After the class discussion & demo about sgraffito, my SURFACE DECORATION class set-off to decorate their own pieces. The goal was to get crisp clean lines & patterns carved through the dark layer of slip or underglaze to reveal the lighter clay body. They really enjoyed using my collection of DiamondCore Carving Tools to get some crisp & clean carving lines. The perfect way to let their creative expressions reveal themselves!

As we near the end of our pottery class session, we’re also nearing the “Big Reveal” of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW. Last night we celebrated the latest batch of “losers” who didn’t quite make it to the finals! Yummy treats based-on & inspired-by the four bakers… baklava for Karis, churros for Sean, key lime ice cream parfait cups for Nerali & purple ube cupcakes for Susan! Quite the night for my students. Exciting to see that our very own Martin has made it into the Top Three & will be baking & competing in the FINALS!!! Go Martin!!!

Last Thursday night, while I was driving north to Minneapolis for the Pottery Tour, my SURFACE DECORATION class was having a fun class without me!!! Luckily, I planned ahead and pre-made some bowls & cylinders for them to play with. And then I also scheduled the best sub teacher ever… Catherine Tweedie with her best water etching demo ever!!! Basically painting patterns with wax resist… and then wiping away the “unprotected” areas to remove a layer of clay or colored slip. It can create some great images, as well as some depth & texture. From the photos she sent me, it looks like they all had a great time. Now I can’t wait to see their masterpieces in real life!!!

In addition to my piñata cupcakes… our “real” baker Martin also celebrated CAKE WEEK with yummy slices of his coconut & mango cake! Cute in its individual box… but better presentation points when I took it home! Homemade food always tastes better on handmade pottery!

Last night in class we once again “celebrated” the next baker booted out of “The Great American Baking Show.” Our own baker Martin survived another episode… but sadly Jon was sent home after making this cute piñata cake. And since he was “my player” in the game… it was my turn to bring in treats based on Jon’s baking endeavors!!!

While I might “allegedly” be in Minneapolis already to play & shop at this weekend’s St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour… I wouldn’t want my SURFACE DECORATION class to miss me too much tonight. So I’ve set them up with my favorite sub, and her best demo ever!!! And I even pre-made some pieces for them to “play with” in class! Can’t wait to see what Catherine does with them as they tackle “water etching” tonight! Sadly, without me…

This week in my SURFACE DECORATION class… we did a bit of simple faceting. Basically throwing “thick-ish” walled cylinders, slicing through them… and in some cases, re-throwing from the inside to bulge them out a bit. We also did some throwing with marbled clay… but my hands were too gooey with three colors of clay to get any good photos! Maybe after we do a little trimming to reveal the marbling better???

This past Thursday in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, we started working with color… and transferring underglaze “doodles” onto our pots. The idea is you can draw your pattern on newsprint, let it dry, and then transfer it to your pot by wetting it… kinda like a temporary tattoo when you were a kid. We found that some of the simpler line drawing with thinner underglazes worked better.

I tried one with layers of colored underglazes… but the green was kinda gloppy… and smudged when applied. Pretty cool technique… but we’ve all got a lot of practice to do if we want to “perfect” our technique?!

So… word on the street says that a new season of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW will be begin streaming next Friday on ROKU. For all those people who LOVE the British version… this one has American bakers in the same white tent with the same judges!!! But here’s the kicker… ONE of the bakers is actually a student in one of my pottery classes this session! Can’t wait to see how this show plays out… drama under the tent… and to see how my student does in the competition!!! Truth be told… now I expect better treats in class too!!!

Plus, I apologize in advance for the “bad photos”… it was the best I could “screen grab” from the teaser trailer!

After class last Tuesday, I spent a little more time with my class demo bowls. Just did a little more stamping & detailing… making the bowls even more not-so-basicER!!!

And for now, they’re back under plastic for the night… going to have a LOT of trimming to do pretty soon!