Trimming a couple large bowls today before the snow!
Smooth & crisp ribbons of clay just peel right off
with my DiamondCore Trimming Tools!

Plenty of mugs for your Valentine!
Who wouldn’t love to give their special someone a handmade gift this year?! Big online sale kicks-off tomorrow morning at 8:00am CST… only on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page.

Click here to go to my Facebook page… and then click the LIKE button!

With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, it’s time to make plans for your special someone! What better gift than a handmade mug to warm their chilly February nights?!

We’re going to be doing another Online Mug Sale only on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page this Sunday morning 1/31/21 at 8:00am CST. Shipped & delivered in time for your Valentine gift-giving!!!

Click here for my Facebook page!

Just a quick peek at some of the mugs that will be part of Sunday’s MUGS FOR YOUR VALENTINE online sale! Kicking-off this Sunday at 8:00am CST only on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page!

With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, it’s time to make plans for your special someone! What better gift than a handmade mug to warm their chilly February nights?! We’re going to be doing another Online Mug Sale only on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page this Sunday morning 1/31/21 at 8:00am CST. Shipped & delivered in time for your Valentine gift-giving!!!

Click here to go to my Facebook page!

Spent some time in the studio this afternoon working on my class demo bowls from Tuesday night. A little bit of stamping & detailing can make a big difference. You know I’m a member of the “MORE IS MORE” club!!!

And back under the plastic they go… so they can dry up a bit more before I trim the bottoms. This last one “might” even get a handle over the top to make it like a little “basket-bowl”!!!

So it was a little on the freezing side this morning… too cold & too much snow & ice for biking! Not too cold for a brisk morning hike though. Low-flying clouds delayed the sunrise through ice-covered branches!

Decorating bowls with some thick colored slips…
you know how I LOVE a good spiral… and a squiggle… and chattering!!!

Last night’s class demo how to throw basic bowls.
And that’s basic bowls on purpose… and NOT cylinders gone bad. I like to teach my Beginner’s how to throw a bowl from the start with a nice smooth & even curve inside. No flat bottoms. No beginner’s ledge. No divots. So I do a demo for the with one bowl – and then set them off to work on their own bowls!

While they’re throwing their bowls, I continue throwing more basic bowls. After I finish making them all, we re-group for Part Two of the class demo. For this part I like to show them some quick & easy ways to alter & decorate their bowls. I tell them that “The Wheel” pretty much did all of the work making a round bowl. Now it’s up to THEM to do something to it to make it their own! And encourage playing with their clay. To try something new. And if it doesn’t work… no biggie. Just squish it up, wedge it and throw it again!

So here are my bowl demos from last night…
each with some simple decorative alterations!

Bowl #1 – Two simple fluted edges

Bowl #2 – Eight fluted edges

Bowl #3 – Flared-out flange

Bowl #4 – Flared flange & four fluted edges

Bowl #5 – Split rim with eight pinches

Bowl #6 – Split rim with two indentations… waiting for an “over the top” handle to make it like a basket.

Bowl #7 – Split rim with four side indentations

Bowl #8 – Split rim with four indentations IN, and four indentations OUT.

Bowl #9 – A thick white slip spiral.

Bowl #10 – Thick white slip finger squiggles.

Bowl #11 – Thick black slip chattering with a rubber rib.

Bowl #12 – Ombre’ black -to-white slip with a spiral dragged through.

Bowl #13 – Thick white slip on a flared flange then wiped through with a rubber rib.

And for now they’re all under plastic… as there’s a “pretty good chance” that there might just be some stamping & detailing of these bowls before I need to start trimming the bottoms.

So here are some new berry bowls…
next up, some little drip plates to go under them!