Studio Notes

2026 May 23

tools have been gathered from the accumulated knowledge of working artists, educators, and advisors across disciplines — people who spent careers figuring out what actually helps. They are offered in the hope that some of them help you find your voice, build your practice, and keep making work over the long run. The philosophical spine of Studio Notes is Stoic praxis — the daily practice of closing the gap between what you understand and what you actually do. Marcus Aurelius described the person with a serious practice as a headland: the waves beat against it continuously, but it stands fast and around it the boiling water dies down. He was not talking about avoiding difficulty. He was talking about what you do with it.

Rainbows Coming Out Of My Ass!

2024 June 05

Rumor has it that Judy Garland was once confronted in the ladies’ room by a drunken fan pestering her to sing a few bars of “Over the Rainbow.” While making her exit, Judy snapped back, “Madame, I’ve got rainbows coming out of my ass!” Sometimes, that’s exactly how I feel …

A photograph of Andrew Cornell Robinson (center) working with artists Jeffrey Goldstein (left) and Alonso Cartú (right) firing a western-style Raku Kiln.

Western Style Raku Fire

2023 October 22

Andrew Cornell Robinson has been working with Raku fired ceramic since he first apprenticed to a potter in the last 1970s and early 1980s. His first mentor, Grace Bailey and his teacher Dave Cohen both studied under American ceramist Paul Soldner, who adopted and adapted Raku firing methods and popularized them in the United States in the 1960s. Andrew continues this tradition today in his studio and shares this knowledge with his friends and students.

Body as Form

2023 February 23

A sculpture studio exploring the body as a site of intervention. Building upon the abstract principles of art and design this course serves as a pedagogical bridge between introductory sculpture and three dimensional design studios. The common vehicle for all of our three dimensional study in this course is the …

Introduction to CERAMICS

2023 February 23

This introductory graduate level ceramic studio introduces multiple making methods from sculptural modeling, and throwing forms on the wheel, to mold making, and slip casting.

Experimental Ceramics

2023 February 22

Expressionism and experimentation in ceramics. This course is open to artists, designers, and more experienced students who have taken Ceramic Fundamentals. Through various theme-based projects, students develop sophisticated proposals and are supported through innovative sculpture, model and mold making workshops. Ceramics can blur the lines between art, design and craft. …

Teaching Methodology: A framework for critical thinking and reflection on art

2023 February 21

As an artist and educator, I work to facilitate open and collaborative spaces where students can grow through problem-based learning strategies, which holistically explore making skills from multiple disciplines as well as conceptual strategies to help young artists and designers build confidence in their abilities, develop visual vocabularies, and articulate …

Look and Touch / Form, Material, and Modularity

2023 February 20

Using the slab roller, extruder, coil, pinch, or wheel, make a sequence of modular forms that explore surface variables through touch as well as sight. Consider the gestalt of texture, form, structure, rhythm, material variation and physical interaction. Actions + Deliverables The project with all deliverables is due during the …

Forensic Self Portrait

2023 February 01

An undergraduate drawing assignment, which kicks off an interdisciplinary studio course exploring visual language and meaning.

Photograph of a pin up wall exploring a visual mood board collage of color, photography, texture, typography, and form

Visualizing Ideas and Opportunities through Mood Boards

2023 January 26

Moving beyond words and experiencing the world through our sensations can spark insights that we may act upon through the design and making of a thing. The ephemeral nature of a doodle, a sketch, a collage of images, a collection of artifacts, cumulatively can reveal a trust about the agency of things…