Don’t eat these ones – your dentist won’t be happy!!! My teaching assistant Erin made these amazing ceramic OREO’s for everyone in class! While everyone else exchanged ovals, Erin had a fun little OREO for each of us! A perfect complement to our OREO ADDICTION!!! Thanks Erin!

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After a few days of drying on a large plaster bat, my reclaimed porcelain slurry has set-up enough to start wedging. After a bit of manual labor, I now have a few more bags of porcelain. A few more bags of potential.

Every Thursday during a typical Wheelthrowing Camp is Terra Cotta Day!
I try to tell them in advance that it’s going to be messy. A lot messier than stoneware.
Generally they scoff at it. And think that I’m exaggerating. And then THIS happens…

Gooey-gloppy messy hands… and arguably the dirtiest wheel EVER!!!
Good thing we have Rule #3… “Whatever mess you make, YOU will be cleaning up.”
And she did.

My reclaim bucket was full of slaked down porcelain scraps. Pulverized porcelain scraps soaked in water, and then evaporated until it was gooey, but not puddley. So I thought today would be a good day to glop it all out onto a large plaster bat to get it to start setting up. After a few days of drying, I will be able to start wedging. You gotta love free clay!!! Especially when it’s porcelain… Thanks again Emily!

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After a full day in Evanston, I swung by the studio last night to do some last minute throwing. I’m teaching a Soda-Firing Workshop next weekend and I need to make some more pots quick to help fill the kiln… and replenish some of the pieces that went to good homes during the art fair!

It’s another week of Summer Camp!!! This week I’m teaching Wheelthrowing again….
and the mud-covered shenanigans have started already!!!

Spent the afternoon making some more FREE clay. My reclaim was turned out onto a large plaster bat a few days ago. The gooey clay has firmed up a bit… so it was a day full of “fast-drying” with slices in front of the fan, and a LOT of wedging!!! But still… five bags of FREE CLAY!!! And you know how I like free clay!

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And then today after Summer Camp, I decided to re-fill my “recently-emptied” reclaim bucket. So I washed it down and started filling it with porcelain scraps. A potter friend in Minneapolis gives me ALL of her reclaim scraps… so I have a lot of dried porcelain to process. This afternoon I started pulverizing, filling my bin and then adding water to help slake it down. A little bit of work to get a whole lot of FREE clay!!!

Yesterday, after summer camp, I turned out a huge pile of reclaimed clay. These are all of my scraps & trimmings from my weeks of art fair production. I broke down the scraps and soaked them in water for a few weeks. The trimmings are nice & gooey. So I mixed it up and turned it out onto a large plaster bat to help absorb the excess moisture. When it stiffens up a bit, I’ve going to have a LOT of wedging to do!!!

Today was another messy day in Wheelthrowing Camp. The kids were throwing with terra cotta clay… and found it to be a LOT dirtier & sloppier than regular stoneware. Messy… but so much FUN!!!

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