In my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class, we’ve been talking a lot about developing a personal style, throwing with intention & design continuity for making sets. So last night I “challenged “ my students to make one full placesetting during class. Dinner plate. Salad plate. Side bowl. Serving bowl. And a tumbler, cup or mug. Once thrown, they now have a few weeks to decorate, trim, fire & glaze before bringing them back to class in Week 9 to show-off their placesetting. And of course I “had to” participate with my own challenge!!!

Celebrating another Mugshot Monday with another batch of stamped mugs.
Handles attached… next they need some accents of colored flashing slips!!!

Pulling handles… making more mugs… again!

It’s catalpa tree flowering season!!! Crazy-cool flowers that look like orchid clusters perched amongst large green leaves. Beautiful now… but soon enough they start “raining” down onto the ground. Fun to watch them fall… but not so fun a couple days later when they start to decompose into a gooey brown mess!!! So… enjoy them now while you still can!!!

And sometimes… a bigger sky show needs a bigger photo!

A beautiful morning along the lake with plenty of clouds for some added sunrise drama. An ever-changing sky show as I pedaled along this morning. Lots to see. Lots of fun!!!

Yesterday we had a great adventure… kind of a SAFARI ADVENTURE!!!

My cousin Kim, niece Taylor & my sister Jen and I went to a drive-through animal “safari” park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. You drive through the park with animals all around… coming right up to the car for a snack… and INTO the car for even more snacks!!! They give you the animal feed when you enter… and it’s obvious the animals know the drill. At times it almost felt like one would block the car so the others could come up to the windows!!! Too much fun… and great to see these animals so close-up & wandering free. As “we” were the ones in the “cage” of our car!!!

Soda kiln firing… before & after. Side-by-side comparison of the magic
that happens in the soda kiln as the pyrometric cones melt and reach cone 10.

I also did a demo for my campers yesterday while they were trimming… about how much fun carving can be. Especially when I’m letting them borrow some of my DiamondCore Tools!!! Just a fun little demo cup with “fireworks” all over the sides!!!

As part of my slip painting demos for summer camp today… I introduced the kids to skip trailing. Going one step further with slip trailed flowers… “dragged” for texture… and drawn on the canvas table as that’s just where we were sitting!!! It’s just clay… it washed right away!!!