You know I usually cringe when one of my students starts off with that.
“So I saw this video on YouTube…”

I love when there are so many tips & tricks out there for potters, but frequently they’re also learning “bad” tricks along the way. So I’ve tried to steer clear of YouTube for the most part. But recently, I did do a quick search looking for new techniques to share with my students. This week is Week Eight for my class so they’re well on their way… and ready for some more surface decorating techniques.

We’ve already used colored slip to change the color “skin” of their work. But when I saw this slip trailing… err, dripping… I though that my students would love this trick. And it’s not too advanced. It appeared to be pretty easy… so of course I decided to go for it. And “teach” this technique to my students without ever practicing myself!!! And quite honestly… I think it worked out pretty well. Click here for the YouTube video of slip trailing on a bowl. You may not understand a word he says… but the video alone is pretty mesmerizing! Here’s a still shot from the video…

Basically, you cover the surface with a thick layer of slip. The add a couple spirals. Then add some “drips” that will run down through the drawn spirals. The demo pieces on the video are a bit cleaner than mine… but I’m sure he’s been doing this technique a bit longer than me. Can you say 10 minutes?!

And once I had some confidence after the bowl, we tackled a more vertical surface on a taller vase. More room for the slip to run & drip. Click here for the YouTube video of slip trailing on a vase. Again, I think the potter may be speaking Russian?… and I’m not sure if this is “his” signature style or if it is more of a traditional Ukranian style of decoration? Here’s a still shot from the video…

We did learn a few things along the way. My slips probably should have been sieved through a fine mesh screen. And I should have tried to get them all to be a better consistency… a couple of them were a bit too watery. And I think I needed to make the base layer and the horizontal spiral with thicker slip so that there was enough slip to “move” as the drips pushed down.

After we had “played” with drippy slips, I switched it up and did a much cleaner demo for my class. I took a wet-leatherhard bowl and did a carved texture pattern around the outside wising my round loop trimming tool and a smaller sgraffito loop tool. It’s a carving technique I learned from Amy Higgason of Pigeon Road Pottery. She used to be one of the Lillstreet studio artists, but now she lives up in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Luckily, she has shared her carving techniques and they still pop-up from time to time. In fact, she even did a demo for my class a few years back… click here to go to the blog post!

So now all three pieces are done, back up in my studio, and wrapped up for the night. I still need to trim the slip decorated pieces, but I need to wait until the slip is a bit dryer. All in all, I think it was a pretty successful evening. Several of my students gave it a shot & had fun with drippy slip… and I hope when they get around to trimming a few more pieces they may consider some decorative carving!!!

Register for my wheelthrowing class quickly and save some money!!!

Yep, I will once again be teaching my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing next session at Lillstreet Art Center. My class is on Tuesday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm. It’s pretty much for “beginners” of all levels. Whether you’ve thrown on a wheel before or not… whether you’ve ever touched clay before or not… or just like to play in the mud!

Registration is already open – and my class is filling up fast! Don’t miss out!!!
Click here for online registration.

Three new pots freshly thrown for tomorrow night’s class demos.
One bowl for carving… another bowl & vase for slip decorating.
And I’m going to be trying a new slip technique (for the first time) with my class!!!

Tuesday night’s demos…
Fluted bowl. Lidded jars. Flower pot. Mini vase.
Stamped. Trimmed. Detailed. Done… Drying!

So I made it to teach class in the nick of time… and found some sweet treats waiting for me. Including the two NEW limited edition Oreo flavors. And I have the best students ever…  they know me so well!!! Thank you Anne & Shea!

Tonight’s syllabus line-up for my class demos was a little aggressive.
A lot of things to cover in a short mount of time. A lot to do. A lot for them to take in.
Trying not to overwhelm my Beginners, but still keep my returning students engaged.
I think they doubted that I could get it all squeezed in… but I did!!!

Demo #1 – We started with another bowl demo. It was much the same as last week’s bowl demo. Just one more. It wasn’t until I got home and posted the photos that I realized that I had forgotten to do the one demo shape that my student Dave had requested. Shoot. So tonight I corrected that oversight and made one more bowl. With one more design. This time with a split rim and some “lotus” shaped alterations.

Demo #2 – Next, I did a plate & platter throwing demo. I showed them how easy it is to throw a plate… basically a very wide cylinder, with the sides flared out. Then I explained that the slow drying to leather-hard and trimming is the tough part of the process.

