Slab Sculptures: Unity & Clay with Josh Herman

In this 6-week immersive course, you’ll create a stacked sculpture using slab construction, guided by the principle of unity. Led by our founder, Josh Herman, this class explores how individual elements come together to form a cohesive whole, building a piece that embodies balance, harmony, and connection through form.

Each session combines hands-on construction with mindful awareness, introducing techniques for building with slabs while developing a deeper sensitivity to structure, balance, and flow. You’ll learn how to design and plan a stacked form, construct stable foundations, build upward with intention, and refine surfaces through texture and detail. Along the way, we’ll explore how each component relates to the whole, both physically and conceptually.

Rooted in the Tao of Clay approach, this course emphasizes presence in the making process. Through guided exercises and reflection, students are encouraged to move beyond rigid planning and instead respond intuitively to the material, allowing the sculpture to evolve with clarity and cohesion.

This class is open to both beginners and experienced artists interested in exploring sculptural form through a more intentional and connected process. By the end of the course, you’ll have completed a finished sculpture and developed a deeper understanding of how unity can guide your creative work.

Level: Beginner – Intermediate

Prerequisite Note: No prior experience is necessary. Open to all skill levels.

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Tools & Materials: We provide clay, glaze, sponges, buckets, and storage for students enrolled in this class. Please note that tools are not included—students are required to bring their own.

Please see the Required Tool List below for a comprehensive list of tools for this course. A curated selection of our favorite tools, as well as beginner tool kits for throwing and hand-building, are available for purchase in our on-site shop.

Required Tool List:

• Fork
• knife (a cheap pairing knife works well)
• Metal Rib
• Serrated metal rib
• flexible plastic rib (optional)
• Wooden Paddle (optional)
• Trimming Tool (optional, we recommend Kemper Pro-line or equivalent)

Firing: The course fee includes the cost of firing one finished sculpture (up to 2 square feet in size). Pieces that are over the size limit for this course will be subject to oversize firing fees.

Studio Access: As a student, you’ll have access to the studio outside of class hours to practice and develop your skills further!

*Please note: The studio is occasionally closed for events. Be sure to check our studio calendar online for any updates or closures affecting open hours.

We reserve the right to cancel the class due to low enrollment or for other necessary reasons.

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Cancellation Policy:

Please note that all registrations are final, and we are unable to offer refunds for cancellations.

Missed Classes:

We do not offer refunds or make-up classes. If you need to miss a class, our staff will do their best to help you catch up during the next session or open studio hours.

Questions? Email info@taoofclay.com.