environmental issues. I was amazed at how much fun I had, but the most eye-opening thing was realizing that I was missing this exposure my entire life up until this moment. This new unconventional classroom captivated me and my interests for business marketing were replaced with a passion to serve nature; in doing so I ended up studying both Environmental Science and Geology. 

After graduating May of 2015, I was honored to work a session at a summer camp where I was able to network with a ton of amazing outdoorsy people who too shared the same passions and ideals as me. From that session I was able to learn about the amazing program Nature’s Classroom. The summer camp and Nature’s Classroom were the first places where I was able to share my new hobby with an audience of pubescent kids who didn’t have much of a desire to truly be in nature with a hippie they just met. Both places shared the same mission at heart, to provide students and teachers alike an opportunity to experience an alternative way of formal education, outside the constraints of a classroom. This is where I fell in love with mentoring other kids who were interested in the same environmental things as I, they were just missing the right person to captivate their attention all this time.

Collectively these experiences have lead me up to this point where we are starting “W.I.L.D Wednesdays”! W.I.L.D stands for wilderness incorporated learning and discovery, and its purpose is to allow kids and parents both a platform to co-learn/co-experience nature as we part take in weekly activities focusing on varying aspects of environmental education. Our goal is to provide families with an opportunity to be encompassed in nature and allow themselves to step away from the stresses of today’s world, and to look at nature with a new set of eyes and appreciation. I was taught that one must be a steward of his environment at heart for them to teach others just how important our environment is to us. Unintentionally the messenger that I am, I have the duty to share what I know with this new generation of people who will have the resources to change the world for the better far beyond our imagination. If you’re interested in guided family wilderness hikes, learning basic survival, or more please contact us below!