Last night’s class demonstration was plates & platters. My beginners are progressing
quite nicely… cylinders, bowls, mugs… and now plates! I explained to them that plates
are fairly easy to throw, and that the drying & trimming of them is the hard part.
In class I threw two plates. But of course, I can’t leave a plate plain…
so tonight I stamped them up!

The class demo four-pound plate…

And now for the six-pound platter…

Plus, we have new clay at Lillstreet Art Center. For years we’ve had the same selections
of stoneware, B-Clay and porcelain. We’re now trying something new from Continental Clay.
It’s Stoneware with Ochre… which from what we’ve seen turns out to be a dark chocolate
brown after firing in a cone 10 reduction kiln. This is my first time trying the new clay…
hence the slight “greenish” hue in the clay. It was fun to throw with… although the color
was a little off-putting.

So tonight while I was in the studio, I checked the bowls we threw last night
during my Beginning Wheel class demo. They were protected under plastic
and drying slowly. Luckily, with a little patience, they were ready to stamp a
few details into a couple of them. If you want to compare them to the original,
check the blog post from yesterday… you’ll the difference a little stamping can do!!!

Bowl #2 – Flanged… and now stamped!

Bowl #3 – Flanged, Fluted & Flopped… and now stamped!

Bowl #4 – Wide Flange… and now stamped!

Bowl #6 – Divided, Pinched, Squared… and now stamped!
Once this one gets trimmed, I’m also planning on adding some little “balls” on top
of the four pinch points. I’m not really a fan of the “pinch marks.” So I think they’ll
need some “creative camouflage.”

Tonight was the night that we tackled throwing bowls on the wheel.
Making bowls on purpose, not a cylinder gone bad.

So the way it goes, I start by teaching them all how to throw the bowl.
I introduce them to the beauty of throwing on bats, and using a plastic rib to create
the smooth curve inside. And then once we’ve thrown the first demo bowl, I then
let them go back and try making their own bowls. And while they’re throwing,
I continue throwing bowls. Tonight I was throwing 2-pound bowls with a very simple,
smooth round profile. Nothing fancy. And then once I had thrown my eleven bowls,
we reconvened for ‘demo part two.’ At this point, it’s my goal to show my students
some quick tricks to make each of the “fairly identical” bowls different from the next.

Plus, it’s a great time to introduce them to slip as a decorating option. All in all,
I think the demo went well. I think most of them were intrigued by the simple techniques
and the “ah-ha” results. And I’m always trying to get them past the “each pot is too
precious to mess with” mentality. I’m always trying to get them to push things further,
and realize that it is “just clay.”

Now I have eleven bowls in my studio… waiting for some stamping, finishing & trimming!

But just in case you missed the demo… here’s a quick recap of tonight’s eleven bowls.
Remember, they all started out pretty much the same.

Bowl #1 -Fluted
A simple finger flick, with one finger inside and another outside side-by-side.

Bowl #2 -Flanged
Adding a simple flange by flaring the top inch of the bowl out over the outside finger.

Bowl #3 -Flanged, Fluted… and Flopped?!
Yes, this was supposed to be a fluted flange. But it was a little wonky when I finished it.
When I was setting it up on the shelf, you could see it was no longer level. So I set it down
“hard’ on purpose… letting the bang force the flange to drop down into a “skirt” of sorts.

Bowl #4 -Wide Flange & Spiral Center
A much wider flange (soon to be stamped) and a nice spiral in the center.

Bowl #5 -Divided & Pinched
I used the pointed tip of my wood knife to divide the rim of the bowl,
and then pinched it back together in eight places.

Bowl #6 -Divided, Pinched & Squared
Same trick of dividing the rim, but then I think I shocked them a bit when I took
the nice round bowl and pushed it in to square i toff a bit.

Bowl #7 -Impressed Flower
With a simple, metal dragon-scaling tool that I bought for like two dollars, I press
it in twelve times in a certain pattern to create a fun flower in the bottom of the bowl.

Bowl #8 -Solid Slip
A simple coating of thick white slip… allowing the thickness to create a subtle spiral.

