Another snowy & chilly day up in Wisconsin… and it looks like Kristy & Matt are staying warm with some homemade potato & leek soup. Just remember, homemade food tastes even better in handmade pottery!!! Just sayin’…

My carved green bowl fresh out of the kiln…
just in time for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

Looks like a little brothy soup is warming up my friends up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin as they were getting snow this morning! Thanks for sharing your yummy lunch with us in one of my bowls Kristy!!!

Spent a little time this afternoon carving some leaf patterns on a small bowl with white slip banding. Always easier with my DiamondCore Carving Tools!

An apple a day… keeps something in the bowl!
A small class demo bowl with sprigged textures, instead of stamped!!!

So after last week’s bowl demo for my Beginning Wheel students… and a little fun in class turning them into “not-so-basic bowls”… I “may have” taken them upstairs into my studio to do a little more stamping, decorating & trimming. You know my theory… MORE IS MORE!

After throwing fourteen bowls that were all pretty much the same… my class re-grouped so that I could show them some quick tricks & techniques to make their own bowls more one-of-a-kind. I explained how I kinda feel like the wheel does most of the work in making a round bowl. But that it’s up to them to make it special & make it their own! Some quick alterations to help them make some “not-so-basic bowls”!!!

Bowl #1 – the plain one, as they all started out.

Bowl #2 – two simple finger flutes.

Bowl #3 – And if two are cute, maybe eight flutes are better?

Bowl #4 – a flared out flange.

Bowl #5 – a larger flared out flange.

Bowl #6 – A flared flange combined with four fluted edges.

Bowl #7 – a split rim… then pinched back together in eight places.

Bowl #8 – another split rim, this time indented with the side of a wood knife.

Bowl #9 – another split rim – indented in wards & outwards.

After doing some altered rims, it was time to switch to colored slips. Just adding more options & decoration techniques for my students to play with.

Bowl #10 – a layer of thick white slip, then dragged through with the rounded end of my wooden knife.

Bowl #11 – thick white slip with banded details.

Bowl #12 – finger squiggles through the thick white slip.

Bowl #13 – Channeling my inner-Steven Showalter and trying out some of his wonderful slip techniques!

Bowl #14 – rhythmic chattering through the thick white slip.

So for now, all of the bowls went up to my studio to spend the night under plastic. Trying to keep them form drying out too close… as there’s a “very good chance” that there may be some stamping & detailing still to come!

This week in my Beginning Wheel class, we discussed how to make a “bowl on purpose” instead of a cylinder gone bad. I did a throwing demo for them… and then I made a “few” more bowls as Part One of the demo!!! But the fun part comes with Part Two!!!

Typically I feel that food always tastes better when served in handmade pottery… or at least “looks better” in pottery. But this time?… not so sure?! I’m glad it’s in one of my bowls, but personally not a fan of liver & onions! Thanks for trying though Kristy… hope YOU guys enjoyed it!!!

Carving through some white slip decoration… playing with my DiamondCore Tools again! Making fun leafy patterns through the widest band of white slip… to create a little color contrast when it’s glazed later.