Okay, so there may have been a “surprise” trophy too…

And what fun would a Throwdown “competition” class be
without having RIBBONS FOR EVERYONE?!!!

So I made a few to hand out…

The final “Big Build” for this year’s GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN was a functioning tabletop water fountain. My students received this challenge early on in the session so they had several weeks to get them all put together. They each also received a mechanical pump… and a single “word” to inform & inspire the designs for their fountain. All in all, they did an AMAZING job… some with a bit of a sputtering trickle, or an overflowing splatter of water… but I think that’s more the pumps fault than their fountains! It was an AMAZING finale for our Throwdown’ers!!!

RUTH : “labyrinth”

KATIE : “art deco”

ELLEN: “groovy”

EMILY : “zen”

TAYLOR : “floral”

SHANNON : “puzzle”

As we were racing towards the “big finale” of our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, we celebrated with quite possibly the “classiest candlelit” potluck ever seen at Lillstreet! Earlier in the session,k my students were tasked with making a trio of candlesticks in class. So it was great fun & very dramatic to have them all return for our final class!!! All lit up & providing a wonderful ambiance for our class potluck.

I mean… who doesn’t want chocolate cookies with colorful FROSTING?!!!
Especially from our pals at OREO who have pulled out all the stops & all the food coloring!!!
Although I will say… we all kinda missed the special Space Dunk Pop-Rocks in pottery class!!!

While sharing my textured hand rollers from MKM Pottery Tools in class, one of my Intermediate students tried to make her own version of my “hybrid mugs.” Darcy has been getting some great results by wheelthrowing a cylinder, then rolling a textured pattern on the sides & then cleaning up the rim again on the wheel. Always good to a student take your “inspiration” and then find a way to twist it & make it their own!

After an hour of sculpting time, my THROWDOWN students had finished their first cereal mascot sculptures. Only to find out that they weren’t done yet… and that they had to do a second one in just 45 minutes!!! They could have traded mascots… but instead, all decided to go with a new cast of cereal characters!!! It was so much fun watching them make these amazing sculptures… watching the parts & pieces come together in the final minutes!!!

This week in my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged them all with a sculpture challenge! Most of them had never done a three-dimensional sculpture before. And what better way to celebrate NATIONAL CEREAL DAY than by sculpting some of the famous cereal mascots!!! They may have been new to sculptures… but “They’re Grrr..rreat!!!

Last week in my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to a little “throwing off-the-hump” competition… and I mean LITTLE!!! They were tasked with throwing as many matching mini cups as possible off-the-hump… and “they chose” to go with this mini red Solo “shot glass” cup as their prototype cup to match!!! Several of them had never really done any throwing off-the-hump… so it was great fun & a great experience for many of them! And they all did a GREAT job!!!

Back to my 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP… and last Wednesday night when the workshoppers got to finally unbrick their first soda kiln! The excitement was palpable as the door came down brick-by-brick. Revealing their work after being transformed by the soda-firing process. So much fun to watch them find their pieces in their very first soda-firing!!!