ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
What if your mark-making could become a language all your own?
In this exploratory three-hour workshop, participants will design a personalized alphabet and glyph system that functions simultaneously as secret code, visual storytelling, and surface design. Following the process used by artist Ife Williams to develop a glyph system to cover the surfaces of her ceramic forms, this workshop explores the intersection of communication, pattern, symbolism, and texture.
Participants will investigate how symbols and written language can evolve into rich visual vocabularies that carry personal meaning while enhancing creative work across disciplines including ceramics, painting, drawing, printmaking, textiles, journaling, and mixed media practices.
Through guided exercises, attendees will develop:
A complete set of 26 original glyphs aligned with the standard alphabet
10 numerical symbols
6 punctuation marks representing the period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, quotation marks, and exclamation point
The workshop will also examine repetition, rhythm, abstraction, and layering as tools for transforming written communication into dynamic surface treatment and compositional texture.
Participants will leave with:
Their own functional coded writing system
A reference key for continued use and expansion
Strategies for integrating glyphs into visual artwork and creative practice
Sample exercises for developing fluency in their new symbolic language
No prior drawing or design experience is necessary. All levels are welcome.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Ife Williams is an Atlanta-born artist and arts administrator who currently serves as Deputy Director of The Hambidge Center. Maintaining an active studio practice in both stone and ceramics, her work explores material transformation, surface, sound, and symbolic language through sculptural and vessel-based forms.
Williams was the inaugural Sculptor-in-Residence at the Paul Abrams Endowment Project in Miami, where she developed a teen apprenticeship program, led workshops for Florida arts educators, and created original stone carvings rooted in traditional carving techniques. A 2014 residency at The Hambidge Center marked a pivotal transition from stone to clay, leading to the development of a distinct visual language that incorporates thrown and altered vessels, hand-built figurative forms, codified glyph systems, and elements of acoustic sound.
Alongside her studio practice, Williams has held a range of leadership and curatorial roles within arts organizations and museums. Her experience includes serving as Executive Director of Hudgens Center for Art and Learning in Duluth, Museum Curator at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, Development Consultant for Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Assistant Collections Registrar at Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle, and Director of Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture in Atlanta. She is also a Hambidge Fellow.
ELIGIBILITY: Your primary address must be in Rabun County in order to attend this workshop. You will be asked to show ID with your address upon arriving.
Please note: space is limited to 8 participants for this workshop.
Each participant must register separately.
Open to local creatives over the age of 12.
Minors must be accompanied by a participating adult. Minors will not be asked for ID; only adults.