Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play |
Last week in my POTTERY THROWDOWN class, I surprised my students with the “SGRAFFITO SURPRISE”!!! We talked briefly about sgraffito and looked at some examples. And then I “sprung it on them”… one hour to decorate a black slip covered cylinder I had prepped prior to class. So much to watch how each of them approached the challenge… and tackled the blank canvas with some sharp carving tools.
Another “sweet” night in class…
Not only was it a big night for the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class…
but we also had plenty of OREO treats!!! Easter snacks as well as some OREOs “imported” all the way from Costa Rica!!!
Okay, so those cylinders I made yesterday actually do have a purpose… SURPRISE!!!
I’ve coated the outsides of the cylinders with black slip. The perfect blank “canvas”
for my class tonight as tonight’s POTTERY THROWDOWN is going to tackle sgraffito!!!
Everyone gets a cylinder. Everyone has to carve a beautiful sgraffito design…
with a one hour time limit!!! Class starts in a minute or two… so I guess it’s safe
to reveal the surprise now?!
SGRAFFITO SURPRISE!!!
The Great Lillstreet Throwdown : LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!
With all of the fun going on in PyeongChang, South Korea…
it was only appropriate that we celebrate the Winter Olympics with our own version of competitive fun!
So I chose three team leaders… the forerunners in the weekly challenges!
They then in turn chose their teams in a schoolyard pick. Once the teams were chosen, I gave each Team Leader a sheet for them to fill out with their crew. It listed the ten challenges for the night with somewhat cryptic titles… and lines to fill in with the players who would be playing that game. Once the rosters were filled out… it was time to start the fun!!!
But first things first…. in addition to the Olympic OREOs…
possibly the best Carrot Cake Cupcakes ever… Thanks “Peggy Burnish-shine”!!!
And now that everyone’s all sugared up… on to the games…
CHALLENGE #1 – A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
Without the benefit of a scale… and only 10 minutes…
One player had to cut chunks off the bag of clay and guesstimate them be pre-determined weights. They could get advice & guidance from their team, but only the one person competing could actually touch the clay!
four @ 1-1/4 pounds - one @ 1-1/2 pounds - one @ 2-1/2 pounds
        one @ 3 pounds - two @ 4 pounds - one @ 5 pounds
When done, we actually weighed their guesses and compared to the list.
One point for each 1/4-pound off either way. Team with the LEAST points won the round!
CHALLENGE #2 – SQUISH
Once we said GO… they had 10 minutes… the two players re-measured the clay balls WITH the scale! And then they wedged them all and put them back under plastic. Here’s the twist… only one person could wedge at a time and they must alternate taking turns. First team to finish wedging all of the correctly measured balls of clay won!
And if you look closely… like Jon Cusack in “Serendipity”… you’ll see “Joe Bowl-a” holding up his iPhone while playing the Olympics theme song to help set the tone!!! So funny!!!
CHALLENGE #3 – STRETCH ARMSTRONG – Revisiting a Classic Throwdown Challenge!!!
With four pounds of clay… the chosen player had to make a good slab with no more than five pulls! No slab roller. No rolling pins. No ribs. No tools. We were measuring the largest continuous “rectangle†in the slab. Largest “area†wins.
And if nothing else…. we gave “Susie Greenware” the prize for best dismount!
Look at her hands.. the style… the flourish!
CHALLENGE #4 – ONLY YOU
Get the reference?…. “Only You”… “Can make my dreams come true.”
Who sang the classic song “Only You”???
With five pounds of clay… and just 15 minutes… the chosen competitor had to throw the largest diameter platter… THE PLATTERS, get it?! An actual, legitimate platter… it must have a “viable†bottom. And not flopping down. We wired them off… with the guideline that if we see the wire you’re DQ’d!!! Widest diameter WINS!!!
It was so much fun to watch the teams working together so closely. They were all so supportive of each other… yet again with the rule that only the actual competitor could “touch” the clay!
CHALLENGE #5 – ON A ROLL – Revisiting a Classic Throwdown Challenge!!!
With 1-1/2 pounds of clay and just five minutes… each contestant had to roll the longest continuous coil by hand. But if it broke, they were done and we measured the longest section left. No re-attaching. Longest coil wins!
