This week’s class demos were about two-piece pots thrown as one. Like this large flower pot with an attached water tray. I threw the pot in class, but did the stamping later in my studio after it had stiffened up a bit.

So you might remember that for the last session of my Beginning Wheel class I challenged them to each make a dinnerware placesetting. Many of them pulled through with the challenge… some did not?! However, I must admit that I was a little surprised when Angela brought in her dinnerware set TONIGHT during class!!! She may not have met the deadline, but she persevered and showed up with a beautiful handmade set. Well-crafted with a beautiful glaze combination. Congrats Angela… it”s a beautiful set. Well worth the wait.

Tonight I subbed for Dave Trost’s Advanced Wheelthrowing Class.
I gave them the option for whatever they wanted me to show them… “Demo On Demand.”
One guy requested a goblet thrown as one piece, and I offered up a stamped platter.
Other than those demos. it was a pretty easy night… no crazy requests?! Bring it on!!!

So I did a platter demo, both throwing & stamping.
Presumably the “best” demo that class has ever seen!!!
Or at least that’s what we’re telling Dave when he gets back from vacation! Ha!!!

So here’s my stamped demo platter…

And here’s one of the student’s stamped platters. Nicely done Stephanie!
I love when students actually follow along and do the demo piece in class.

Last night in my Beginning Wheelthrowing class we worked on bowls.
Basic bowls thrown the right way and on purpose… NOT a cylinder gone bad.
So we did a demo of the basic bowl with a nice round interior using my green plastic rib.

Bowl #1 – Plain

After this first bowl, my students went back to their wheels to keep working. As they were making pots, I continued to throw more bowls. After I had made 15 more bowls, we reconvened by my demo wheel. I then showed them some quick ways to “decorate” their basic bowls to make them “not so basic” anymore!!! We talked about playing with your clay, taking a chance, committing to your alterations and making the bowl “yours.” Just because the wheel makes round pots doesn’t mean that they need to stay that way!!!

Bowl #2 – Two Twisted Flutes.

Bowl #3 – Eight Twisted Flutes.

Bowl #4 – Thin Flange bent outwards.

Bowl #5– Wide Flange bent outwards.

Bowl #6 – Flange and Twisted Fluting.

Bowl #7 – Split Rim with Pinches.

Bowl #8 – Split Rim and Fluted In & Out

Bowl #9 – Split Rim in a Lotus Flower Style

Bowl #10 – Plain with a Flower Pressed in the bottom with a simple dragonscale tool.

Then we started working more with colored slip. For the demo I used thick white slip and thin blue mazzerine. Now looking at the photos, I probably should have used a darker slip to show more contrast to the lightness of the B-Clay. Oh well… next time!!

Bowl #11 – White Slip Spiral using the rounded end of my wooden knife.

Bowl #12 – White Slip Squiggles with my finger tip.

Bowl #13 – White Slip Banding & Squiggles

Bowl #14 – Blended Gradation Ombre with Chattering Texture

Bowl #15 – Wide Flange with some Mazzerine Squiggles.

Bowl #16 – Mazzerine Slip with a couple Newspaper Letter Stencils.

So now they are all in my studio under wraps. Covered with plastic so they can dry a bit slowly. I’m hoping that maybe tomorrow night they will be ready for some stamping, detailing & accenting. If so… most like more photos will follow!

I found the latest addition to the Nabisco Oreo family. THINS.
I think Nabisco is trying to position them as “adult” Oreo’s… or maybe “healthy” Oreo’s. I must admit they taste pretty good… exactly like their bigger counterparts. Same proportions. Same flavor. But since they’re so thin, I just want to eat MORE of them to amke up for the difference!!!

And then when I came down to the classroom, I found out that I wasn’t the only one with Oreo’s on the brain. Two of my students had each brought in two different kinds of Oreo’s. What?!!! Seven, yes count them… SEVEN BAGS of Oreo’s!!! This snack addiction may be getting a little out of control?!

So last night in class, I did a little “interpreting” of where my students stand in their clay skills. We were scheduled to make mugs out of their existing cylinders… trimming, handles, attachments, etc. However, no one had a cylinder at the right stage. So we postponed that demo and went straight for “Demo-On-Demand.” After a little discussion, we did a basic cylinder from the start for the brand new beginners… followed by a larger vase, a plate and a platter for the advanced beginners. The “challenge” for my students this session is to make a plate that they are willing to trade & exchange during the last class. So we jumped ahead a bit… and went straight to plates!!

