Had a “little” fun last night in class! We started with throwing lidded jars… and then switched to throwing the lids off-the-hump. And then since I had some “extra hump”… we continued and I showed them how to make mini bowls, small bud vases & ornaments too!!!

This week in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, we tackled a couple different techniques for a fun tie-dyed effect… you all know I’m a kinda big fan of tie-dye!!!

So we started with a “squiggly” version… where I took a large plat platter, painted a layer of thick slip on top, and then dribbled some blobs of colored underglazes on top of it. Not really sure how this will work… but I’m always ready to try something new… it’s just clay, right?!

And then I took a plastic rib with a scalloped edge… a cake decorating tool… and started to squiggle through the layers of slip & underglazes to blend, blur & texture the plate. In hindsight, I kinda wish the plastic rib were either softer or thinner… as it was a bit tough to get some good squiggle up by the curve of the rim.

So here it is so far… I’m going to let it dry slowly and trim the bottom when it gets leatherhard. Still contemplating if it might “need” a bit of stamped texture somewhere?! And if so… where???

After bisque firing, I’m assumiong I’ll probably just sue some clear glaze to make the colors “pop” and give it all some shine. The downside might be… that I’m not fully confident that the colors of the underglazes will actually “survive” the high-fire cone 10 temperatures. But we’ll find out soon enough…

Not quite traditional “tie-dye”…. but pretty fun & groovy nonetheless!

This week in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, we did a bit of carving for texture & pattern! I started with two bowls with slightly thicker walls, trimmed at leatherhard, and then we sat down to carve. Using my sharp DiamondCore Tools gives me nice crisp lines, grooves & incisions… and I’m always willing to let my students give them a try too… a mix of carving tools & trimming tools for an assortment of lines!!!

So tonight’s class demo for my Beginners & Advance Beginners was how to make a “bowl on purpose” and NOT another cylinder gone bad! So I did a couple quick demos showing them how to get a nice smooth, rounded bowl interior… without any flat bottoms, bad corners or beginner’s ledges! Once they had the basics… I sent them off to make their own bowls While I threw a few more quickly in class for the upcoming “part two” of tonight’s demo!

Once I had all of my bowls thrown… a bag full of clay… I continued to help my student son their bowls for awhile. With about 45 minutes left to class, we regathered at my demo-wheel and we did some quick alterations & decorations to my thirteen “matching” bowls. My goal is always to show them some quick “tricks” and techniques to alter their bowls… cuz’ the wheel can make them round, but I want THEM to make them their own!!!

So we cruised through all thirteen bowls in about fifteen minutes… quick tricks to make each one different than the one before!

Bowl One – fluted on two opposite sides

Bowl Two – if two are fun, maybe more are better?… fluted edges in eight places

Bowl Three – thin flared flange

Bowl Four – wide flared flange

Bowl Five – flared out flange twisted with four flutes.

Bowl Six – split rim dented on one two sides… most likely where a handle will attach going up & over to make a “basket” handle.

Bowl Seven – split rim pinched together in eight places

Bowl Eight – split rim dented in & dented out… kinda lotus-like.

Bowl Nine – spiral grooves through thick white slip.

Bowl Ten – concentric grooves though thick white slip.

Bowl Eleven – finger squiggles through thick white slip.

Bowl Twelve – swipes with a rib through thick white slip… channeling my inner “Steven Showalter”… if you’re not following him on Instagram, you definitely should be!!!

Bowl Thirteen – chattering texture through thick white slip

And now all of the bowls are up in my studio, under plastic, wrapped up for the night. I’m pretty sure that there “might” possibly be some more stamping, detailing & refining of these bowls before I call them done!

More thick slip textures created by rhythmic chattering with a rubber rib… gently tapping up & down with the rib through a layer of thick slip from the center outwards while the wheel is spinning. Kinda zen. Kinda groovy. Always fun!

Last week in one of my pottery classes, we tackled some surface decoration using thick white slip for textures & patterns. Sure, I could have used colored slip… but I’m more intrigued by how the glazes might play well with these cool textures & grooves!

Okay, so there’s been a good bit of “buzz” about this bowl around the glaze carts… everyone asking how I did it. And I didn’t… but because my name is in the bottom everyone assumes it’s my glazing too?! But it’s NOT.

Chelsea was looking for some bisqued bowls for her glaze class demos… and I gave her a couple to play with. This one turned out STUNNING!!! Beautifully vibrant colors, incredible ombre’ blends, gravity-defying drips, the WHOLE THING!!!

So here’s the glaze plan…
as best I understand it from Chelsea, Queen of All Glazing…

1. Waxed the bottom with decorative scalloping.
2. Dip fully in Chun Blue.
3. Dip the top rim inside & outside with Galaxy Black.
4. Just below that, paint a thick band of Tom’s Purple.
5. Dip the top rim inside & out to cover those two bands of black & purple.
6. Then add a few splatters of Galaxy Black on the interior.
7. And then fingers crossed for some kiln magic… which she definitely got!!!

Huge CONGRATULATIONS to Clara…
winner of the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN Season Four!!!

For the BIG BUILD project of the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN, I challenged my students to make a creamer & sugar set based on the work of a famous artist… assigned by Tracy! Including creamer with handle, sugar with lid, tray and a spoon! They all did an amazing job… most of them getting all of their pieces “done” for class. We did have a few kiln issues, so not all of the pieces were at the same place… some were bisqued, some glazed, some stuck waiting on a cart, and some missing? I felt sorry for Helen who was struggling to find her pieces on the bisque carts! Regardless, they did an amazing job embracing their inner Mondrian, Dali, Lichtenstein & Koons.

Claire : PIET MONDRIAN

Clara : SALVADOR DALI

Melanie : ROY LICHTENSTEIN

Tracy : JEFF KOONS

The final “surprise” challenge for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class was to interpret five different words onto five different tiles. They each received the same words & a blank tile, and then had fifteen minutes to “represent” the word on each tile. The words were PAISLEY, NOSTALGIA, CHAOS, FESTIVE and JUXTAPOSITION. Always fun for me as the observer to watch each of them approach a challenge in different ways – both in interpreting the word and their handbuilding approach & techniques!

CHAOS –

NOSTALGIA –

FESTIVE –

JUXTAPOSITION –

PAISLEY –