So fun to be back from the holidays… and kicking off a new session of pottery classes! My Beginning Wheelthrowing class started last night with some returning faces, a good number of newbies and a lot of enthusiasm!!!… oh yeah, and some OREOs too!!!

So excited that Christine’s latest batch of ornaments came out of the kiln beautifully just in time for Christmas! She made her first ornaments in my class last session and soda-fired them in my kiln. But now this batch she played even more with underglazes with a clear glaze in a high-fire kiln. Very festive & very fun!!!

Also in my soda kiln, was this sweet “family” of vases that one of my students made quite awhile back… and never quite knew how she should glaze them. So we finally threw them in my soda kiln… and I think she’s going to LOVE THEM!!! Well done Katie… I’m glad you waited!!!

So remember how I made a deal with my students and only Christine took me up on it… and she got to soda-fire her ornaments in MY soda kiln?! Well here’s her very first batch of wheelthrown ornaments EVER!!! She did a good amount of underglaze ombre gradations… too bad several of the colors burnt out and disappeared. Still beautiful. Still festive. Still SO CUTE!!!

She has a lot of fun… and a LOT of questions about soda-firing. So much fun to share the excitement of soda-firing with someone who loves to learn everything!!! I think she got some great results… and hopefully will continue on with her soda-firing enthusiasm!

One of the project “challenges” for my wheelthrowing class this session was to make a placesetting with pieces that work well together design-wise. We had a lot of fun this session…. but only one of them succeeded in the challenge. Look at this beautiful set with a lot of underglazed ombre gradations & graphic design accents made with thin tape as a resist while the underglazes were being applied. Beautifully done Christine!

So I made a deal with my students this session… that anyone who made a wheelthrown ornament like the demo… could have it fired in my soda firing next weekend. So far, it looks like only Christine will be taking me up on “the deal” with these little cuties!

This week in my Tuesday night pottery class, we enjoyed some new OREOs “imported” from Croatia by my friend Tracy! Who knew that they even made a Travel Edition?!

This week in my pottery class I showed my students how to throw taller cylinders… and to lift the extra clay up & away from the bottom. Then I challenged them to throw their own tallest two-pound cylinder. Looks like Jacob & Janet took it to heart, as they were pretty much neck & neck for most of their challenge!

So I just sub taught Lisa’s Sunday morning pottery class… where we did my favorite “Demo On Demand.” We tackled stamping bowls, throwing off the hump, lidded casseroles… and sharing all of the tricks & tips I could pull out along the way. So much fun… those three hours just flew by!!!

Last night in my pottery class, one of my students brought back some OREO’s from Canada… and yes, an “intentional” trip to Canada… not to be confused with my “accidental” trip into Canada last July!