CHALLENGE #6 – STANDING TALL
With three pounds of clay… and just 15 minutes… each competitor had to throw the tallest cylinder. We were just measuring height. It had to be a traditional, hollow, free-standing cylinder. But here’s the twist… It’s had to be thrown while standing at the standing wheel. Which NONE of my students have ever done before!!! Challenge on!!!
And it was fun to see “Clay Eagerman” getting some tips and encouragement for his turn at the standing wheel. A little consultation before throwing.
CHALLENGE #7 – DIDN’T SEE THAT ONE COMING
With four pounds of clay… and 15 minutes… the next contestant needed to throw the largest serving bowl. “Largest†was measured as height plus width. And here’s the twist… BLINDFOLDED !!!
And again… part of the challenge was that ONLY the contestant could touch the clay. But their teammates could work as “sou chef” giving them advice, suggestions and handing them tools.
After the timer went off… it was HANDS UP and NO MORE CLAY!
So much fun to see the joy & excitement when the contestants got to take off their blindfolds to see their latest creations!
CHALLENGE #8 – MIX & MATCH
With four balls of clay each 1-1/4 pounds of clay… and 10 minutes… the two contestants took alternating turns of throwing a cylinder. Each player had to throw two cylinders. They had to work together to throw four matching cylinders. Height. Width. Shape.
Here’s the twist…
While one team member was throwing at the wheel…
the other player was operating the foot pedal for them!
CHALLENGE #9 – FLIP THE SWITCH
With 2-1/2 pounds of clay… and just 10 minutes to throw… the three team members took turns working on the same cylinder. Switching places every 30 seconds. Tallest, free-standing, straight-sided cylinder wins. Yes, I said switching positions and rotating the person throwing on that cylinder every 30 seconds!!! Turns out to be a lot tougher than they expected.
CHALLENGE #10 – STICKS AND STONES
With about eight pounds of clay… and the final ten minutes of class… the team had to work together to make the tallest handbuilt “structure†using just clay, plastic straws and toothpicks!!! Must be free-standing. No tools. No supports. Tallest wins with bonus for creative sculptures!!!
And “Kelly Bisque” getting into it…
shrouding their structure from the peering eyes of the the opposing teams!
And the winners of STICKS & STONES… with the tallest free-standing structure…
It was quite a busy night!!! A lot of fun… a lot of laughter… a LOT of camaraderie & teamwork!!! So much fun for my Throwdown class. Exactly the sort of fun that I was hoping this special Throwdown class would bring out. And it did.
So to finish up our night… we had our own Olympic Closing Ceremony where the contestants actually got their medals! The tally scoreboard was updated with the winners getting GOLD and 30 points!!! Silver got 20 points and Bronze got 10 points. And the fun continues next week with more Throwdown Fun!!!
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A sneak peek of the fun my students are going to have tonight in my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class! It may only happen every four years… but at least we have Team USA themed OREOs to set the mood for a night full of games, challenges & friendly competitions! And yes, medals will be awarded!!!
I’m sure there will be MANY photos & stories still to come…
A SNEAK PEEK of the ongoing challenge that my Lillstreet Throwdown students are working on. Last week they were tasked with making a handbuilt butter dish. The challenge is “glazed & done” so they still have some time to finish them as these ones are now drying for their bisque firing. Lookin’ good so far!!!
So we started our Great Lillstreet Throwdown class last night with a bit of inspiration…
Which revealed the chosen challenge for the evening… CHIP & DIP BOWLS!!!
And then I did a demo for my students… none of whom have ever made one before.
Perfect choice. Perfect challenge!!!
So I threw a sample one for them… discussing some of the factors & parameters to watch out for. Proportion, design, consistency, even wall thickness and making it look “as finished as possible” since this is basically a THROWING challenge, and not a finishing challenge!
And then I gave them 30 minutes to throw their own version of a chip & dip bowl
using six pounds of clay! On your mark, get set, GO!!!
And then with about eight minutes left, “Ry-Ry Joshblue” asked if they were allowed to use colored slip… of course I said YES< whatever it takes to make your chip & dip bowl look more “finished.”
