Last night in my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class we did my FAVORITE demo of the session! I started with a class demo on how to throw a basic bowl on purpose… and NOT just a cylinder gone bad. A nice smooth curve though the bottom of the bowl… and no “beginners ledge” near the bottom! So we did the demo… made a bowl and they went back to their wheels to start making their bowls… on purpose!

While they were throwing their bowls, I continued to throw more of mine. After throwing a bunch of basic bowls, we reconvened for more demo. Where I showed them some quick decorative tricks, rim alterations and colored slip to make their bowls not-so-basic anymore!

Bowl #1 – four fluted edges

Bowl #2 – if four is good, maybe eight fluted edges is better?

Bowl #3 – flared out rim

Bowl #4 – an even wider flared out rim

Bowl #5 – combined flared rim and four fluted points

Bowl #6 – two indents… with the intention of adding a basket handle over the top from indent-to-indent.

Bowl #7 – a split-rim… pinched back together in eight places.

Bowl #8 – a split-rim with four indents to make it kind of like a quadrefoil shape

Bowl #9 – another split-rim with four INdents & four OUTdents.. giving it kind of a lotus shape!

Then we switched our focus to colored slips… again with the plan of just showing them some “quick tricks” and encouraging them to play & try more things!

Bowl #10 – a full coating of white slip inside with a paintbrush spiral

Bowl #11 – a fuill layer of white slip with a wooden tool dragged through it while the wheel was turning to reveal the darkness of the clay as a spiral.

Bowl #12 – finger-painting a squiggle through the white slip while the wheel is spinning.

Bowl #13 – rhythmic chattering with a plastic rib through the white slip while the wheel is spinning.

Bowl #14 – a full coating of white slip, the vertical lines dragged through with a rubber rib, and then the center re-applied & smoothed out with just the cutest little spiral ever!

Bowl #15 – I introduced using two colors of slip with simple banding.

Bowl #16 – and then an ombre blending, with a spiral dragged through.

So for now they’re under plastic so they don’t dry out too quickly… as there’s a “good chance” that there just “might” be a bit of stamping, texturing & embellishing of these bowls before the dry too much.

MORE IS MORE!!!… right???

So I have a little “situation” going on at home?! I purchased a sweet potato with plans to cook it up with dinner one night. But things got busy… and I kinda forgot about it a bit. And then THIS happened?!

No water… no roots… just these crazy cool sprouts!!!

So… do I let it go?…
do I put it in water and call it a new houseplant?…
or do I try to cut these off and see if it’s still edible?!

Another happy plant… throwing up a whole new layer of leaves unfurling in the center! Looks like it’s been enjoying the summer basking in the sun on my kitchen windowsill.

And another batch of mugs done! Well, kinda…
still waiting for some clean-up, detailing & accenting
with colored flashing slips for the soda kiln.

When Rosene sent me this picture of her grocery produce “harvest” on some of my pottery… it looked a little too much like she was setting up a still life to do a painting!!!

So I went ahead and made it for her!!!

Looks like another mini vase found a great use at a good home.
So fun to see these cutie-patooties making their way out into the world! If you think you might “need” one or two… I just uploaded a bunch of them into My Online Pottery Store on my blog. Here’s the link… http://firewhenreadypottery.com/my-online-pottery-store/

Looks like Sarah and I are not the only ones doing a little re-planting… Diane bought a terra cotta flower pot at ART IN THE GARDEN specifically for her eucalyptus plant. Looks great, looks happy in its new home… but I must admit, I don’t know that I’ve EVER seen a living eucalyptus plant.

Odd… they’re always dried bundles?!

When I was re-planting the larger succulent, this little guy was kinda wedged in under the other one! So I separated them to give this one a little more breathing room! Loving the little red tips & accents… maybe they’ll get more prominent now that it’s out of the shadow of the bigger one???

Inspired by Sarah’s recent “non-collaboration” succulent plantings… I decided to replant a new succulent for my window too! Luckily, I had a large flower pot all ready to go. Can’t wait for this new one to grow into its pot!

A sweet little morning moment… my friend Allison starting her morning in her new house! Celebrating with a little pottery to kick-off her day. Before the unpacking continues…