Looks like another “Breakfast Of Champions” up in Stevens Point this morning. Powdered sugar goodness… and I can only hope that it was filled with chocolate too!!! Thanks for sharing Kristy!

A beautifully cloudy start to the day… a bit on the chilly side, but I’d rather that than the heatwave we had last week. Colorful clouds & shimmering reflections to begin the day. Not a bad start…

When I started the last session with my Beginners & Advanced Beginners, there was a request for a “challenge project” of some sort. We discussed some options… and I added a challenge to the syllabus for Week 9.

The project turned out to be a “carved cut-out” challenge to take out parts of their bowls. They had to start with a well-trimmed leatherhard bowl. We then weighed their bowls and wrote down the weights. And then I threw out the “real” challenge…

They had to take their bowl and carve away some of the sides to make a “basket-like” bowl… that weighs LESS THAN HALF of the original weight. Keeping in mind that they needed to keep the rim & foot ring intact. I suggested a few tips, and offered them a few tools to borrow… even some of my cherished DiamondCore Carving Tools!… and then they just jumped right in. I LOVED seeing them tackle the challenge with such zeal & enthusiasm… you would never know that this group are still considered “beginner” wheelthrowers!

However…
One of my students got a little too focused on the pattern… and not enough on the actual structure of the bowl. Carving… carving… carving… until the two pieces just came apart. The top came right off of the bottom. Luckily, with a bit of scoring & slipping…. and some well-placed “dots”… I think Kristen saved it to live another day! Fingers crossed…

And I’m COMPLETELY enamored with the shadows that these bowls are making! Most of them came pretty close to the “half-of-the-weight” carved away challenge… just a few ounces away. But it was the excitement & adventure they all went through that really made my night!!!

Early morning sunrise from the rooftop of Chicago’s Navy Pier…
well before the racing begins…

The morning sky started out clear, not a cloud in the sky. But then as the sun began to rise, the clouds moved in at just the right time. Such a magical moment when the sky lights up & the clouds turn a vibrant pink… with amazing harbor reflections… and then evolve into glowing white clouds as the sun finally begins to peer over the horizon. A beautiful start to another beautiful day!

During last week’s SURFACE DECORATION class, I was getting ready to do some carving on my marbled demo bowl… when I noticed that my DiamondCore Tools was pretty much matching the bowl!!! Like a bit of camouflage for the carving tool?!

Last week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we celebrated the end of the session with another “trading game”… and I came home with this wonderful plate from Christine. The rim of the plate is textured slip “squiggles” with a variety of stains & glazes at work to make this fantastic result!

It’s great to see some of the purchases from last weekend’s NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. Like this great grouping… it looks like Rhonda did some shopping in Sandwich with Cory, Kenyon, Linda & me! And even better… it looks like she’s already putting them to use!

Another art fair… another bouquet of flowers.
Nothing shows off a stamped & soda-fired wall pocket vase better than a bundle of beautiful flowers! A nice mix of colors & textures from the Northern Illinois Pottery Tour!