Meanwhile, everyone else was still trying to finish up their chip & dips!!!
At the end of the thirty minutes, we had some pretty amazing results!!!
Keep in mind, my students had never throw a chip & dip before. Ever… until now!
And look at their amazing results!
And oh, but wait there’s more… none of my students brought some AMAZING COOKIES!!!
Yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies by “Clay Eagerman.”
Remember, my students now all have their “superhero” pseudonyms…
scroll back a few posts here on the blog to find all of their pictures and new names!!!
And then remember to VOTE for who you think is going to win The Great Lillstreet Throwdown as they’re earning points for every challenge & project along the way!
Cookies were so good… that we even had a little “Lady & The Tramp” moment over the chocolate chip cookies. Best part?… these two cuties don’t go together… each of their better-halves were right there watching this go down!!! And didn’t really care… as the cookies were THAT good!!!
If you recall the bowl demo from last week… you may remember one of the bowl & rim alterations when we did a split rim, pinched it together and then pulled it out to an oval. Just a refresher… there was an audible gasp when I pulled the edges out making it UN-round!!! Heaven forbid that I make a round bowl UN-round on purpose!!!
But the plan was to make it into a basket…. which I think makes it make a lot more sense!
Maybe my students will re-gasp when they see the basket version of the UN-round bowl?!
So we’re almost halfway into The Great Lillstreet Throwdown!
We’ve been working hard & playing harder… with great challenges, fun races and a little friendly “trash-talking” along the way. Every class has been a lot of fun. Laughter. Screaming. Giggling. Causing a bit of a ruckus around the studio every Thursday night. Each challenge has been awarded points and we’re working our way to an eventual WINNER!!!
So here’s the game…
PICK THE WINNER of The Great Lillstreet Throwdown!!!
Who will win the challenges? Who will garner the most points?
Purely superficial fun based on their photos below… like a good Reality TV show…
just like how we choose our players in the Survivor Pool, right?
Making these crazy assumptions & predictions based on a gut feeling.
So here we go… my own cast of reality characters for your perusal… and voting.
Please add your guess in the Comments section!
And then as the class continues we can start showing you some Winners along the way!
Actual names have been altered for fun & confusion. Ha!!!
AW : ANNA WHEELIE – below on the left
CW : CLAYTINA WATERGIRL – below on the right… she’s really NOT a bucket…
CE : CLAY EAGERMAN – below on the left
DJ :Â DEBBIE JIGGER – below on the right
IM : IZZY MUDMAKER – below on the left
JB :Â JOE BOWL-A – below on the right
KB : KELLY BISQUE – below on the left
PB :Â PEGGY BURNISH-SHINE – below on the right
PN : POTTERY NURTERER – below on the left
RB :Â RICHY BENTONITE – below on the right
RJ : RY-RY JOSHBLUE – below on the left
SG :Â SUSIE GREENWARE – below on the right
SL : SALLY LUSTER – below on the left
TCW :Â TAY-TAY CLAY-WEDGER – below on the right
So again, here’s the game…
PICK THE WINNER of The Great Lillstreet Throwdown!!!
Just place your “votes” in the Comments section… and we’ll see how good your intuition was in a few more weeks when we “crown” the winner of the Great Lillstreet Throwdown!!!
Going further with our handbuilding after the coils…
We also did a slab making challenge this Thursday in our Lillstreet Throwdown class.
They did so goo don the coil challenge with one pound of clay… so now we were going to see who could make the biggest slab out of their 5-pound ball of clay! For this challenge I gave them three minutes with the opportunity to stop earlier if they thought they were done. Pull it too far and you risk ripping, tearing and crumpling all over the place!
Some kept their slabs contained in a nice rectangle shape, whereas others were doing a pre-emptive strike by folding over the edges to straighten & reinforce them.
Others were a bit timid… not willing to really slap it down with a vengeance!
And some were so enthusiastic… everyone was cheering them on…
Okay, so not all of the slabs were pretty… maybe we should have stopped a little sooner?
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Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
Lillstreet Studios ∙ 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois 60640 ∙ 773-307-8664 gary@firewhenreadypottery.com |