Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play |
Not to be outdone… when Michelle saw Allison stamping her plate in class,
she decided to go for it too!!! It was a great night of stamping fun for my students
in class Tuesday night! Allison & Michelle have the bug… it’s a slippery-slope
down that stamping hole. Get ready for a sweet ride!
Tuesday night in my Wheelthrowing Class, one of my returning students needed a way to decorate her plate… and decided to tackle stamping of the rim. Wonder where she got THAT idea?!… and I wonder where this stamping-prodigy has been hiding all this time? Allison’s plate turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!! I think she might be onto something here…
Okay, so I would love to call this the POTTERY OLYMPICS…
but that only happens every four years! Ha!!!
So this week in class after we critiqued , judged & awarded the Nesting Bowls…
we moved onto the POTTERY OLYMPICS… okay, so maybe it’s not so bad…
We started by dividing the class into four teams of three. I had pre-chosen the Team Captains… by splitting up the couples… so it was Molly vs. Jacob vs. Patti vs. Jon. But then we found out that Jon was not coming to class for a medical issue… so his “Captain-manship” was handed off to Teresa who had just finished eating Jon’s dinner! So the four Team Captains chose their teams and we were almost ready to move on… except one team only had two people. So I drafted my friend Natalie who has recently returned to Chicago & Lillstreet to join us in the activities. She was great to agree on such short notice!!!
To kick it off… I had each team fill out a worksheet to assign who might be the “competitor” in some of the challenges… only using cryptic hints as to what the challenge would be.
CHALLENGE ONE
Each team had one bag of clay, a wire tool and one competitor to cut it up into predetermined weights. No scale. No weighing of the pieces. Just their best judgement with a chance to compare each ball to each other. At the end of the challenge, we weighed the balls of clay… to add up the variances. Team that was the closest to the correct weights would win the challenge!
We then did a bit of housekeeping…
Each team had a chance to even out their weighting mistakes, making sure their balls of clay were the correct weight. They then wedged them up – while another member of their team set-up a wheel for future throwing challenges!
CHALLENGE TWO
This time we had two competitors for each team… each using a two-pound ball of clay. They had a limited amount of time to hand roll the longest coils they could…. and limited table space! And here’s the twist… if your coil were to break during the challenge, you’re done! No squishing it back together. We would just measure the longest segment while the others continue to roll clay.
CHALLENGE THREE
For the next challenge… it was the third member of each team who did NOT roll a coil that was up! Now they had to use the recently-rolled coils to build the tallest coil cylinder. Simple enough, right? They could not continue rolling the coils… and it had to be freestanding at the end.
CHALLENGE FOUR
We then switched to a wheelthrowing challenge. All three players on each team would get a 3-pound ball of clay. Using one wheel per team, they would take turns throwing matching bowls! The first person would throw a bowl, and then they switched places as the second person stepped up to match that first bowl. Now with two bowls in, the third person stepped in to match the first two! Harder than it sounds… since there was no going back to “fix up” or alter the previous bowls!
CHALLENGE FIVE
We stuck with wheelthrowing for the next challenge… this time with two pre-determined players. Again with a three pound ball of clay they had to throw one “perfect” bowl. And here’s the twist… One throwing. One driving. Yep, one person was doing all of the centering & throwing… while the other person had complete control over the speed on the foot pedal.
 Whoops!!!… I missed the photos of this one! But trust me, it was fun to watch!
CHALLENGE SIX
After two wheelthrowing challenges… we switched back to handbuilding for a slab throwing competition. With five pounds of clay, they had to throw the largest slab of clay… round-robin fashion with each team member taking a turn. And again, if their slab broke at any point… they were done with the challenge. No squishing it back together! Largest surface area wins!
It’s a “shame” no one had any fun!!!
CHALLENGE SEVEN
For their final challenge.. and the funniest… for me… each team had to throw one final “perfect” bowl with a four pound ball of clay. They would each have two minutes… switch… two minutes… switch… two minutes… Two full rounds of working on the same bowl. Yes, each team would continue to work on their one bowl to make it as “perfect” as they could. Each person had two “two-minute” chances to help their team
And here’s the best part… for ME at least… all the while BLINDFOLDED!!!