Bowl #9 – Spiral Slip
So I coated the interior of the bowl with thick white slip, and then dragged the rounded
end of my wood knife through the slip to reveal the clay color for contrast.

Bowl #10 – Chattered Slip
First, I gave the bowl a solid coat of slip on the interior… and then took my
rubber rib and “tapped” it rhythmically against the bowl while it was rotating.
The tapping frequency and wheel speed combine to make the pattern.

Bowl #11 -Slip Resist Lettering
Kind of the antithesis of a stencil… instead, I took letters cut out of the newspaper,
wet them, and then pressed them gently to the bowl interior. After you smooth the edges,
add a simple layer of covers the newspaper, followed by a complete layer covering the
interior. Once it’s all smoothed out & coated, carefully peel out the newspaper letter.

So now I have more bowls to finish tomorrow… some stamping, some embellishments,
and a lot of trimming to finish them all off.

Plus, it was great to have a Facebook fan & blog follower stop by class tonight!
Corbett stopped by from South Carolina to visit, say hello, chat a bit, see my studio
and then play in the clay! Thanks for stopping by Corbett… I hope you had fun!!!

Tonight in class we tackled two of my favorite things… MUGS & STAMPS!!!
My students trimmed their cylinders from last week, pulled handles and attached
them to make their first mugs of the session. Pretty good since it’s just Week #3.

And then, when their mugs were completed, we sat down for an interactive,
and somewhat chatty, demonstration on making clay stamps. We discussed how to
make them, fire them and use them. I tried to explain how they need to think about
their designs in reverse. How the high points on the stamps make the low points in
the impressions. And visa versa. How letters and symbols need to be carved in reverse.
That they just need to make a LOT of stamps and find the ones they love to use…
and then make more! Once these are fired, my class will have their own stamps to use!

Tonight was the first night of the new Spring Session at Lillstreet Art Center.
And it looks like I have a great new “crop” of potential potters!
Some have a bit of experience, some have been gone for awhile,
and some are brand new to clay!

All of them got dirty!… and were still smiling!

It’s just one week away until the start of the new Spring Session at Lillstreet!

I will once again be teaching my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
class on Tuesday nights from 7:00-10:00pm. So whether you’re a brand new beginner
or just wanting to come back to refine some skills and play in the mud?!… this is the
class for you. Don’t get left out… ONLY THREE SPACES LEFT IN MY CLASS!!!

The new Spring Session will start in a week and a half at Lillstreet Art Center.
I will once again be teaching a Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing Class.
It’s basically for anyone who wants to play in the mud… whether you’ve never touched
clay, or want to refine some of your basic skills. The 10-week class will take you through
all steps in the production process. Every Tuesday night from 7:00pm-10:00pm.
The Spring class session will begin on Tuesday, March 27th.

Registration has already begin… and my class is more than half full already!
Don’t wait too long. My class is usually full with a waiting list… so don’t miss out!

Stop by or call Lillstreet Art Center to register for your class.
Or you can click here to register online…
Lillstreet Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing Classes

Well, tonight was the last night of our Winter session at Lillstreet Art Center.
The students are busily finishing up their class projects… and sharing some potluck
fun during the class. So while we were all hanging out, I noticed Nadine busily
carving away on a few of her pieces. She’s been in my class for a few sessions and
has recently become quite prolific. She’s a full-time lawyer looking for some fun
creative escape.  I think she would love to  make a change… and with her latest
carving & decorating adventures, I think she might be well on her way!

I especially love these sculpted pieces. Instead of carving patterns & textures, Nadine
decided to add some sculptural pieces on these cups. The frog mug is wonderful with
an amphibian on each side. I’m so excited to see these beautifully carved frogs on her pots…
instead of the mold-pressed, detail-free, same-old, same-old frogs that have been on some
other pots around Lillstreet for far too many years! At some point, I would have expected
those mold-pressed frogs to evolve into something better. Apparently not. But I am
SO EXCITED that Nadine is on a much better track already with her wonderful frogs!

I LOVE how that one frog is hanging on to the top rim of the mug!
And I can’t wait to see how she decides to glaze them! Hop to it Nadine!!!

Tonight was week #9 of my beginning wheelthrowing class. Only one more week!
They have all of the basic skills and are busy working & making pots!

