Mark Shapiro Workshop

Teapots, Etc.

In conjunction with The Atlanta Teapot Festival, teapot master Mark Shapiro of Stonepool Pottery will lead a two day demonstration workshop focused on the "Grande Dame" of studio pots. The workshop will address the classic challenge of designing and harmonizing parts: lid, spout, handle, and body. Mark will be our guide in learning how to make these work together both visually and mechanically for a successful teapot.

Mark will demonstrate various approaches to making engaging and functional teapots, beginning with the wheel and exploring the rich possibilities of faceting, altering, pulling and texturing, and decorating. He will also address the "etc." of tea-ware including making cups, creamers, sugars, and more. Mark will also discuss scale, making sets, and the role of the teapot for contemporary studio potters and its place in history.

About Mark Shapiro

Mark Shapiro is a studio potter who fires a wood-burning kiln in western Massachusetts. He is a frequent workshop leader and panelist, and his essay on lyrical functionalism is in the current Studio Potter magazine. His work has been featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly and is shown by the Ferrin and Lacoste Galleries both in solo exhibitions and at SOFA. His pots are in the permanent collections of the Racine Art Museum, The International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred NY, the Newark Art Museum, and the Mint Museum of Craft+Design.