With a bank of low-flying clouds hanging out on the horizon this morning,
we had to wait for the sun to show… but the “previews” show was FANTASTIC!!!

After an hour of sculpting time, my THROWDOWN students had finished their first cereal mascot sculptures. Only to find out that they weren’t done yet… and that they had to do a second one in just 45 minutes!!! They could have traded mascots… but instead, all decided to go with a new cast of cereal characters!!! It was so much fun watching them make these amazing sculptures… watching the parts & pieces come together in the final minutes!!!

This week in my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged them all with a sculpture challenge! Most of them had never done a three-dimensional sculpture before. And what better way to celebrate NATIONAL CEREAL DAY than by sculpting some of the famous cereal mascots!!! They may have been new to sculptures… but “They’re Grrr..rreat!!!

So we may have “Spring-ed forward”… or would that be Sprung?… an hour forward last night, but the morning sunrise was delayed by a thick band of clouds hanging low on the horizon. Dramatic waves coming in while the sun took its time to finally arrive & greet the day.

Last week in my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to a little “throwing off-the-hump” competition… and I mean LITTLE!!! They were tasked with throwing as many matching mini cups as possible off-the-hump… and “they chose” to go with this mini red Solo “shot glass” cup as their prototype cup to match!!! Several of them had never really done any throwing off-the-hump… so it was great fun & a great experience for many of them! And they all did a GREAT job!!!

Gotta love a good roadtrip! Even if it is just down to St. Louis for the day…
and then right back that same night!!!

One of the best reasons to go to St. Louis… three words…

Gooey… Butter… Cake!!!

If you stopped by my pottery page last night to shop for a SHAMROCK MUG… you might have seen that a red, red “Robin” came a bob, bob bobbin’ along… and “claimed” thirteen of the mugs for purchase! That would have been AMAZING… but slightly suspect. So I checked into it… and apparently the “Robin” should have worn her glasses and didn’t understand the process. Turns out she didn’t even want a mug!!! She just “liked” them!!!

So her Comment of MINE has been deleted and those Shamrock Mugs are still available! If you see one you want (with your glasses on)… just put a MINE in the Comment of that mug… and then I’ll confirm & follow-up with more info. Just scroll back to last night to see my mug post from last night. Or click here to go to the SHAMROCK MUGS Photo Album from last night… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/WCYyQbufTAdJQ7ZH/?mibextid=oFDknk

Okay, so here’s the “weird clay & glaze issues” story!
So I made this year’s Shamrock Mugs with a new kind of clay… fresh from the manufacturer. No problems with it. So I glazed the bisqued mugs in a couple different shades of green glaze… that I have used many many times. The dark green glaze on the left came out perfect. The light green glaze on the right came out a bubbly, pock-marked & scratchy?! In the same kiln with the same light green glaze… I also fired some bowls made with a different clay body and they came out perfectly light green! So I’m thinking there’s got to be something about the new clay & this one glaze recipe “not playing well with each other”? Ugh… the glamorous life of a Potter?!

So… I did some strategic sanding & smoothing, and then sprayed a light layer of the darker green glaze that “worked so well” over it. Figured it would either help melt & seal it all together… or they would be ruined even more. I had nothing to lose.

Well, they came out of the kiln today… a little “mottled” looking and not quite shiny-smooth. But they are SO MUCH BETTER than the scatchy un-sellable ones I had before.

So… some of these “seconds” will be in the SHAMROCK MUG SALE tonight… clearly identified & with a good discount!!! Sale starts in just under two hours at 8:00pm central… only on my Facebook page!

www.facebook.com/firewhenreadypottery

You know how much I LOVE a good National Holiday! Especially when it’s one of my favorites. Today is NATIONAL OREO DAY! Too hard to choose one… so I had to “celebrate “ with three flavors!!! Aww, shucks!