Tonight I loaded the last bisque kiln before this weekend’s soda kiln. Okay, sure, it may not be the best & well-loaded kiln ever… but at this point, I just need to get ’em fired so I can glaze ’em.

Kiln Layer #1 – large stamped bowls and wall pocket vases.

Kiln Layer #2 – textured tiles.

Kiln Layer #3 – stamped vases, wall pocket vases and the textured slab vases I made last night. Of course, they’re still a little more damp than I would like, so I’m going for a couple hours of pre-heating with my fingers crossed.

More stamping & trimming last night. Trying to finish up some of my last pieces before I need to switch to drying, firing, glazing & firing again!

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Those who really pay attention to my blog might remember that there were six large bowls in this latest batch. Where are the other two one may ask?! Well… there’s a very god chance they might show up in a video format some time soon. Allegedly…

Closing in on some “kiln deadlines”…
and yet still throwing a little larger today. Taller vases & bigger bowls.

Tonight I continued working some decorative “details” onto the bowls that I threw for my class Tuesday night. As a quick reminder, we started the class demo with a tutorial on how to make a nice bowl “on purpose” instead of a cylinder gone bad. I then threw fourteen more bowls and then had the students rejoin the demo for some quick altering & decorating tricks. What started out as 15 very basic round bowls quickly gets transformed into 15 unique bowls with just a few alterations.

So you know I sometimes have ‘trouble” deciding when something is done. You may have noticed that I have a slight tendency to continue embellishing well beyond the norm. With that said, I continued decorating tonight in my studio. The blog post prior to this will show you what the bowls looked like before this evening’s festivities!!! While this post shows you the bowls after stamping, as well as the stamp that did the “magic” impressions!

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Bowl #5 –

Bowl #6 –

Bowl #7 –

Bowl #9 –

Bowl #10 –

Bowl #10 –

And now they’re “done”… at least for tonight. Under wraps…
hoping to trim them and do a bit of final detailing tomorrow night.

Last night in class we did my favorite demo of the session.
I taught my students how to make a good bowl “on purpose” instead of a cylinder gone bad. And how to avoid making those “beginner mistakes” of corners, edges, divots, and ledges. After making the first bowl for my students, they all went back to their wheels to continue throwing, while I threw fourteen more basic bowls. We then reconvened for a demo on altering & decorating each of the bowls. My goal is always to show them a few tricks. To teach them some fun techniques. And to encourage them to play with their clay. That each piece is not so precious… and that they need to play, alter, twist & push it further.

If it gets messed up, who cares!?
Squish it up, wedge it and start over.
It’s just clay.

Bowl #1 – The basic bowl. All of my demo bowls started out looking just like this.
Plain. Round. Simple. And desperately needing something fun…

Bowl #2 – Rim fluted in four places.

Bowl #3 – And if four look good… eight might be better. Fluted rim in eight places.

Bowl #4 – Flange flared out.

Bowl #5 – Flange flared out and fluted.

Bowl #6 – Wide flange flared out… for one of those “fancy” tiny restaurant desserts!

Bowl #7 – Four indentations using the side of my wooden knife to “square” the bowl.

Bowl #8 – A stylized flower pressed in with a metal dragonscale tool.

Bowl #9 – Split rim, and then pinched together in eight places.

Bowl #10 – Split rim with an altered shape… kind of a lotus flower contour.

Bowl #11 – Mazzerine slip with a spiral dragged through using the round end of my wooden knife.

Bowl #12 – Mazzerine slip banded & squiggled with the round end of my wooden knife.

Bowl #13 – Thick white slip “squiggled” with my fingers while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #14 – Thick white slip chattered with a rounded rib while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #15 – A newspaper stencil letter, covered in slip and then peeled out.

So for now, they’re under wraps in my studio… most of them will get a little detailing.
Some will get stamped. Others will get stamped…
oh wait, did I say some of them will get stamped?! Surprise!!!

Tonight is the Empty Bowls fundraiser at Lillstreet Art Center.
I dropped off my donation bowls this morning… including a couple fun class demos with marbled clay! Empty Bowls starts at 5:00pm. Get there early for the best choice… although there are HUNDREDS & HUNDREDS of bowls to choose from!!!

During today’s Open House at Lillstreet Art Center,
I stayed focused and threw a dozen small bowls in my studio.

Then it was time to separate them into three sets of four…
and make some design “alterations” to make each set different from the others.

The first set received a split rim with indentations both in & out to form a lotus effect.

And then a little stamped embellishment….

The second set got a hypnotizing spiral through white slip.

And then detailed with a single stamp around the rim.

The third set got a split rim, pinched together and fluted out.

Then a stamped accent at each pinch point and a small stamp tap inside.

So now the three sets are covered & wrapped in plastic overnight.
I’m hoping to get them trimmed and done tomorrow.

Eight more bowls. Eight more class demos.
Eight more bowls that might just find their way to the Empty Bowls Project
coming to Lillstreet on Friday, April 17th. Mark your calendars!!!

Good to see that everyone in the family gets to use some Fire When Ready Pottery!!!
Even Lazlo, the cute little one-eyed kitty who lives with my friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor.