This five-day workshop, led by Katia Terpigoreva, an artist and materials practitioner, offers an immersive experience in hands-on work combining textile fibers and liquid porcelain. Participants will discover artisanal techniques through simple, slow, and repetitive gestures characteristic of the crafts of fiber and clay.
By working with raw and sensitive materials, each participant will learn to shape forms inspired by living things, drawing on observations of natural processes: drying, firing, fiber tension… The focus will be on listening to the material, respecting its pace, and the importance of the gesture.

Each participant will create a unique piece combining textile craftsmanship and ceramic shaping, using an artisanal approach where the hand guides the form.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand liquid porcelain and its interaction with textile fibers
• Explore techniques for dipping, suspension, drying, and firing
• Create and assemble organic forms using simple materials
• Develop a sensitive and experimental approach to textile sculpture
• Design a personal piece combining liquid porcelain and knitted cord

The goal of this workshop is to guide each participant in creating a unique, handcrafted piece by exploring artisanal techniques that combine textiles and ceramics. The focus is on working with the materials, experimenting with natural processes (drying, firing, fiber tension), and gradually shaping a personal, sensitive object rooted in the act of creation.

The pedagogical approach prioritizes learning through practice: demonstrations of techniques, time for free experimentation, individualized guidance, and discussions about craftsmanship. Each participant is guided in developing their project, with a solid technical foundation while leaving room for intuition, observation of materials, and personal expression through the hands.

Schedule

Day 1

Morning

• Preparing the porcelain: mixing the clay until a homogeneous mixture is obtained
• Preparing the wool: creating the fibrous supports for soaking

Afternoon

• Forming the first grains:
• First soaking of the wool in the liquid porcelain
• Hanging to dry
• Second preparation of fibrous substrates
• Second soaking and hanging

Day 2

Morning

• Retrieval of dried pieces
• Preparation of fibrous supports for soaking
• Assembling the porcelain beads with an airy cord, knitted using a knitting loom

Afternoon

• Finishing the beads

Day 3

Morning

• Retrieving dried pieces
• Preparing fibrous supports for soaking
• Soaking in liquid porcelain and hanging to dry

Afternoon

• Post-processing of the beads
• Loading the kiln and starting the firing

Day 4

Morning

• Removal of dried pieces
• Post-processing of the grains
• Removing the fired pieces
• Second kiln loading and start of firing

Afternoon

• Creating a custom knitting loom
• Stringing the beads into an openwork cord using the beading loom

Day 5

Morning

• Collecting the dried pieces
• Finalizing the assemblies
• Aesthetic and technical finishing touches

Afternoon

• Finishing the parts and presentation
• Tidying up the workshop

Katia Terpigoreva

Born in Moscow, Katia Terpigoreva began her career in journalism, working for nearly twenty years in the fields of design, architecture, and contemporary art. At age 35, she made a radical career shift and chose to devote herself to visual arts. After a stay in Italy, she settled in Aveyron, where she has lived and worked since 2010.

A self-taught artisan and artist, Katia has developed a free, intuitive, and organic practice outside of academic frameworks. Her approach explores the sensory qualities of various materials—porcelain, stoneware, wool, fabric, cement, charred wood, and more—which she assembles, transforms, or repurposes. She favors slow, repetitive gestures reminiscent of traditional craftsmanship and allows natural processes—such as drying, firing, and the tension of fibers—to influence the final form of her works.
Her creations lie at the intersection of the organic and the inorganic. Their aesthetic draws inspiration from minimalism, Italian anti-design, Brutalist architecture, and nature itself.

A member of the Homo Faber Guide, selected by the Michelangelo Foundation for her commitment to European artisanal excellence, Katia Terpigoreva embodies a renewal of contemporary creation rooted in gesture, material, and the long term.

Alongside her artistic practice, she regularly collaborates with the Atelier Blanc in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, where she has presented several installations, including the remarkable *Sans souci*, composed of hundreds of porcelain flowers suspended in the art center’s gardens.

“I am a girl without roots,” she confides. Cosmopolitan and free-spirited, she creates a body of work that is both poetic and socially engaged, driven by a simple yet essential desire: to make the world a more beautiful place.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Supply of materials
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop-based work
• Active participation and hands-on experimentation by participants are emphasized

• Group and personalized progress tracking, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group presentation
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa