From The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville, NC:
We are thrilled to host our own, Tori Motyl, a fearless and amazingly skilled potter!
Tori returns home to The Village Potters Clay Center for an exciting two-day demonstration devoted to the art and thrill of Making Really, Really Big Pots. A former graduate and apprentice of our Advanced Studies Program and staff instructor, this is where Tori first began throwing bigger, and now she’s coming home to share just how far that journey has taken her. Now based in Vermont, Tori brings her latest skills, refined techniques, and new perspectives she has gleaned from her life and work in Vermont, her studio home.
In this demonstration workshop Tori will challenge your thinking about the vessel as an architectural structure and the clay as our building material. Over two days Tori will build a vessel from start to finish while covering topics including:
● How to plan and prepare for a large vessel while taking into consideration the structural integrity of your design
● How to build a pot on the wheel wider than you can throw
● How to design pots taller than your kiln
● How to incorporate new technologies like CAD and CNC machining to execute more exact designs
There will be ample time to ask questions and gain information that will help you customize what you learn for your own work and studio practice, or just enjoy the mind blowing demonstration.
After a season working with renowned large-work potter Steven Proctor, Tori has developed a confident, grounded, and safe approach to large-scale throwing. She’ll generously share her process, problem-solving strategies, and the determination it takes to bring really, really big pots into being.
Tori’s work has also caught the attention of Ralph Lauren, with a commission of her large, colorful vessels featured as centerpieces in recent retail displays, proof that big pots can make a big impact.
Whether or not you ever plan to throw at this scale, these two days promise to be pure magic: watching Tori build a monumental vessel, approximately 32" wide x 44" tall, while sharing stories, insights, and her deep love of clay. We’ll break bread together sharing lunch each day, and soak up the energy that only a generous, passionate maker like Tori can bring.
Let’s give Tori the warmest welcome home and join her as she shares her amazing techniques and her love for big pots with us, her community.
Learn more and sign up at: https://streams.thevillagepotters.com/product/july-11-12-2026-engineering-the-large-vessel-w-tori-motyl-2-day-demonstration-workshop-copy/