Kurinuki is a Japanese hand-building technique that means “carving out.” It starts with a solid block of clay that is shaped by hand and is then hollowed out with various tools to form an interior space. This meditative technique allows students to build and design intuitively, while the subtractive hollowing process allows students to reflect on structure, thickness/thinness of the material, and repetitive motion. This technique is great for jars and lidded vessels, but also works for cups, bowls, vases, and sculptural forms. Once finished with the building and hollowing process on day one, day two can be spent adding embellishments and painting their works with colored slips. This class is beginner friendly and no experience is required. Throughout the class, students will receive individualized instruction and feedback from the instructor. Students can expect to create 2-3 forms depending on size. This workshop will be held on August 24 & 25 from 1-4pm each day. ​This workshop is limited to participants 18+. There is a minimum of 4 participants and a maximum of 12. If the minimum is not met, participants will be refunded.  About Amy Smoot: Amy Smoot is the Clay Studio manager at Kentuck. She is from Carrollton, GA and currently resides in Tuscaloosa, AL. She received her BFA in ceramics from the University of West Georgia in 2015. While there, she was studio technician and research assistant in the ceramics area. In 2019 she received her MFA from The University of Alabama where she first began teaching ceramics as a graduate assistant. Her practice consists of all types of ceramics techniques including mold-making, slip-casting, hand building, and wheel thrown pottery. This workshop is sponsored in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Holle Family Foundation.