And then the final challenge envelope… THEIR HOMEWORK!!!
PSYCH!!!
They have no homework this week as they have all been working so hard over the past couple weeks.. the deserve a break – and some tie to make what ever they want for a change!
And again, I have the BEST STUDENTS EVER!!!
Each of them embraced my crazy challenges and played along with my silly reindeer games!
Okay, so right off the bat… I need to apologize for not having the best photos this time!
I regret NOT getting photos of everyone’s nesting bowl sets. The bowls were all squeezed onto one table… some were stacked… some were not.. some were still too wet to move… and my mind was swirling knowing that I had to pick the TOP TWO… and more importantly, knowing that I had a LOT of crazy fun challenges that we had to get started quickly if we were going to get around to all of them?!
So this week’s homework challenge was a set of three wheelthrown nesting bowls. A tough challenge to get done in just one week! And to up the ante even more… I added a secondary challenge for EXTRA CREDIT BONUS POINTS!!! If the they were to make a nesting set of FIVE bowls and still get chosen for the TOP TWO… they would win huge bonus points!!!
Donna made this adorable set of nesting bowls…
a wonderful set for the “handbuilder” in the class! Her fit & sizing was spot-on!
Dave went for a nesting set of FIVE… but had a few issues along the way…
so he ended with a set of four porcelain bowls decorated with some blue underglaze.
Susan went for a set of FIVE nesting bowls.. and took a narrative spin on “nesting” as well!!! She bowls were beautifully decorated on the outside with some colored slip and sgraffito “nest” and “leaf” patterns. She even went as far has having nests & eggs inside a few of them… and an “empty nest” for when the kids leave!
Claire made a lot of bowls that all stacked well… and were ULTRA-light!!! Some brushed on colored slip details to bring them all together!
Patti was chosen as one of the TOP TWO with these very well-thrown,
well-trimmed and perfecting nesting bowls. The simple perfection of the underglaze
decoration helped with the win!
Tatiana won the BIG BONUS PRIZE for her set of five nesting bowls…
well, actually more than FIVE!!! Again so sorry I didn’t get a photo of her full set stacked.
They were pretty wet still, so they were stacked & unstacked very quickly by Tatiana.
She threw several porcelain bowls and then altered their shape and gave them
some great textures & patterns scraped on the outsides!
So much fun to see one of my Tuesday Night pottery students “test driving” her new V-tip DiamondCore Tools for the very first time… first time with this tool AND first time carving all together!!! Looks like Jen is off to an AMAZING start… a little carving prodigy in the making!!!
Just finished subbing for Catherine’s Saturday morning Wheelthrowing class.
She requested that I show them pitchers & creamers… but her students requested plates.
So I just showed them all THREE!
THEY KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!
My students never cease to amaze me… once again, going above & beyond!
They were challenged to make a tulipiere using the extruder as their primary tool. They not only embraced the challenge, but they surpassed my expectations. It’s always amazing to see how a goroup of people can take on the same challenge – and end up with such different pieces. Such wonderful creativity. And so much fun to see the camaraderie that this group is forming. So supportive & helpful with each other. What a great class!!!
Dave tackled the challenge by extruding very skinny coils of porcelain.
And then continued to create his first coiled pot… ever!!! Really?…
Simply amazing for his first coil pot, right?!
Taylor worked with slightly thicker coils to create her tulipiere – complete with tubes for the flowers and bees for a little whimsy!
Teresa kept is simple and to-the-point… she didn’t have a ton of time for the challenge this week, but she succeed by streamlining her design.
Ryan took his tulipiere to a whole different ecosystem… welcome to Cactus World!
Such a wonderful twist on the project – making the vase a plant to hold plants!!!
But Ryan’s was one of the few tulipieres that I actually preferred without flowers!
I love the structure, the cubist-ness and the balance of it all without flowers!
Donna started with her plan to make a full basket, but along the way came up with
three “cantilivered ladders” to hold her flowers!