Demo #3 – Next up, I showed them how to convert a normal bowl into a pedestal bowl. First I trimmed the bottom of the bowl to a smooth, “domed” bowl bottom. And then I scored & slipped a ball of clay onto the top of the “dome” bottom. A quick centering of that ball of clay, and a quick thrown cylinder, collar, shape, groove lines, and voila’…

When you flip it over… pedestal bowl.

Demo #4 – The next bowl conversion was a demo on how I turn them into berry bowls. And what better way than with power tools!!! I brought my drill in and we made some holes the easy way.

And oh, but wait there’s more… we ALSO covered basic glazing techniques!
Demo #5 – Yes, we squeezed in a full glaze demo… starting with waxing the bottoms, all the way to dipping, drying, cleaning, finishing and putting them onto the glaze cart for firing.

So after a very fast-pace two hours, we had completed our demos, fully discussed the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, the Beatles 50th Special, and still had over an hour for all my students to get some work done. And here’s what I got done…

Well, we’re at Week Four of our Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class.
And tonight we tackled BOWLS!!!

Bowls on purpose… not a whoops, my cylinder just turned into a bowl!!!

So I taught them the basics of throwing a good bowl. Right from the start… from opening the ball of clay with a curved bottom… to shaping the bowl with a rib from inside. I always stress the importance of throwing the “inside” shape of the bowl. The outside you can trim to match the curve of the inside… not visa-versa!

After I threw my first demo bowl, my students went back to their wheels to start making bowls. In the meantime, I threw eleven more of the same basic round bowl. We then all reassembled for Part Two of the bowl demo… altering & decorating each of them in a different way. My goal is to show my students a few quick tricks, encourage them to try some new techniques and to emphasize that “it’s just clay” and they need to play more & express themselves!!!

So here are the twelve bowls after Part Two.
They all started the same, but didn’t stay that way for long!

Bowl #1 – Just a couple finger flips for a new “twist” on a round bowl.

Bowl #2 – And if two twists are good…. eight twists might be better!

Bowl #3 – Then I flared out the rim to add a flange all around.
This one will be stamped later when it stiffens up a bit, but not too much… tomorrow?

Bowl #4 – A bit of flange is good, but more dramatic is always better!
This one will be stamped later when it stiffens up a bit, but not too much… tomorrow?

Bowl #5 – Why not combine them – finger twists & flared flange?
This one will be stamped later when it stiffens up a bit, but not too much… tomorrow?

Bowl #6 – With a simple dragon-scale tool…. a few impressions makes a nice flower!

Bowl #7 – A split rim pinched back together… kind of a quilted rim!

Then I introduced them to colored slips. I planned ahead and threw my bowls with Ochre Stoneware. When it fires it will become a dark chocolate brown. I knew that white slip would make a great contrast in the end. I explained slip possibilities & overwhelmed them with too many options. You could see their eyes glazing over… or looking back in fear. Too many options!!! And we haven’t even glazed anything yet!!!

Bowl #8 – After coating the inside, I dragged a round tip through for a fun spiral effect.

Bowl #9 – Kinda the same, but this time banding & squiggling through the white slip.

Bowl #10 – Another white slipped bowl, but this time chattered with a rounded rib.

Bowl #11 – Two letters cut out of the newspaper stuck on & slipped over. Then pulled out to reveal a little monogram inside the bowl. Shhhh… Don’t tell anyone, but there’s a “really good chance” that it will go to my niece Taylor… they’re her initials!!!

Bowl #12 РThe last bowl was a two-tone ombr̩ effect with white & blue slips.

So now all twelve bowls are back in my studio. Wrapped up for the night. Tomorrow I will do a bit of stamping, some more altering and some more detailing of the bowls. Always my favorite demo of the session… now I just hope my students make a bunch of bowls. And not just plain old round ones!!!

Tonight my class tackled pulling handles & adding them to their basic cylinders
from Week One. So now it’s only Week Two and they’ve already made MUGS!!!
I think they’re off to a great start!!!

Tonight was the first night of my new session of pottery classes.
My Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing Class has some new students. Some just “new to me.” And several fun “repeat offenders.” Either way, I hope they had a great time. And if I didn’t win them over with my teaching & witty banter… I sure hope the Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn sealed the deal.

So I just checked in and found out that my Tuesday night
Beginning Wheelthrowing Class at Lillstreet Art Center is already FULL!!!
All 18 wheels will be filled with fun people ready to play in the mud with me!
Whoo-hoo!!!