So it’s another week of The Great Lillstreet Throwdown!
And another challenge… turning their four matching mugs into The Four Seasons!

So my students brought their “greenware finished” sets of mugs to class.
They set them out for all to see… and for our special Guest Judge Sam Hostert to come in
and award them points for their efforts. Thanks to Jon for some of these beautiful photos!

It was so much fun to see how everyone approached the challenge. How to depict the Four Seasons on four mugs???… illustrative? narrative? literal? figurative? symbolically?… so many options. And only four mugs!!!

So here are the sets of mugs… in no particular order…

The Four Seasons depicted with a tree through the seasons… and a special surprise on the bottom of each mug.

A seasonally-appropriate bug on the bottom of each mug!!!

Abstract brushwork showing the color palette of the seasons… winter, spring, summer & fall.

Straight forward and quite literally… spelling it out clearly for all to see…

The phases of a lant through the season… carved & inlaid illustrations in black with color-coded interiors to help show the season. Didn’t quite make first place… but “not-so-secretly” this one was my favorite set!!!

High-contrast black & white… porcelain & black slip depicting the sunlight cycle throughout the year… shown in the amount of white “sun” in relation to the black “night”. As an added bonus… a brief explanation carved on the bottom of each mug.

The seasons as seen on a mountain top… and something to do with a “mountain meditation” too.

Sponge-painted underglazes to show the change of colors for the change of seasons.

Another tree changing through the season… snow, flowers, leaves & fall foliage.

An erudite entry… the Four Seasons as seen through alchemical symbols.

Graphic contrast in black & white symbolizing day & night through the year…
and a brilliant surprise on the bottom of each cup.

Graphic symbolism for the moon & sun attached to the sides of this set.

No one specified “which” four seasons were to represented…
so this set went more for the activities of the seasons!

And unfortunately, this entry didn’t quite work. There was a last minute attempt at applying a cut-out stencil on the side, them paingint the darker slip color over the stencil -a nd then pulling it out. Apparently in the rush to make the deadline, the stencils didn’t quite get pulled out cleanly… something stuck… something didn’t… and in the last moment she decided to paint them over and call it done. Valiant effort.

So for now, the mugs are done. They can go off to the bisque firing and then get glazed. No more challenges for these mugs… but I did ask my students to bring them back to class when they’re finished just so we can see them!

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Another great way to brighten up an otherwise dreary day is with some of the fantastic kid’s art murals hanging on the walls at Lillstreet.

So much color.
So much uninhibited creativity.
So much fun.
A great contrast to the grayness outside!

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After the bowl challenge, my Lillstreet Throwdown students moved on to matching cylinders. So they had five minutes to throw their own “perfect” cylinder. They thought that was it… but after setting their own standard, the “real” challenge was announced. They had an hour to throw as many matching cylinders to their own “perfect” prototype!

When that hour ended, they got points for the ones that matched, and the ones that didn’t match… SQUISH!!!

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Online registration for the new Winter Session of classes at Lillstreet Art Center opens today!!! I will again be teaching my Beginning/Advanced Beginning Class on Tuesday nights.

And NEW this session… a fun new class based on the BBC reality show “The Great Pottery Throwdown.” Every Thursday night will be filled with challenges, games, contests and all around ceramic shenanigans!

Sign up quick… my classes fill up fast!!!

To register online, click here for Lillstreet Art Center.

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Okay, so here’s the explanation… and a great show in the Lillstreet Gallery Annex by my friend & metalsmith Kelly Novak. Her pieces are incredibly stark, sharp and surprisingly perfect for my week on the B&W Photo Challenge! Lots of metal, black leather and incredible shadows on the walls. And that’s why today I challenge her!!! “INTERVALS” by Kelly Novak through the end of the year.

Well, I was out of town last week… so I missed teaching my pottery class on Tuesday.
Which just so happened to be Halloween!
Kind of a bummer because I had HUGE Halloween plans for my class… maybe next year?!

