Last night in my Beginning Wheelthrowing class, we tackled making “bowls on purpose”… instead of cylinders gone bad! After making a few demo bowls, we regrouped (socially-distanced of course) for more demo time where I showed them some quick tricks & techniques on how to make their basic round bowls not so “basic” any more! Ten quick bowls & ten different decorative techniques!

Bowl #1 – Eight fluted edges around the rim.

Bowl #2 – A narrow flared-out flange.

Bowl #3 – A wider flared out flange.

Bowl #4 – Split-rimmed and then pinched back together in eight places!

Bowl #5 – Split-rimmed with four indented sides to make a kind of quadrefoil effect.

Bowl #6 – Split-rimmed and then pinched in & pinched out making like a squared-off lotus shape.

Bowl #7 – White slip with a tight spiral dragged through.

Bowl #8 – A thick layer of white slip with a fingertip squiggle dragged through.

Bowl #9 – White slip chattered with a rubber rib as the bowl was spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #10 – White & black slip ombre’ blended and then a spiral dragged through.

And for now they’re under wraps in my studio drying slowly… as many of them “might just” get some stamping, texturing & detailing?!

I mean, if you’re going to show off some of my handmade bowls… THIS is how you do it!!! Not only did they put ice cream in them, but also some homemade rhubarb crisp!!! I can practically taste it from here!!! Thanks for sharing Keith & Julie… next time you make this I might just need to make a quick road trip?!!!

Some friends up in Wisconsin sent me this photo
showing off their beautiful blue bowls.
I hadn’t planned on them as stacking or nesting… but it looks good!

And then I also told them that they would look even better
with ICE CREAM in them!!!

Another cloudy day. Even though the sun couldn’t quite make it through, it is still the best way to start my day. Very few people out on the Lakefront Bike Trail this early in the morning… especially on the gloomy days! But look at what they’re missing…

Celebrating a little TEXTURE TUESDAY with these stamped & soda-fired pieces! Loving the color, the soda “orange peel” finish… oh yeah, and the shadow!!!

Got my second “shipment” of groovy postcards from THE POSTCARD CLUB!!! Bringing snail mail back to life by sharing the joy of handwritten notes on postcards! If you love sending postcards, check out THE POSTCARD CLUB online or on Instagram. This packet includes photos from really beautiful places I’d rather be right now… a little mini-vacation in my mind! Thanks Emma & Clayton!

The vines growing on my back porch are coming along nicely. They’re purple hyacinth bean vines that are climbing up my hanging “curtain” of rusty gears. Soon they should start shooting out some purple flowers… to be followed by glossy purple seed pods! Can’t wait…

Lots of clouds without much of a sunrise to speak of. Sure, it was beautiful… with lots of gently rolling waves along the way. Dark, dramatic & moody… still not a bad way to start the day!

Gotta keep things moving along… pulling out another large batch of porcelain reclaim clay in the studio tonight. I let the clay pieces, trimmings & chunks dry completely before breaking them down. And then it’s all been soaking & slaking down for quite awhile. Enough of the water has evaporated that I could pull it all out of my reclaim bin and set it up on a large plaster bat. It will sit there for a few days while the excess water seeps into the plaster bat and the clay stiffens up… and then the real wedging begins!

Here’s a flashback mug for MUGSHOT MONDAY! Molly’s sister has had this mug for years… apparently loving it… and they just figured it out that it’s one of mine. Molly coordinates all of the Summer Camps at Lillstreet… and this was a little bit of “small worlds colliding” when this came together.

And then Molly bought a new mug for herself too…
not to be one-upped by her sister!!!