Sgraffito - decorating clay tiles

Deepwell Arts is hosting a sgraffito workshop at Hunsdon House on Friday 30 October, from 2:00 to 3:30pm. If you've never come across the term, sgraffito is an ancient technique that's simpler to grasp than it sounds: you carve your own designs into soft clay tiles, scratching through a surface layer to reveal the clay underneath. It's a tactile, slow way of working, and the session is set up so you can spend the afternoon figuring out your own patterns rather than just following a template.

Working with clay in this way is a bit different from painting or drawing. Instead of adding something to the surface, you're taking it away, carving lines and shapes into the soft clay while it's still workable. Because you're working on tiles, you'll end up with a couple of finished pieces you can actually keep and use, rather than just a sketch on a page. It's a good one to bring a friend along to, too, since you'll both be working side by side.

The workshop runs at Deepwell Arts at Hunsdon House, 12 Osler Rd, Headington, Oxford OX3 9BJ. It's a ninety-minute session, so it's a relatively short commitment on a Friday afternoon. You'll need to book in advance, so don't leave it until the day. It's £21 for one person, or £37 for two, which makes it a bit cheaper if you bring someone with you. Friday 30 October, 2:00-3:30pm.