This past week, my THROWDOWN students brought their sets of nesting bowls back to class. The challenge was to see how well they nest… the sizing, the spacing, the design & overall craftsmanship. It’s one thing to see them side-by-side… but even cooler to see them trimmed & refined and STACKED!!! They all nestled so well. They did and AMAZING JOB!!! So many fine sets of nesting bowls… and remember, this was the first set of nesting bowls for all of them!!! Well done team… you guys are killin’ it this session!!!

A week & a half ago, in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to make a set of three nesting bowls in ninety minutes. None of them had EVER made a set of nesting bowls before… so it was the perfect challenge!!! And then towards the end of class there was a “twist”… and they got an additional twenty minutes to add a fourth nesting bowl. And it had to be the new smallest one!!! They all did AMAZING… and it was so impressive to see how many incredible bowls they all made in just one night! They even impressed themselves!!!

So here’s MY idea of a Super Bowl… a lot more fun than any game!!!
Where the half-time show is me going to refill my glass of milk!!!

So after I did my “not-so-basic bowls” demo last Tuesday night… I still felt like they could use a little sumthin’-sumthin’! So I did a bit more stamping & texturing… as you know I come from the school of MORE IS MORE!!!

Carving some patterns through a layer of white slip. When glazed & fired, the contrast of slip to clay body will become more apparent. Nice contrast to help accentuate the carved patterns!

Nice crisp lines when carving with my favorite tool from DiamondCore Tools!

And this is where we ended Tuesday night after my “bowls-bowls-bowls” demo with my Beginners. We talked all about altering shapes & added some decorative flourishes to their pieces not make their pots more unique. Basically… I just want them to have fun, express themselves & PLAY more with their clay!

Here we go…

Bowl #1 – Plain… the “BASIC” bowl fresh off the wheel. This is where they all started!

Bowl #2 – Two little fluted flips!

Bowl #3 – If two are nice, maybe eight fluted flips are better?

Bowl #4 – A flared flange.

Bowl #5 – A wider flared flange

Bowl #6 – A combination flared flange & fluted edges.

Bowl #7 – A split rim with two dramatic indents.
This one will get a big “up & over’ handle to make a basket-bowl.

Bowl #8 – Another split rim… this time with eight pinches to the rim.

Bowl #9 – A split rim with four indents to “square-up” the bowl a bit.

Bowl #10 – A split rim with four dents in & four dents out… kind of a lotus effect.

Bowl #11 – A “surprise” flower-snowflake-design in the bottom from a dragonscaler tool.

After the first few bowls, we discussed colored slips to add some design & detail to their bowls.
I personally like thick white slip a lot… adding texture & subtle contrast to the clay body.

Bowl #12 – Thick white slip with a simple spiral dragged through.

Bowl #13 – Thick white slip with some bands dragged through…
leaving a “canvas” area for carving in the future when the slip dries up a bit.

Bowl #14 – Thick white slip with some finger squiggles going through it while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #15 – Thick white slip with some rhythmic chattering with a rubber rib while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #16 – An ombre’ blend of white & black slip… which will probably be carved through later!

So for now all of the bowls are under plastic in my studio…
waiting for a little more… perhaps some stamping & detailing???

So this week in my beginning Wheel class we discussed making “bowls on purpose, and not cylinders gone bad.” I did a demo… and then sent them off to make their own. Then I made “a few more” so we could start talking about alterations & surface decorations in an effort to make their basic bowls “not-so-basic”!

Looks like my cousin Kim made her Mom’s special JELL-O recipe over the weekend… one we both grew up on & enjoyed for years. A “retro” concoction of lime JELL-O, pineapple, cream cheese, Cool-Whip & marshmallows! Looks especially yummy when served in some handmade pottery bowls. As we all know… homemade food always tastes better in handmade pottery!

Looks like it’s a yummy “Sundae-Sunday” up in Stevens Point. The ice cream looks amazing, the hot fudge looks delicious & the bowl doesn’t look too shabby either! Thanks for sharing Matthew!

Looks like someone is doing better on their “healthy” resolutions than I am?! Still not a big fan of brussel sprouts… but these are looking a little tastier than normal… must be the bowl?!!! Just sayin’… thanks for sharing Kristy!!!