After Tuesday’s “bowls-on-purpose” class demo, I kinda felt they still needed a little somethin’-somethin’!!! So today I did a bit of stamping, detailing & trimming! Making these bowls even more “not-so-basic”!!!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!
Perfect day to go plant some plants!!!

So I received this amazing “care package” in the mail the other day from one of my Facebook Fans. It was filled with a bunch of tiny white packages… filled with so many tiny succulents… all perfectly labeled!

I’ve re-planted them all in simple plastic cups just to get them re-adjusted… but you know I’ll be making a new batch of mini flower pots for these sweet things!

Thanks for the succulents Camille… I’ll try my best to give them a healthy home!!!… and I hope YOUR succulents are growing well at home in my flower pots!

So tonight’s class demo for my Beginners & Advance Beginners was how to make a “bowl on purpose” and NOT another cylinder gone bad! So I did a couple quick demos showing them how to get a nice smooth, rounded bowl interior… without any flat bottoms, bad corners or beginner’s ledges! Once they had the basics… I sent them off to make their own bowls While I threw a few more quickly in class for the upcoming “part two” of tonight’s demo!

Once I had all of my bowls thrown… a bag full of clay… I continued to help my student son their bowls for awhile. With about 45 minutes left to class, we regathered at my demo-wheel and we did some quick alterations & decorations to my thirteen “matching” bowls. My goal is always to show them some quick “tricks” and techniques to alter their bowls… cuz’ the wheel can make them round, but I want THEM to make them their own!!!

So we cruised through all thirteen bowls in about fifteen minutes… quick tricks to make each one different than the one before!

Bowl One – fluted on two opposite sides

Bowl Two – if two are fun, maybe more are better?… fluted edges in eight places

Bowl Three – thin flared flange

Bowl Four – wide flared flange

Bowl Five – flared out flange twisted with four flutes.

Bowl Six – split rim dented on one two sides… most likely where a handle will attach going up & over to make a “basket” handle.

Bowl Seven – split rim pinched together in eight places

Bowl Eight – split rim dented in & dented out… kinda lotus-like.

Bowl Nine – spiral grooves through thick white slip.

Bowl Ten – concentric grooves though thick white slip.

Bowl Eleven – finger squiggles through thick white slip.

Bowl Twelve – swipes with a rib through thick white slip… channeling my inner “Steven Showalter”… if you’re not following him on Instagram, you definitely should be!!!

Bowl Thirteen – chattering texture through thick white slip

And now all of the bowls are up in my studio, under plastic, wrapped up for the night. I’m pretty sure that there “might” possibly be some more stamping, detailing & refining of these bowls before I call them done!

More thick slip textures created by rhythmic chattering with a rubber rib… gently tapping up & down with the rib through a layer of thick slip from the center outwards while the wheel is spinning. Kinda zen. Kinda groovy. Always fun!

Last week in one of my pottery classes, we tackled some surface decoration using thick white slip for textures & patterns. Sure, I could have used colored slip… but I’m more intrigued by how the glazes might play well with these cool textures & grooves!

Looks like Spring is finally here… the May Flowers are a little early, although we’ve had more than enough April Showers!!!

Sure, blame the cat… according to Allison…

“My cat broke your mug. So someone just got screamed at, told he was a bad boy, and grabbed by the nape of his neck! Well, I need to buy a NEW one to replace the one Apollo just broke!”

And then she continues…
“I was soooo mad at him Gary! And it was fine before bed. He was being TOO curious. My Mom called him a brat. I agree. Think he just wanted to see what would happen, but now the lower shelf on the cup shelf will probably no longer have cups.”

Okay, so this may have dropped a few days ago… but I had a lot of pots to glaze, a soda kiln to fire & taxes to do. But now that all three of those tasks are done… the “reward” will be coming soon! I can’t wait to binge the newest season of THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN on HBO Max!!! No spoilers, please…

Kickin’ off the new week with a little bright spot… working its way through the urban landscape to brighten the day! Happy Monday!!!

Looks like Jody has been baking for her family & celebrating Easter with a special carrot cake… even if it might have fallen to pieces coming out of the pan?! Ha!!!

Still looks great on a nice platter with frosting drizzled everywhere!!!
I mean, I would still eat it.