After a couple handbuilding challenges, it was time for my THROWDOWN class to get back on the wheel. This time it was “tallest” wheelthrown cylinder with two pounds of clay! With a nice even rim… no pinching, stretching or adding onto the top to make it taller! Congrats to Claire, Katie & Alex for their tallest cylinders!

The next challenge my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students took on this week was pulling handles the traditional way. With a pound & a half of clay, the challenge was to pull the longest handle possible. And again, it any part breaks off they could continue pulling with whatever was left in their holding hand… but they could not squish the broken piece back on. The three with the longest handles after 10 minutes got the points!!! Congrats to Ashley, Brittany & Autum (tied) and Angela!!!

And yes… sadly, Aaron’s very long handle broke as he pulled it one step too far… and there was no coming back from it!!!

This past week during the GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN, we started with a “blind weighing” of clay challenge… where they each had to cut off four pieces of clay without the benefit of a scale. After they had guessed at the right weights, we checked them on the scale and rated them on the variance! The three people closest to the correct weights got the points!

Once they had the four balls of clay “correct”… we started with some basic handbuilding skills! First up… pulling the largest slab of clay on the table. No slab roller. No rolling pins. Just the largest continuous slab… and if a piece broke off, they were not allowed to squish it back on! Let gravity do the work… stretch that clay thin & wide!!!

So the folks at OREO have announced the newest OREO cookie… THE MOST OREO!!! An Oreo cookie over-stuffed & over-filled with more Oreo cookie!!! And I kinda feel like it’s time for another game!!!

So… the first person to get a package of these newest OREOs to me in my studio will get a FREE handmade mug from me!!! I get cookies & you get a mug!!! Let the games begin…

And oh, but wait there’s more… after making their serving spoons, my THROWDOWN class was surprised with another challenge… to make a serving fork that goes with the serving spoon!!! And, works well with the two original serving bowl set.

Again, most of them made handbuilt forks… but it was Libby who tackled the challenge by throwing a small “bottle” on the wheel and then cutting it in half vertically! Brilliant Libby!!!

And so the THROWDOWN continued… after we had judged the matching bowls, they then learned that they needed make a large serving soon to coordinate with the bowls. I believe none of my my students had ever really built a clay spoon, so it was great fun for me to see how they each approached the tasks at hand. Most of them chose to handbuild… only a couple tried their hand at the wheel.

So the GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN just completed its second week of “Season Five”!!! And here’s an update… so for the first class challenge, my new “contestants” had to throw a 3-pound serving bowl. They then had to pass it two people to their left… and then that person had to throw another bowl to MATCH the first bowl they just received! Not an easy challenge… and not the last part of the challenge either!!!

After they had two bowls, they then passed them both back to the first person who threw the original bowl… and it was their homework challenge to trim, refine, decorate, “whatever” to make them all MATCHY-MATCHY!!! So here are some of the entries… many using some colored slips to force the matching-ness! But it was Tracy who won the challenge with some straight-on trimming & refining of her two plain & unadorned bowls!!!

More to come…

Looks like Adam and his kids continued the search… and he & daughter Delaney each found a new 2023 for their own collections! So fun that this has become such a family activity! Here’s to the start of a great New Year!

Looks like another one has been found! Adam “returned to the scene” after randomly finding a fortune cookie last year… and then searched online to find me. So now that his kids know about the fortune cookies… the hunt is on!!!

According to Adam…
“My son Harper found the one next to the yucca plant. He couldn’t have been more excited and proud. His sister Delaney hopes to return and try for one for herself! They had a great time with the hunt. Feel free to share their photos if you’d like. Thanks, Gary!”

Last session, my Intermediate Wheel class wanted a fun challenge & a holiday themed project. Inspired by my Mom’s ceramic snowman, I challenged them all to make their own version! And here they go…