Tonight in class, one of my students returned after two weeks traveling in Australia & Los Angeles. It was great to have Michael back… and luckily his pots were still leatherhard for trimming… and, oh but wait there’s more… he also brought some OREOs back from Australia for us!!! Thanks Michael!

My Monday night class has been focused on “enclosed forms” lately. So we combined that with a little Christmas in July!!!… and Halloween too, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it?!!!

After a full day of Summer Camp… I also taught again tonight subbing for a Beginning Wheel class. Without a plan, we went with a “demo-on-demand” for some not-so-basic bowls demo… and lidded jars… and making stamps. It was a full night of demos!!!

Sorry about the blurry photo… smudge on the lens!

Just a little early morning stamping session in the studio. Adding a bit more detail & texture to my already “not-so-basic” bowls from last week’s class demo! You know my motto… MORE IS MORE!!!

Last night with my Beginning Wheel class, we focused on making bowls on purpose… and NOT cylinders gone bad! After my first demo, I made “a few more” bowls while they practiced their bowls. With the plan of a fun Part Two demo to come… altering & decorating!!!

Part Two of last night’s class demo was altering & decorating the bowls… making them “not-so-basic bowls!!! Encouraging my beginning students to make their bowls a bit more personal, to add some style & most importantly to just have MORE FUN with their clay!!! No one ever said that bowls need to stay plain & round, right?!

In my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class, we’ve been talking a lot about developing a personal style, throwing with intention & design continuity for making sets. So last night I “challenged “ my students to make one full placesetting during class. Dinner plate. Salad plate. Side bowl. Serving bowl. And a tumbler, cup or mug. Once thrown, they now have a few weeks to decorate, trim, fire & glaze before bringing them back to class in Week 9 to show-off their placesetting. And of course I “had to” participate with my own challenge!!!

Tonight in class, my Beginning Wheel students trimmed & added handles making their first mugs of the session!!! Not too shabby for Week Two!!! Well done team!

Last night in my Intermediate Wheel class, a few of us finished our lamp “assignment” for the last class of the session. A few more were stuck in a glaze kiln cooling… while others struggled with not having all of the correct lamp parts & pieces. I can’t wait to see the rest of them… but until then, here are mine, Tessa’s & Bruce’s lamps. And I do believe it was the first handmade lamp for each of us!!!

While playing with “slip inlay” last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, I also did a demo for simple banded stripes with slip inlay. While trimming, I carved a few thin lines into the clay. Then filled them with slip… and a little bit more to cover them. Then, when the slip dries to leatherhard, you can trim off the top surface flush to the pot to reveal these colored bands… perfectly smooth to the surface.