Looks like my pals Allison & Terry were back at Illinois Beach State Park yesterday to continue their scavenger hunt for the “elusive” hidden fortune cookies… for their third time! Looks like they found three more “cookies” this time… which makes up for their second trip where they found none! Looks like it was a beautiful day for hunting… and much easier to find them before last night’s snowfall.

Getting back to basics… throwing cylinders…
making textured impressions one-by-one, stamp-by-stamp!
You know how I love making mugs… always a good place to start up again!

Mug 1

Mug 2

Mug 3

Mug 4

Mug 5

Mug 6

Mug 7

Mug 8

Mug 9

Mug 10

Mug 11

Mug 12

And for now they’re back under wraps drying a bit to leatherhard… at which point I’ll be able to trim the bottoms and then add handles! Back to making mugs again!

It might be freezing cold outside today, but it looks like Keith & Julie are staying toasty warm inside with a hearty meal of ham, beans & corn bread… in a large stamped & soda-fired bowl!

You know I LOVE a good “holiday”… even when it’s NATIONAL SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY!!! So why not celebrate with a fun squirrel mural just down the street from Lillstreet Art Center?! But why squirrels one may ask?…

“Squirrels may be considered rodents, but they play a critical role in the environment. It is an unofficial holiday started by North Carolina wildlife rehabilitator Christy McKeown in 2001, as a way to encourage people to put out seeds and nuts for these cute rodents.” – So there.

Last night was the first night of our new “season” of THE GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN! A fun class full of challenges, contests & projects! To kick-off the “season” I challenged them with both wheelthrowing & handbuilding tasks with a geometric twist… and a bit of multitasking! The challenge was a wheelthrown sphere, a 6-inch slab-built cube, and a 12-inch coil-built cone. Each with a limited time frame, as the challenges start to “pile-up” on each other as the night went on.

I always enjoy watching how my “contestants” approach a challenge, manage their time, and finish it all off in the end. It was a fun night & a fun challenge… and they all did great!!! We’re off to a great start.

So they started off with wheelthrowing a perfectly round sphere!

Part way into their allotted time for the sphere… I stopped the clock, called them over, and they found out about having to make a 6-inch cube with slabs. So now they had TWO projects to work on… multi-tasking & considering how to best utilize their limited time!

A little further into the challenge… we stopped the clock one more time… wished Melanie a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!… and then added a third challenge. They now had to also make a 12-inch tall coil-built cone!!!

So they now had all three challenges… and some more time to multi-task… so they kind of bounced around the place trying to finish all three in time!!!

At the end of the time, we pulled all three pieces together for critique & judging. We chose our top sphere, top cube & top cone… as well top trio!

Okay, so maybe one of the cones didn’t quite get finished in time… but bonus points for getting so creative with it!!!

But then there was one last-minute challenge… a little homework for the team! The cubes are not quite done… their “homework” is o take their cubes homes and do some creative textural carving on them for judging next week!

You know how you tend to unknowingly “collect” tools… left behind by students… found on the floor… randomly on your shelf… found in the sink… and when you finally clean out your tool boxes you start “gathering” tools and suddenly you have this great “art installation” of wire tools in your studio!!! Well, I think I have enough wire tools to last me awhile… but I may need to employ a couple summer campers to untangle them for me this summer?!

Stamping a large platter… adding a textured border around the edge using just two stamps! Each one pressed in one-at-a-time! Making single impressions that add-up to a beautiful textured surface. Perfect for another Texture Tuesday!

A bit more color peeking through… but still plenty of clouds!

Without the sun, with plenty of clouds instead!

So I finally finished up assembling my last class demo from the December session at Lillstreet. It was a final “demo-on-demand” for Dan… a teapot with a knobby handle on the side instead of a normal handle. Honestly, I’ve never made one like this before… but I’m always up for a challenge! Sure, it may have taken awhile, but I think it turned out okay… for my first one! Thanks for the challenge Dan!