After the throwing demos, they all went back to work at their wheels… and we ended the class by making a few stamps. We’ll get them fired and then they can use them on their pots for the rest of the session. Gotta get ’em started early on the stamping obsession!!!

So I’m finally back from Dover… and tonight was my “return” to the studio!
Okay, well not really MY studio but to the classroom as it was my night to teach.
My class of beginners & advanced beginners are already in their third week of class. I missed the first two – thank you Catherine Tweedie for subbing. It felt weird to swoop in during Week 3 with the students already hitting their stride. So I knew I had to do something to win them over… yep, you got it… OREO’S!!! And lots of them. I couldn’t decide how much “stuffing” we wanted, so I got them all : single, double, triple, mega!!!

And we’ve sort of come to a consensus…

Several of the students in my Tuesday night Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing were more on the “advanced” returning side. As always, I like to customize the 10-week class to their wants & needs. So the first night I ask them what they want and the syllabus is built from that discussion. Along the way, I decided that some of my “returning” beginners needed an extra challenge!!!

So I challenged them to create a dinnerware place setting!!! To step it up and make a few pieces that go together. To make a plan, design a set, discuss visual continuity and so much more. Several of my student took the challenge… and showed off their final results last night during our last class of the session. We talked about having a dinner plate, salad plate, bowl, mug and tumbler. Anything additional was a bonus!

Dave : His set has a wonderful dragonfly illustration he carved into each piece and inlaid with colored slip. Beautifully rendered & well-crafted.

Sara : Her set utilized B-Clay and the way amber celadon so beautifully works with the clay… and just a hint of blue!

Marni : Unfortunately, Marni’s set has a few glazing issues. Her first plate had a much more subtle ombre effect of dark-to-light slip. The waxy white glaze didn’t cover all of her delicate slip work. It seems like the glaze may have been a bit too thick for the rest of her pieces. So they’re a little whiter than she expected, and the slip ombre gradation doesn’t show through as much as we wanted. Still, all-in-all, a beautiful set of “white” dishes.

Jeanette : Her set has a wonderful contrast of black-to-white and matte-to-shiny. Her splatter accents help with her contemporary style. Jeanette also has a slightly “odd” design continuity going on… you can’t quite see it, but let’s just say we’ve got to work on her clean waxing skills in the her next class. There’s a small “fingerprint” of wax on almost every piece where the glaze couldn’t adhere… so there’s a spot of raw clay showing through?! Adorably cute & consistent.

Melissa : After experimenting with marbled clay, Melissa went for it with her set. It’s a marbled combination of B-Clay and Stoneware with Ochre. Then a partial glazing with Josh Green glaze, and a light coat of gerstley borate on the interior. Her set has a wonderful “rustic-ness” to it – what with the earthy clay body and the patina-style glaze. And MORE pieces than were expected.. over achiever!!!

Patty : Her set played with matte black glaze and dramatic “brushstroke” of wax to create a wispy void across the pieces.

Katie : Unfortunately, Katie had a few more pieces still in the kiln. Cooling… but not ready to show off during our last class. I’m sure they will be beautiful with the contrast of Shaner White and Cohen’s Copper Red glaze.

I had a couple more students working on the challenge. Some were struggling. Some just found that life gets in the way of pottery sometimes. One of my students, Vanessa, kind of went off on a wonderful tangent and decided to carve and slip-inlay wonderful designs on all of her pieces. Her labor-intensive technique is illustrating bones, cellular structures and other wonderfully anatomical concepts onto her pieces… like a cranium with all its fissures on the inside of her bowl. She’s still working on them… abd I can’t wait to see the final results.

A huge congratulations to my students who completed their first Dinnerware Challenge. It’s a tough project to stay focused and design a set like this on your first try. I think they all did a wonderful job – and hopefully will continue with this momentum and keep moving forward. Thanks for playing along with my silly little reindeer games!

The latest for us avid Oreo Addicts.
And a yummy treat for my pottery class tonight.
This what happens when two of my favorites COLLIDE!

Pretty tasty… although I do think a Double-Stuf version would be even tastier!!!…
and then if we could just squeeze some real marshmallow goo inside too?!…
now that would be PERFECTION!

Love when you find a random monster hanging out on the Student Show-Off Shelves
at Lillstreet. And the late afternoon lighting made it even better.
Scary & silly all at the same time!!!