And sometimes the bird seed just becomes a BUFFET?!!!

Sometimes even the birds need some fun pottery to eat out of…
stamped, soda-fired & seeded…

Okay, so there’s been a good bit of “buzz” about this bowl around the glaze carts… everyone asking how I did it. And I didn’t… but because my name is in the bottom everyone assumes it’s my glazing too?! But it’s NOT.

Chelsea was looking for some bisqued bowls for her glaze class demos… and I gave her a couple to play with. This one turned out STUNNING!!! Beautifully vibrant colors, incredible ombre’ blends, gravity-defying drips, the WHOLE THING!!!

So here’s the glaze plan…
as best I understand it from Chelsea, Queen of All Glazing…

1. Waxed the bottom with decorative scalloping.
2. Dip fully in Chun Blue.
3. Dip the top rim inside & outside with Galaxy Black.
4. Just below that, paint a thick band of Tom’s Purple.
5. Dip the top rim inside & out to cover those two bands of black & purple.
6. Then add a few splatters of Galaxy Black on the interior.
7. And then fingers crossed for some kiln magic… which she definitely got!!!

A very thoughtful gift from one of my pottery students this week… a handmade soy candle… and a second one as part of our “not-so-basic-bowls” exchange game!!! Extra special as Kelsey made the bowl and the candle… and it won’t be stolen from the freezer!!!

Thank you Kelsey… see you when the next session starts up again!

Last night in my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class, we celebrated the end of another class session with a fun “trading-exchanging-stealing” game with matching soup crocks. One of them even came with an onion & the recipe for French Onion Soup!!!

After our carving demo in my Intermediate Wheel class, it was great to see Christine still at it a week later… still making such crisp & clean lines with a DiamondCore Carving Tool in hand!

After a fun evening of carving with my Monday night intermediate students, we ended up with some pretty groovy textured bowls to send into the kiln. I can’t wait to figure out some glazing options for these to show off the carved textures?! Ugh… everyone knows that glazing is my least favorite part of the whole process!

Here’s a few shots of my students getting started… a bit tentative at first… but quickly got their groove on!!!… and loving the sharp carving edges of my DiamondCore Tools!

Last week in my Intermediate Wheel class, we tackled some decorative carving techniques. So we came into class with some pieces with thicker walls, knowing that we would be carving into the sides…. and I brought down most of my DiamondCore Tools for my students to use. So we sat around the table and just started carving & making random patterns… having fun & trying our best not to cut through the walls!!!

This week in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, my students killed it again… twice! Their first challenge was to take one of the “perfectly” trimmed bowls from the previous week and start carving away parts & pieces to turn it into a kind of basket bowl. They had to have a good design, clean cuts & keep enough structure intact to keep it all together.

The “real” challenge though?… they were tasked with carving away more than half of the original weight of the bowl! Tougher than it sounds… that’s a LOT of clay to take away and keep your bowl still in one piece! Huge congratulations to Claire & Will for making the weight… everyone else got SO close… and we only had one collapse! mwah, mwah, mwah…