Mennonite Life, 2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster, will hold a hands-on workshop led by local artist Emily Smucker-Beidler on Saturday, Jan. 17, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Mennonite Life Community Room. The workshop will explore the history behind Pennsylvania redware pottery and guide participants through the process of creating their own set of redware ornaments.

Workshop participants will start with a prepared slab of red clay with white slip and cut out five or more ornament shapes. Using the sgraffito method, participants will then scratch through the slip layer, creating decorative fraktur designs. All provided patterns come from historic Pennsylvania German redware.

Smucker-Beidler will detail some of the history behind the art form, including how red clay was mined and processed and the role and life of a potter within historic Pennsylvania German culture. She is a student of Roma Ruth, a respected artist from Montgomery County.

After the workshop, Smucker-Beidler will bisque fire all of the pieces, coat them in a clear glaze, and fire them once more. Ornaments may be picked up at Mennonite Life approximately four weeks following the event.

There is a fee, and Mennonite Life members will receive a discount. All materials will be included. The workshop is open to anyone age 13 and older. Preregistration is required, and space is limited. To register, visit http://www.mennonitelife.org/events.

Mennonite Life's vision is diverse communities connecting across boundaries by knowing and valuing their own and each other's stories of life, faith, cultures, and histories.