All letter-code labeled & waxed… a fun “surprise “ project for my SURFACE DECORATION class tonight. They have no idea what they’re in for!!! If you haven’t guessed already… it’s Glaze Night!!!

Well, registration begins tomorrow morning for summer classes at Lillstreet Art Center. I will again be teaching my Intermediate Wheel class on Monday nights & my Beginning Wheel class on Tuesday night. Classes fill FAST!!!… so good luck if you’re looking for some summer fun playing in the mud with us!!!

Last night in class, I did a couple demos of plates & platters. One of the plates was kinda plain… so I decided to add some thick white slip & chatter through it with a rubber rib.

My final class demo for my SURFACE DECORATION class last Thursday was a fun & colorful floral pattern. I used black, red & green slip… and let it dry to a stiffer leatherheard surface. And then started carving through the layers with my DiamondCore Tools. It was a fun platter to work on… my first time doing a multi-colored sgraffito piece. I’m pretty pleased with this new direction… although I feel it still needs some more detailing & clean-up. I might just need to make more of these…

It’s always fun to share my collection of DiamondCore Tools with my students. We were focusing on sgraffito as this week’s SURFACE DECORATION technique. And I wanted them to learn how to do sgraffito the “right way”… and that means by having some great tools to do their carving!

My students had a great time with their sgraffito projects last Thursday night. They all realized that the hardest part is making the very first mark carving through the colored slip. It’s like looking at a blank canvas & freaking out just a little about how & where to start. But once they started carving with my DiamondCore Tools … they found out how much fun it was… and how tough it is to stop!!!

After the sgraffito bowl, I went for a more geometric treatment of a larger dinner plate… carving through the band of black slip to reveal a pattern of the lighter clay body. Just trying to show my students that there are different styles… and that not all sgraffito needs to be so illustrative. Again, carving clean lines & smooth curves with my DiamondCore Tools.

This week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, it was Sgraffito Night! I had suggested that they all bring some leatherhard pieces to carve through. I did a couple demo pieces & my students did their own thing too!!! So much better with good carving tools from DiamondCore Tools! My first demo piece was this small bowl with an ombre’ blend of white & black slips.

After my class demo, my SURFACE DECORATION students went off to start carving on their own pots. So much fun to see them using different techniques & tools to create their own special carvings, patterns & textures!

This week with my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled carving & slip trailing… okay, so mostly carving! We talked about carving textures & patterns into our pots with different tools to get different effects. Like some clean carved grooves using some of my DiamondCore Tools … and fun little circles with an old drill bit.