So flasks seem to be all the rage these days?!
So many potters are tackling this trendy topic.
o I decided I needed to jump into the pond… afterall, all the cool kids are doin’ it.

I started by throwing bottomless cylinders… trying to keep them pretty thin so the flasks won’t weigh too much. When the stickiness had dried off of them, I stamped them and then squished them into tight ovals. I always find it interesting to see how so many cylinders that take up so much table space can be “squished” down onto one board in such a short amount of time.

I then made slab tops that domed over the tops.
Score & slip… score & slip… scratch & attach… repeat… repeat… repeat…
And then I attached some thrown spouts to finish them off.

When they were all assembled, I added some colored flashing slips to the tops and small details in the stamped textures. These “colors” will be a LOT more apparent & colorful after the soda firing.

After bisque and soda firing…. we now have finished flasks with some rubber stoppers to close them up. So for now they’re price, packed and ready for their BIG debit tomorrow at the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival.

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Pricing & packing a fresh batch of glazed mugs for the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival. Two days of fun in the sun in downtown Hinsdale in Garfield Park. C’mon by Saturday or Sunday from 10:00am-5:00pm!!!

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After a week of amazingly clear, cloudless days… gorgeous!!!…
I must admit it was kinda nice to see clouds again this morning.
Something more for the sun to play with this morning!!!

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A wonderful night with The Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail and their rendition of a The Cell Block Tango. Another great production at the Drury Lane Theater. He had it comin’!!!

And we were sitting under a beautiful chandelier in the theater. Makes me glad we’re not seeing “Phantom Of The Opera”… if you know what I mean?!

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Spirals, Circles and Parallelograms… oh my.

Here’s a crazy cool surface I got on one of my slip class demo tumblers.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take good notes, so I’m not quite sure what’s going on here?!…
or how I could do it again? Unfortunately, the “other” side of the tumbler is just pretty dark & toasted. Trust me… this is the better side!

This past Tuesday night was the last class for my Simply Soda class for the Spring session. My beginning soda-firing students did a great job working through some of the “difficulties” and “unpredictabilities” of firing in the soda kiln. But after ten weeks, we made it to the end and everyone learned a LOT… including me!

To celebrate our last class, we had a little class challenge to finish with. At the beginning of the session, I had challenged each student to make enough mugs to trade one with everyone in class. So each student had to come with ten mugs for the trade… Peter already moved away, so nine… and then we played a little game. Going one person at a time, each student got to pick one of their group to call their won. By the end, everyone’s mugs had found a new home… and they were going home with one mug from each of their fellow students… and me!

So here are MY mugs that were up for the taking! Stamped and soda-fired B-clay.

And then AFTER The exchange, these are the mugs I came home with!!!

This sweet porcelain mug with subtle flashings and two white glaze stripes by Catherine.

A shallow “diner cup” with some great carved details at the bottom by Taylore.

A beautiful tankard mug by Cecelia with butter yellow slip and gray carbon trapping.

A sweet little mug made with B-clay and a Tom’s Purple glaze liner by Patty.

A fun little mug with indented dots across the surface with a Tom’s Purple liner by Katie.

A beautiful grooved mug by Stacey with a wonderful flashing on the mustard slip.

Unfortunately, Ed’s mugs were still in the soda kiln cooling. Just a day short of making the deadline. He participated  in the exchange and promised to fulfill his “trade” end of the bargain soon!

So all in all, I’d say my beginner soda students knocked it out of the park!
A great session… and a great exchange… and great additions to my Mug Collection!!!

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This weekend I’m packing up the crates and heading out to the ‘burbs!
Another fun weekend art fair… this time in Hinsdale, Illinois.
A beautiful downtown park setting. I’ll be in the same Booth #100 as usual.
Hope you get a chance to swing by and say “Hello.”

Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival
Saturday, June 10th and Sunday, June 11th from 10:00am-5:00pm.

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A beautiful blue-sky day at the Ballpark.

One of my students made this incredible Ursula covered chip & dip bowl in my class last session. Last night, Stacey brought it back for our last class potluck. Even better when filled with goldfish crackers, fish cookies and gummy Swedish Fish inside!!! Too funny. Too yummy!!!