Okay, so one last batch tonight… might be a little “damp”… err, okay WET going into the bisque kiln!!! This time it’s a batch of wall pocket vases “racing” and hoping to make it into Saturday’s soda kiln. Nothing like pushing the calendar a bit… “somehow” it will all get done, right?!

Added some colored flashing slip to the two batches of lidded jars yesterday after ONE OF A KIND. If all goes as planned, these will be bisqued, glazed and make it into my soda kiln this weekend. And then all of these slip accents should change colors during the soda firing and show the flame flashing effects we all love!

Lots of class demo bowls require LOTS of trimming. Luckily I love trimming… so it was kind of enjoyable to finish off this latest batch of eighteen class demo bowls. Now trimmed with a clean footring and drying… many of them upside-down as I think that might help avoid warping?! No real “proof”… but why not go with it anyway???

So excited to be using the new Bison Tool I bought while at NCECA.
I love my other Bisons… so I knew this slightly smaller one would be PERFECT!!!
You know I love trimming… now even more with great tools!!!

Another batch of cylinders on their way to becoming MUGS!!!
Of course they needed to be stamped… soon to be trimmed and have their handles
attached. Until then… they’re just kinda pretty cylinders!!!

Cylinder #1 -

Cylinder #2 -

Cylinder #3 -

Cylinder #4 -

Cylinder #5 -

Cylinder #6 -

Cylinder #7 -

Cylinder #8 -

Cylinder #9 -

Cylinder #10 -

Cylinder #11 -

Cylinder #12 -

Cleaned & waxed… ready for a quick night of glazing.
Just one final glaze kiln before this weekend’s art fair in Naperville…
PRAIRIE VIEW ARTS this Friday night & all day Saturday!

Finishing up the latest batch of pitchers & mugs… stamped, trimmed and handled.
Now just finishing some colored slip accents… which will change color when soda-fired.

First another set of mugs ready to dry & bisque… before soda-firing!

And jugs… or in this case, medium pitchers… also painted with colored flashing slip accents, now drying and ready to bisque fire.

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It was the last night of class, and we had already critiqued & judged the final project…. but I still had one more trick up my sleeves. With two of my studetns getting married this Spring, and wanting to make ceramic vases to share with all of their guests… I figured what better way than with a THROWDOWN assembly line?! So we all buckled down and started cranking out as many vases as we could during the remainder of class. Everyone had a great time working & chatting together. A perfect way to end our class!

And our lovely “hand model” Susan…

And here’s Jacob, the Groom-To-Be, putting some final touches on a cylinder by carving some patterns into it with our favorite DiamondCore Carving Tool.

And here’s Molly, the Bride-To-Be, who “apparently” didn’t get the memo that they were all making small vases out of extruded tubes?! What’s with that???

And here they are by the end of class… approximately half of what they’re hoping to get finished in the next month or so… as the wedding is later this Spring!!!

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NOTE : This should have been posted a few weeks back, but I didn’t want to reveal
t0o much too soon for my students! I didn’t want to ruin the surprise!

Well, we’ve been having a great session of classes & challenges in the Second Annual LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!!! And since we were nearing the finish… I knew that I had to have a prize for the winner, right. You can’t have a competition class with a bunch of great people working hard and paying all of your silly games without a trophy for the winner!!! So I made one…

And then I went out and bought some gold spray paint… thank you Rust-oleum!!!

And since I made this a month or so ago… during The Polar Vortex…
it was SO COLD out that I had to turn on the flame throwing heater to make sure the spray paint would dry correctly. It’s always better when you have access to great power tools!!!

Sure, the gold paint was pretty, but… every trophy should “sparkle” a bit, right?

So there it is… the trophy for onw lucky winner in the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!!! Now we just need to find out who will have accrued the most points throught the session to win this distinction!!!

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Yep, it’s been a BUSY day… and all went well in the studio this afternoon.
All pitchers stamped, trimmed & handles attached. Under plastic for the night,
as I still want to add a layer of colored flashing slip accents on them all tomorrow!