Anyway, apparently some of my students had Halloween plans also.
And when they found out I was going to miss our Halloween class, they decided to push their Halloween costume back a week for when I returned. So funny when you wee them all working at the sink…

Yes, I “think” this is flattering?!     I hope…
But they decided for Halloween to dress up as ME!!!
Complete with my shorts, tie-dyed shirt, sandals or Crocs, my IRONMAN tattoo!
They even took it to the smallest of details with a smattering of glitter. Long story…

But here’s the test… can you pick out the REAL IRONMAN???

So much fun in class… I HAVE THE BEST STUDENTS EVER!!!

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Here’s a quick peek at the porcelain vases I made and donated for the Lillstreet ArtReach Fundraiser. They had asked for a couple tumblers, but I wanted to do more for the kids. So I offered up some vases for the floral centerpieces… each to be sold off at the end of the event. So if you were one of the lucky folks enjoying an evening of “Art Under The Stars” you would have your choice of one of these vases. A great chance to donate to a great program AND come away with a beautiful “souvenir.”

So hopefully by now, people are enjoying their evening on the Lillstreet Rooftop.
A special evening to support the efforts put forth by the ArtReach Chicago group.
Bringing creativity to the community. Sharing clay, paint and other supplies.
Making art happen all around the City… in places that need a little extra inspiration!

Porcelain vases glazed, wadded, loaded, soda-fired, cooling… and unloading tonight. I can’t wait to see how they turn out before I donate them all to the ArtReach Chicago Fundraiser. I just wish more of them could have made it into the soda kiln so I could have donated even more!!!

For more information about ArtReach and the charitable programs they provide for kids in Chicago… and especially their fundraiser event where you could get one of these vases… click here.

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CHESS CAMP at LILLSTREET  :  Monday, July 10 – Friday, July 14  :  9:00am-3:30pm

Are your kids looking for a fun Summer Camp for the week after 4th of July??
Well, we will once again tackling thematic Chess Sets with one of my favorite Summer Camps at Lillstreet Art Center. We’ll spend the week making thematic chess sets… handbuilt chess pieces with whatever theme the kids want!!! That’s a LOT of pieces to design & build… all building up to the big climax of actually playing chess with the complete set they’ve designed & built all by themselves! And they get to play with ME!!! How cool is that?!

Click here for more information or to register your kids!!! Only a few spots left!

This past Tuesday night was the last class for my Simply Soda class for the Spring session. My beginning soda-firing students did a great job working through some of the “difficulties” and “unpredictabilities” of firing in the soda kiln. But after ten weeks, we made it to the end and everyone learned a LOT… including me!

To celebrate our last class, we had a little class challenge to finish with. At the beginning of the session, I had challenged each student to make enough mugs to trade one with everyone in class. So each student had to come with ten mugs for the trade… Peter already moved away, so nine… and then we played a little game. Going one person at a time, each student got to pick one of their group to call their won. By the end, everyone’s mugs had found a new home… and they were going home with one mug from each of their fellow students… and me!

So here are MY mugs that were up for the taking! Stamped and soda-fired B-clay.

And then AFTER The exchange, these are the mugs I came home with!!!

This sweet porcelain mug with subtle flashings and two white glaze stripes by Catherine.

A shallow “diner cup” with some great carved details at the bottom by Taylore.

A beautiful tankard mug by Cecelia with butter yellow slip and gray carbon trapping.

A sweet little mug made with B-clay and a Tom’s Purple glaze liner by Patty.

A fun little mug with indented dots across the surface with a Tom’s Purple liner by Katie.

A beautiful grooved mug by Stacey with a wonderful flashing on the mustard slip.

Unfortunately, Ed’s mugs were still in the soda kiln cooling. Just a day short of making the deadline. He participated  in the exchange and promised to fulfill his “trade” end of the bargain soon!

So all in all, I’d say my beginner soda students knocked it out of the park!
A great session… and a great exchange… and great additions to my Mug Collection!!!

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