And it felt great to be throwing again. Spinning, slimey, smooshey, fun!!!
Let the games begin!!!

Felt great to be back in the studio prepping for a full day of throwing. It seems like it’s been far too long… but you know how tough it is sometimes to get started up again in the New Year?! Especially when the studio is clean and there are no projects drying under plastic that need my attention. But after today there will be…

Spent some time in the studio tonight still cleaning, organizing and wedging up a bunch of reclaim clay. Gotta love FREE clay! Close to seventy pounds of it.

And while I was there cleaning, I also found my three DVD’s from NETFLIX. Yep, I’m still going old-school with actual DVD’s. Long story… but our studios have somewhat unreliable Wi-Fi, so I stick with DVD’s. Anyways… I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE for these DVD’s. You know how you put things in “that special place” when you’re cleaning to make sure you don’t lose them, and then months later you can’t remember where you put them?! Well, I apparently put them in “that place” back in October!!! And haven’t been able to find them… until tonight!!! Sheesh!!!

While down in Chenoa celebrating the New Years, I found out that one of  the kids received a pottery wheel from Santa! And Rosie was anxiously waiting for a private tutorial with her Uncle Gary!!! So we set up her little clay studio… okay, a dining room chair for her wheel, and another dining room chair for her water bucket… err, I man cereal bowl?! And then we had a little tutorial and she couldn’t wait to get her hands dirty!!!

So she started centering and quickly found out it wasn’t as easy as it looks!
But Rosie was a trooper and kept trying…. and trying… and trying…

And then all of a sudden she got it…

Here it is… a centered piece of clay… so NOW what do I do?

So we continued the tutorial and talked about opening the clay, not going down too far (which she did the first time), and making the hole wider.

Once she had the ball of clay opened, it was time to start raising the walls. Two fingers inside, two fingers outside, thumbs crossed, both hands working as one unit!

She kept having trouble with that whole “elbows down” concept…

And then one of her brothers started hovering like a vulture waiting on its prey.

So when Rosie had had enough and saved her first piece of pottery, Finan was quick to swoop in to give it a spin! He jumped right in and gave it a whirl solely based on the online video he watched while Rosie was practicing.

And he did pretty well… except for that whole “elbows down” thing I kept telling them!

His cylinder was looking pretty great… still working on pulling up the walls…

And then… WHOOPS!!!… looks like the clay went one way and fingers went the other!!!

And again, I kept using my favorite classroom mantra…  “It’s just clay.”
Even if it’s all muddy all over your hands!!!

What better way to end out the year than with some studio cleaning, de-decorating
and turning out one last batch of reclaim clay?! Here’s to “free” clay in the New Year!!!

Here’s a great how-to video of Jennifer McCurdy playing with her porcelain and making it do things you won’t believe. Amazing carving, nice use of a “scrubbie” and a great upside-down trick that is just gravity-defying!!!

Click here to see the Jennifer McCurdy video on YouTube.

First wave of packages headed out… it’s a busy time.
Sure wish I had a couple Elves to take care of this for me!
The happy recipients of this first batch are the ones who snagged a mug
during the “St. Nick’s Day Online Sale.”

Save

And while we’re selling mugs online today, I’ve been in the studio waxing bottoms and glazing a kiln full for this weekend’s Second Holiday Home Show! Shelves will be replenished, shlepping sale will be restocked, and a lot of new pots fresh from the kiln!!!

Bottoms are trimmed and hand-signed.
I love the look of everything at this stage. Especially the smooth crispness of porcelain!