Ashtray Workshop

Service Description

Consider the ashtray: an iconic set piece in any home or business before, let's say, 2002. Perhaps you smoke, perhaps you don't, but the appeal of this ubiquitous object is undeniable. A little bit cool, a little bit kitschy. In this workshop, you will make your own ashtrays- whether they are decorative or functional. After creating your trays (all shapes and sizes) with clay, you will use underglaze to 'paint' your piece and add unique designs. Finished pieces will then be fired and glazed with a clear top coat before pickup. Use them as paper weights, jewelry dishes, soap dishes, key dishes - a piece for your friend's coffee table, or your bathroom sink. Bookings are non-refundable Teacher bio: Chelsey Pettyjohn is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in paint, sculpture, and collage. Driven by a need to create personal mythology, her work engages a specific collection of self-made archetypes and iconography. The world she creates is self-referential, and pushes the boundaries of traditional mediums. She is very interested in the juxtaposition of delicate and grotesque. As an educator, the quality she prizes most is freedom. Freedom to experiment, freedom to fail, and freedom to evolve. Working in clay for the last 8 years, Chelsey holds a BFA from Parsons the New School for Design. She has shown her work locally and internationally; exhibitions include solo and 2-person shows at ATLA, ChaShaMa, and Tennis Elbow, as well as group shows at Superhouse, Noon Projects, TIWA Gallery, Kapp Kapp, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, and Foxy Production. Artist residencies include Hunter College (2019-2020, New York NY), Portland Pottery (2021, Portland ME), Salmon Creek Farm (2022, Albion CA), and Brisons Veor (2024, Cornwall UK). She currently lives and works in Red Hook, Brooklyn.