Well, I found them!!! The newest flavor of OREO’s!!!
Looks like it’s going to be another “sweet” pottery class tonight. Yum!!!

Last night in class my Beginning students trimmed & added handles to their first mugs!
Here’s my class demo… and sure, I “might” have done a little stamping on mine too?!!!
Shocker, huh?

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Getting ready to teach my pottery class tonight. It may only be the second class of the new session, but I’m pretty darn confident it will go better than this!!! My students ROCK… and I don’t allow them to make ashtrays!

Click here for a fun Pottery Class with Jeff Foxworthy!

During the final pottery class of last session my students did a “double” mug exchange. Each person donated two mugs into the mix, we did a “brown elephant” trading/stealing game… and everyone went home with two mugs from other people. I came home with a colorful beauty from Katie, and a sleek white contrast mug by Steven. And I’m excited that they’re both coming back tomorrow for the start of a new session. I can’t wait to see how they grow & change from here!

We’re a week away from starting the new Winter Session of classes at Lillstreet.
I checked in tonight about my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class starting next Tuesday… and we are officially FULL. All eighteen spaces taken… with three on the Waiting List. Can’t wait to get started up again!

While down in Chenoa celebrating the New Years, I found out that one of  the kids received a pottery wheel from Santa! And Rosie was anxiously waiting for a private tutorial with her Uncle Gary!!! So we set up her little clay studio… okay, a dining room chair for her wheel, and another dining room chair for her water bucket… err, I man cereal bowl?! And then we had a little tutorial and she couldn’t wait to get her hands dirty!!!

So she started centering and quickly found out it wasn’t as easy as it looks!
But Rosie was a trooper and kept trying…. and trying… and trying…

And then all of a sudden she got it…

Here it is… a centered piece of clay… so NOW what do I do?

So we continued the tutorial and talked about opening the clay, not going down too far (which she did the first time), and making the hole wider.

Once she had the ball of clay opened, it was time to start raising the walls. Two fingers inside, two fingers outside, thumbs crossed, both hands working as one unit!

She kept having trouble with that whole “elbows down” concept…

And then one of her brothers started hovering like a vulture waiting on its prey.

So when Rosie had had enough and saved her first piece of pottery, Finan was quick to swoop in to give it a spin! He jumped right in and gave it a whirl solely based on the online video he watched while Rosie was practicing.

And he did pretty well… except for that whole “elbows down” thing I kept telling them!

His cylinder was looking pretty great… still working on pulling up the walls…

And then… WHOOPS!!!… looks like the clay went one way and fingers went the other!!!

And again, I kept using my favorite classroom mantra…  “It’s just clay.”
Even if it’s all muddy all over your hands!!!

Here’s a wonderful set of bowls that one of my students made. Vanessa was in my class a couple sessions ago and never had a chance to glaze her bowls. Well, she’s back in class this session… and finally glazed her bowls. And for those who might not get it… like me… they imagery inside each bowl is cranial sutures. Kind of scientific. Kind of anatomical. Kind of BRILLIANT!!! Well done Vanessa!!!

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So my pottery students are doing great this session. They’re all returning “beginners” so we’ve been doing a little bit more than a true “beginner’s” class. And I love when we get to this stage of the class. We’re entering Week Eight of their ten week session. So at this point, they’re making a LOTS of pots. And I love seeing them all bring their finished pot to share in class. So great to see them admiring, critiquing, sharing information and being so supportive & encouraging of each other. Such a great group of students this Fall session… all making great pots and having a great time!!!

Since my pottery students are all doing so great this session. I decided it was time for a “POP QUIZ.” I handed out folded sheets of paper. Told them each to choose a number between one and ten… and write it on the outside of their folded paper. After they had all chosen their numbers, I had them open the sheets to find out what their number “decided” their challenge was to be!!! They all tackled the challenge… and they seemed to appreciate being “pushed” out of their comfort zone and being “forced” to try something new that they might not do on their own. I love Pop Quizzes!!!

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Not a “sweet” night for the Cubs last night.
But at least we had some sweet treats in my pottery class last night. Thanks Stacey!!!

Let the games begin… tonight!!!
GO CUBS GO!!!

And now I’m wondering how many (if any) of my pottery students
will show up for class tonight???

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