After spending the afternoon at the Shamrock Shuffle Expo, my biking friend Chris came back to the studio with me to play in the clay. We got to pretend we were “athletes” at the Expo, and then we got down & dirty in my studio. Chris has done a lot of other crafty projects, but this was her first time actually working in my studio. We decided to start “small”with some textured slab plates.

So first I showed her how to pull a slab by hand. And she rolled coils to create her own “slump” mold edges. Then we added textures to the slab… and Chris decided to go with some squiggles on the bottom of her plate using a plastic trowel from the hardware store.

After draping her textured slab over the slump-mold-coils,
she gently squished it in and then cut off the extra edges.

Some more textures to stylize the short ends of her tray…

And yes, those fingernails are an OBVIOUS sign that Chris is NOT a potter!!!
Pretty, but… those nails would have to go!

Chris did a great job, and created a wonderful plate. But the cutest part was when she stopped to admire and take pictures of her own work. Adorable!!!

And not one to stop with a platter… we also made a round bowl and a square plate.

So now her plates are drying. Tomorrow we rest & carbo-load…
for Sunday we will both be running in Chicago’s 8K Shamrock Shuffle!