You know I LOVE TIE-DYE… but this is a little crazy!!!

It’s not actually tie-dye, it’s just another bag of my reclaimed porcelain clay! It’s been sitting around in my studio for quite awhile. And the sides that were facing outwards to the light grew this wonderfully green “algae” of sorts. Luckily, it’s just a bit of wedging before it’s all good to go again! And since we already have face masks… no worries!

Sure, I still have some spoon rests in inventory…
Who knew everyone would be cooking so much at home these days??? All day. Every day. But had I somehow known about all of this COVID-19 craziness in advance & made a plan… I would have started making more spoon rests a lot sooner than tonight!!!

Making some porcelain “carrots” before making porcelain handles. I think it’s a god shape to start with… wedged and compressed into this shape before pulling into handle shape.

So I just finished pulling some traditional handle. I just gotta let them set up a bit… and then I can start attaching them to mugs!!! I like to loop then over like this so that they are already most-of-the-way into curved handle shape before they start to set-up. Of course there can be a lot of re-shaping after they’re attached to the mug!

Here we go…
Score… slip… squish… attach… repeat… repeat… repeat…

Just finishing up the latest batch of porcelain mugs on another Mugshot Monday. Handles are attached & under wraps for the night as they start to dry slowly. Tomorrow I will do a little clean-up on them before I unwrap to let them dry completely.

Ready to get some trimming done tonight. This batch of porcelain mugs are coming together… and giving me something a little more “normal“ to focus on!

Oh yeah… and a couple stamped porcelain bowls while I was on a stampin’ kick! …again!

Tonight I got to do a little stamping here & there… and there… and there… just a few more porcelain cylinders working their towards becoming more mugs!!!

This afternoon on INSTAGRAM LIVE, I got to watch one of my former teachers Steve Lee working in his studio at The Archie Bray in Montana. He did a few demos of how he trims pieces on a chuck, carves his designs and inlays his colored slips. We also got a sneak peek of their soda kiln being loaded.

This social distancing is new for all of us, but in some weird way we’re getting to “see more” of everyone on social media. Weird, right?!

If you follow Archie Bray on INSTAGRAM, it sounds like they’re going to try doing these LIVE events every Friday afternoon during the pandemic. Check it out for a little more ceramic inspiration… and great diversion from all of that self-isolating going on!!!

Playing with a bit of porcelain while working in my ever-so-quiet & isolated studio. Not a single person to chat with… which I guess is good as we need to stay safe. But I also need some human face time… even if it is from a safe distance! But still… no one!!!

My original plan was to have these sgraffito platters ready for my first art fair in April. Well, that’s been cancelled… but I’m still trying to stay on top of things. So here’s some of my latest sgraffito fun in the studio. Working on a few platters using my favorite DiamondCore carving tools!

Platter #1

Platter #2

Platter #3

Platter #4

Platter #5

So tonight was the last class of the 10-week session for my Tuesday night wheelthrowing students… and we like to celebrate with a potluck & a little White Elephant trading-picking-stealing kinda game. This session we all put in a mug… and I care home with beauty made by Shannon! Oddly enough, at the end of the game… she went home with my mug!!! Cup karma.