Patti’s tulipiere was a rounded tube to hold the water and more tubes propping up
to hold the flowers. Truth be told… her hubby did most of the actual construction
of the piece… and Patti did the decorating!
Susan used extruded coils to build her “hive” shaped tulipiere. Simple and clean… with three tube openings and additional “openings” in between to help hold the flowers in multiple layers & places.
Claire was the only one who added a bit of serious functionality to her tulipiere… with a removable lid so you can get in to clean it out after having flowers in it for awhile. Brilliant plan!!!
Jacob had been out of town for business examining factories & warehouses… and when he got back you could see that he had been deeply influenced.
Tatiana went organic… with her tulipiere made of extruded & alterd tubes. We all loved the addition of the lily pad tray.. and the adorable frog that came along for the ride!
I was especially enamored by the tulip leaf in the bottom right corner
that completely mirrored the clay leaf in the vase directly below it.
And our TOP TWO winners…
It was such a tough choice this time as they were all AMAZING!!!
Jon extruded his tubes and combined them in a organic tubular sculpture!
Beautiful layers, flow and gentle curves.
But the real kick… which made me actually gasp out loud…
was when he lifted the center out to reveal a smaller tulipere inside the bigger one!
With a beautiful “cup” receptacle in the center to hold it upright.
But put back together… it was easily in the TOP TWO!
Molly went totally geometric… stacked… layered… modular… perfect!!!
Balance, depth and great smooth craftsmaship all came together for Molly…
and her first time extruding… and practically her first time handbuilding too!!!
And even a bonus “single stem” tulipere mini vase!… extra credit???
So there they are – all twelve tuliperes!!!
Each and everyone AMAZING!!!
Huge thanks to my amazing students for accepting my challenges
and playing along with my crazy games.
They make teaching so fun & rewarding!!!
Thank you all.
On Wednesday night, my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class was all about TULIPIERES!!!
And what’s a tulipiere, one might ask?! Well, we tackled it and they all made their version.
They came into class… thinking they were done.
And I still had one last TWIST in the game for them!!!
But seriously… a vase isn’t really a vase until it has held some flowers, right?
So I brought in some flowers for them to accessorize their tulipieres! So much better!
My LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students are amazing…
as they embrace each challenge so fully & creatively.
Many of them were working on their challenge pieces Tuesday night while I was teaching my Beginning Wheelthrowing class. I resisted the urge to go see what they were doing… and trust me it was HARD!!! I kept hearing laughter, discussion and “reports” for other students about how cool their projects were… and how well they were all coming along. I SO wanted to go back to see them… but felt better to wait to see them at The Big Reveal in class Wednesday night.
Luckily, they’re also good photographers… so they took pictures for me… but Jon didn’t share them with me until AFTER class Wednesday night. Yes, they do love playing games too!
Here’s Jon working hard on his piece using the pile of tubes you’ve already seen.
Scoring… slipping… attaching…Â Â Â and most of them are NOT handbuilders!!!
Donna was the only “handbuilder” coming into the class…
so she’s obviously enjoying this challenge!
While Ryan found the challenge to be a bit more prickly… making thorns with thick slip!
Claire on the other hand had great plans… and many choices to make along the way…
Not feeling so confident about the lid she’s adding to the tulipere…
Susan doing some finishing touches on her coiled pot.
Patti adding some last minute carvings to texture the tube of her tulipiere.
And if that weren’t enough... slip dots on the white tubes…
And Teresa was happy to be finishing her piece just in time for class!
I’m so excited about my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class tonight!!!
This week’s homework challenge was to make a TULIPIERE with the extruder as their primary tool. These are the example photos I showed them… and I know that they’re going to knock it out of the park! Several of them were in the studio last night trying to finish… and I resisted the urge to go see what they were doing. Instead I want the “Big Reveal” surprise in class tonight!!! Can’t wait!!!
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Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
Lillstreet Studios ∙ 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois 60640 ∙ 773-307-8664 gary@firewhenreadypottery.com |