So tonight I thought it would be great to surprise them all with a wonderful surface
decoration demonstration by my friend & potter Amy Higgason. Amy has been in town
for the weekend, and after her Trunk Show on Friday, we thought it would be fun for her
to do a demo for my class. So Amy threw a few pots last Friday, trimmed ’em today
and set off carving them tonight! A special treat for my students.

Amy started her demo with a discussion of the tools she uses… a few simple tools
that make a wide range of textures & patterns. Some of them actual ceramic tools,
while others are found items like a broken TV antennae! She then started in on her
demonstration of how she decorates a simple bowl.
Yeah, well it started out simple anyway…

Suddenly, not so simple of a bowl any more!!!

Then she moved on to a small creamer pitcher. A quick trick of cutting a vase shape to make
the spout. A little wetting, sponging, finessing and shaping to create the spout. After the spout
is formed, she then set in to the carving & decorating of this piece.

Amy then showed my class how she makes her leaf-shaped handles out of a slab.

And then in Amy World, a pitcher can’t be just a pitcher… it needs a saucer to sit on too!
And not just any saucer, but an over-the-top, decoratively carved plate!!!

And then to close out the evening, I surprised Amy with a birthday cake
to help celebrate her big day. Nothing says birthday like a big chocolate cake!!!

So let me send out a quick Thank You again to Amy Higgason for sharing her talents
& creativity with us. I’m sure my students were inspired and will be incorporating some of
her techniques into their work. I know I enjoyed Amy’s time here this weekend,
and I hope she had some fun with us celebrating her big birthday!

While Tuesday may have been the sweetest evening for many… I spent the night with my
beginning wheelthrowing students. Who let me just say are moving along quite nicely!!!
We’re now more than halfway through the session and tonight we tackled ovals.
Some of my returning students have enjoyed making ovals, so they asked for them again!
And I am always more than willing to make more ovals!!!

So here’s the first oval demo. Yes, it’s basically just a straight-sided cylinder with no bottom.
Then, once it stiffens up a bit, I remove it from the bat, move it onto a ware board and
shape it into the final oval shape. And this is where we start the photos…

Then, it’s time to pick the “perfect” stamp from my toolboxes of hundreds!

Carefully pressing one stamp at a time, all the way around the cylinder.

Then I felt that the rim was a little bit heavy and “chunky” looking. I felt that it needed
a little splash of fun too. So I pulled out a square-ended chopstick and started
“denting” the rim.

Then, from the inside of the rim pressing outwards, I used a round dowel rod to add
some curve divots to counter-act the sharp edges of the dents on the outer edge.

And here it is… the “now-stamped-and-decorated”  cylinder walls. Next up, it’s time
to add the bottom to the cylinder so it appears seamless as though it has always been
part of the pot. Then, handles will be added and the drying can commence!

Then here’s the second oval in the works!
It started as a bottomless cylinder just like the first one. This time I used more clay
for this demo – so the cylinder is a bit larger and taller, plus we added some voluminous
curve to the walls. Next, I slice it off the bat and move it onto a ware board while
stretching it into the oval shape!

Again, it’s time to choose a stamp trying to picture the how the final texture will turn out.

Then it’s systematically stamped one-by-one all the way around the pot.

And here it is… the oval cylinder with finished stamping. Both inside and out!
Yes, I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive and can’t help myself from using the smaller stamps
to add tiny little textures and details even inside the oval dish!!!

This one is now in the same place as the first.
Ready for the bottom to be attached, then handles!
Still working on them both… step by step. Unfortunately, my students don’t always
get to see the steps every step of the way. We discuss the steps… and I hope they get it.
If not, they know they can check here for photos & details.

Also on Tuesday, one of my students said she had missed the plate demo… of course
I was more than willing to do the demo again. She appreciated it… and made her first plate!
Here’s my demo platter… and the stamping that followed!

Again, it’s just one stamp pressed in over & over & over again… all the way around!

When the stamping was complete, I felt it need a little bit more… so I fluted the rim
with gentle curves all the way around to accentuate the stamped design.

Here’s the second oval demo… a little larger, with a little curve to the sides.