After Catherine did her demo for my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, my students picked up their paint brushes and gave it a go… painting patterns with wax resist on to the sides of bone dry bowls.

Knowing that I was going to be out-of-town for my SURFACE DECORATIONS class last week, I secured my pal Catherine Tweedie to sub for the class. She’s “the master” of water-etching…. so I knew she would be the perfect person to fill-in for me. She taught them the basics of the process… basically painting a pattern with wax resist or shellac, and then wiping away the “unprotected” background with a wet sponge. Here she is with two of her demo bowls painted with wax – just waiting for it to dry… before the wiping begins!

For my SURFACE DECORATION class last week, my students were going to tackle water etching… so I figured I would start them off right with some small bowls to play with. Thrown, trimmed, dried and ready for them to follow along with the demo to create their own water-etched masterpiece! A little less “pressure” than doing it om their own bowls, right?

Last week in my Beginning Wheelthrowing class, we threw larger bowls. And then last night, we did a bit of stamping on the same larger bowl demo piece. My students have already made bowls & made their own stamps… now they just need to put it all together!

Also last night in class, one of my students got one of her plates back from the glaze kiln… after a visit on “The Show-Off Shelves” at Lillstreet! We were all enamored with Kim’s beautiful stamping & throwing… but even more, that stunning combination of glazes and how they work in all the right places!!! Well done Kimberly – so beautiful!!! Now you need to make MORE of these beauties!!!

Last night in my ADVANCED WHEELTHROWING class, we tackled throwing LARGE!!! One of my students requested the demo for a large flower pot. When I asked Kelly to estimate just “how large” she was thinking… and she said about the size of a five-gallon bucket. So that was my demo-challenge… and I think we accomplished it pretty well. I still need to do a bit of detailing, stamping & trimming… and throw a water tray to go underneath.

Now it’s Kelly’s turn… CHALLENGE ON!!!

So exciting to see when your students take on your teachings, lessons & encouragement to create a masterpiece like this! It’s always encouraging to see when they can use “my influences” and yet make it their own style… instead of just replicating MY style!

Thank you Christine… I can’t wait to see this plate again after it is glazed & fired! Another stunning piece… with just a “little” stamping… good to see you “got the memo” on MORE IS MORE!!!

Here are some of the sgraffito projects that my students created… along with Susan’s demo pieces from last night’s SURFACE DECORATION class. They had a great time playing with their little porcelain plates, as well as our “guest artist” Susan Slogoff. Such a fun night at Lillstreet!

As part of last night’s “Sgraffito Surprise” demo in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class… I brought in my pal Susan Slogoff to show off some of her superior sgraffito skills. She’s one of our best sgraffito artists at Lillstreet and I knew that she would be a welcome “surprise” guest artist for my class! Susan shared info & did some demos before we unleashed my students to do their own sgraffito on some small porcelain plates I had pre-prepped for them!

Susan has been my teaching assistant for years, but with reduced class sizes at Lillstreet, we’ve also lost our assistants. It was so great to have her back in class with me… and looking forward to getting back to larger classes & having Susan back teaching with me!

Tonight in my SURFACE DECORATION pottery class, we’re tackling a little sgraffito!!! I’ve got a couple surprises ready for them… and sharing my collection of DiamondCore Carving Tools for them to play with!!!