No slab rollers here in my THROWDOWN class!!! We’re pulling slabs by hand… my favorite way to make slabs!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #7 : Largest rectangular “area” on a slab with one pound of clay!

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet… even when it’s clay?

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #6 : Handbuild a realistic rose with stem with one pound of clay!

You know I love pulling handles!!! But does anyone else?… lets find out!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #5 : Longest pulled handle with one pound of clay!

And since we were going “geometric”… the next THROWDOWN event?… pyramids!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #4 : Tallest pyramid with one pound of clay!

When is a simple sphere not so simple?… well, when you only have ten minutes!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #3 : Largest “perfect” sphere with one pound of clay!

Next up in our THROWDOWN Olympic challenge…

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #2 : Longest coil with one pound of clay!

Last week in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, we celebrated a little Olympic spirit with our own “Pottery Decathlon!” Ten “events” using 10-pounds of clay… one pound for each event!!! And only ten minutes per challenge!!! Kinda tough… but so much fun as winning points were accumulated through all ten events!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #1 : Tallest cylinder with one pound of clay!

Just unloaded two bisque kilns for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students. So much fun seeing their “Main Make” pieces coming together. Lots of soup tureens, bowls, ladles & spoons comin’ out of the kilns this morning. Now they’ve got a lot of glazing to do!!!

After last night’s THROWDOWN challenge, we had only four people who made the weight restriction! Beautiful designs & careful craftsmanship. We were all so impressed by these Top Four… but even more enamored by the great shadows they were casting upon the table! Well done Taylor, Katie, Ruth & Jack!

We had some AMAZING carved bowls… now “baskets?”… last night in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class. The challenge was to carve away more than half of the weight with a decorative design of cut-outs & piercings… keeping the rim & footring intact. Great work by all & some some fine learning moments along the way. Some people succeeded… while others didn’t quite make the weight… and others “may have” had a few breaks & implosions along the way!

Like Jack’s bowl that started with a great geometric pattern of diamonds & triangles… but a couple broken cuts & weight restrictions forced him to go all willy-nilly breaking out more support-connectors all around. Much to all of our surprise… his bowl remained intact, standing by itself & oddly beautiful in its free-form craziness… and now the lightest bowl of the evening by far!!! HA!!!