The Way of Clay:
Singing Up the Earth

Alan Steinberg

May 14-16, 2010

Register Online

“The purpose of art is to praise, thank and express our gratitude and wonder. We make art to sing up the earth.”
          —Paddy Roe, Australian Aboriginal elder

It’s no accident that when we experience strong emotions, we say we feel “touched.” The most tactile of mediums, clay has the capacity to act as a catalyst, both physically and emotionally, bringing up hidden insights, as concrete images emerge through our hands. In this workshop participants will move in alternating rhythms between encountering the landscape of Rowe, responding through clay, and enjoying each others’ creations. We’ll focus on exploration and discovery, rather than on skill building, but techniques will be shared as needed.

If stones are the bones of the Earth, Alan Steinberg believes, then clay must be her connective tissue. “Born out of earthen clay, we aspire to flight. To grow strong wings we must find and feed our roots,” Alan says, “we must reconnect with the Earth. Our bonds with the mineral, plant, and animal realms support us in our evolution toward enlightenment and nourish our visions.”

As participants move more deeply into the landscape and our connections to it, each will experience the naturalness of their creative ability. Those who have never sculpted before may uncover talents they never knew they had. Others with a clay background may experience Mother Earth as Muse, as a source of their creativity.

The purpose of art goes far beyond the making of pretty things. The work we do in clay as a response to nature has healing benefits beyond the ones we experience personally. Martin Prechtel, a Tzutuhil Mayan Shaman, notes in Western culture that “the artist is the closest thing we have to a shaman, who serves the world of the Spirits. These Spirits, having no opposable thumbs, need our gifts. In Prechtel’s view the artist’s creation feeds the world of Spirit underlying the visible natural world, providing the Spirit world the energy it needs to birth the lushness that surrounds us. It is this sense of reciprocity that brings healing peace and happiness to our hearts.”

Rowe is honored to welcome Alan back. This workshop, appropriate for people of all skill levels, has a $25 materials fee, but you’ll probably take home some clay.

 

Alan Steinberg has been a ceramic artist and teacher for more than 40 years and his work has been shown in galleries across the country. He helped found the Brattleboro (Vt.) Clayworks and has studied with many well-known artists in the field, including Paul Soldner, George Kokis, and Paulus Berensohn, but he feels his studies with teachers outside the world of clay — teachers such as Prechtel, Ram Dass, Pema Chodron, Stanley Krippner, Shaun McNiff, Peter London and Alex Grey — have contributed the most to his world view. A practitioner of yoga and Buddhist meditation, Steinberg also maintains a practice as a psychosynthesis guide.