During the previous class session, my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class saw some amazing ceramic baskets in the Lillstreet Cafe’ Gallery by studio member Jennifer FitzGerald. We had a quick discussion of clay baskets & some basic construction techniques. Then this session, one of my students asked for a class “challenge”… so I suggested we all make our own versions of the baskets they were so enamored by the session before. While I channeled my inner “Mudweaver” while making this basket… my students realized it was a a LOT harder than they thought. While still inspired, none of them finished their baskets by the end of the session!

Be sure to check-out more of Jennifer’s beautiful work & give her a “Follow” on Instagram – @mudweaver_ceramics

Another night of Bingo Fun at IKEA!!! Always fun to play with friends… free games with IKEA prizes!!! Sure, I haven’t won anything yet, but you can’t win if you don’t keep playing, right???

And there “may” have been a little shopping afterwards too! Allegedly…

Such a FANTASTIC group of students this session for my Lillstreet Throwdown class! Hard to believe this was my “season seven” of teaching this fun class! They all did such an amazing job. Always so creative, always focused & willing to take on any challenge I presented them with. They were all forced out their comfort zones… and seriously rose to the occasion! And yet always laughing & encouraging each other. Such great class camaraderie!!! They’re the best… they are the CHAMPIONS!!!

My apologies to Barb in advance… somehow I missed getting a good headshot photo with her ribbons! My bad.

The Final Challenge!!! Earlier in the session I tasked my students to create a full tea set based on a famous Fairy Tale. They had to make a teapot, two cups & saucers, a sugar & a creamer and a tray to hold them all together! That’s a LOT of parts & pieces… and the very first teapot build for most of them!!! Last night was the “Big Reveal” and they came out AMAZING!!! So much creativity & craftsmanship. So proud of them all. I just wish we would have had time to get them all glazed… as we decided for scheduling reasons that bisque-fired was good enough for last night. Huge congrats to them all… and THANKS for playing along with my pottery games!!!

I mean… prize ribbons are nice & all…but a TROPHY is even better! Who doesn’t want to win the Grand Prize Trophy?! Especially a handmade one for my Lillstreet Throwdown class! Tonight was our last class… and one lucky winner went home with glittery trophy tonight!!! More to come…

Tonight was the final class for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students. So of course I had to come prepared. What’s a challenge-contest class without prize ribbons?!!! Not under my watch!!! They’ve been accumulating points all session… so there just had to be prizes… personalized of course!!!

As we get close to the end of the Winter session at Lillstreet Art Center, another “season” of my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class is quickly coming to an end. This past week was Week 9… and the last class for a bunch of crazy-fun competitions! Twenty to be exact!!!

So I set -up the room before everyone got there… separating the tables into challenge” clue & presentation” areas. Each section also had a folded clue attached. Hidden clues… no peeking!

So they all paired up into teams. Each player blindly choosing a different challenge clue. And then they could discuss their strategy & determine who would tackle each of their challenges. When they finished one task, they would then choose another clue and continue on. They had two hours to complete as many of the challenges as they could while working together or separately. There was a LOT of production going on all over the room… lots of handbuilding, lots of wheelthrowing… LOTS OF FUN!!!

As they finished a task, they got to choose their next challenge. Maybe with a little strategy… pick a new one…. or choose a challenge that someone else has already done, but you think you could do even better? Remember, only one winner per category!!!

Let the games begin!!!

Number One : Make an “ostrich” egg

Number Two : Replicate the glass bottle shape… disregarding the texture on the sides.

Number Three : Replicate the oval bowl.

Number Four : Make a free-standing cylinder 15″ tall

Number Five : Throw an 11″ dinner plate on the wheel

Number 6 : Make a pair of dice.

Number 7 : Matching coils each 24″ long

Number 8 : A hand-pulled slab at 15″ square smooth, flat & even.

Number 9 : Match the red votive cup three times throwing off-the-hump.
whoops… missed a photo?!

Number 10 : Make the :”best” spiral.

Number 11 : Recreate and OREO cookie

Number 12 : Create a chain with at least 20 consistent links

Number 13 : Create some cutlery – make a knife, fork & spoon.

Number 14 : Make a wheelthrown one-piece citrus juicer

Number 15 : Roll a coil and then tie a traditional Celtic knot.

Number 16 : Throw a 12″ wide serving bowl with a well-defined interior curve

Number 17 : Make at least 21 pieces of “Lucky Charms” cereal

Number 18 : Create a perfect sphere with a 22″ circumference.
whoops… my bad, no photos?!

Number 19 : Make a miniature bentwood cabaret chair at least 6″ tall
what was I thinking?… missed another one?!

Number 20 : Wheel throw a Christmas tree… and decorate it too!

And that’s that… okay, so I missed a few photos along the way. Sue me.

At the end, we discussed them all challenge-by-challenge. Determining as a group who the winning team for each challenge. Lots of points awarded tonight leading into the Big Finale this week when they present their big “final” project… the full teapot set based on their chosen Fairy Tales!

Last week in our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to build lidded boxes. While many of them have rather limited handbuilding skills… they still tackled the challenge head-on! They worked on their boxes during class last week… with slabs that were wetter than ideal. At the end of class, they found out that they had a deadline “extension”… as well as a twist!!!

Their lidded boxes were to be finished & refined during the week as “homework”… and they also had to add partitions inside to create at least three compartments!!! So much fun to see their assembled boxes last night at the start of our THROWDOWN class! Very creative & well done!!!

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!!!