While I’m still “struggling” to keep Summer alive… hanging on as long as I can… I must admit to myself that it is time to start focusing on my new Fall harvest. Starting with wheelthrown spheres… these little babies will be “pumpkintized” when they get to a soft leatherhard stage.

Suddenly a batch of porcelain mug forms have shown up in my studio… next up?… stamping, trimming, handles & colored flashing slip accents… in that order!

All handles attached & a full batch of mugs finished before class tonight!!! It was a bit of a marathon… with a short sprint at the end. Lots of mugs finished though. I’ll keep the mugs under plastic overnight so the moisture levels can even out a bit more, and then I’ll let them start drying tomorrow!

Handles pulled & looped over. I always pull my handles by hand, and loop them over to stand them up like this. They will set-up like this a bit before I start attaching them to the mug cylinders. This way, they are already 90% set to their eventual curve… so I won’t need to bend them too much after they stiffen up more.

Here we go… gonna try to squeeze out some quick handles on my mugs… after summer camp & before I teach my intermediate wheel adults tonight. It’s gonna be close…

Spinning fast… trimming bottoms… loving my DiamondCore Tools for smooth trimming! A perfect combination when used with my Giffin Grip to help center & hold the mug down for easier trimming!

I’ve been working on another batch of mugs after the Glenview art fair… thrown, stamped & leatherhard… and getting ready to trim the bottoms this afternoon. Ready to use my trimming tools from DiamondCore Tools for clean & smooth trimmings!

Making grooves… pressing stamps… making frames… playing with textures on another Texture Tuesday!

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY while getting ready for my next art fair… prepping , pricing & packing some new pots for next weekend’s Glenview Summer Art Fair… Saturday, July 30th & Sunday, July 31st.

When dealing with drip runs & chunky bottoms with errant kiln wash… nothing works better than the DiamondCore Grinding Disc. Just wet the disc, wet your pot, and press the mug bottom to the disc while it spins fast on your wheel. Before you know it, the excess comes right off the bottom. And if your turn & shift your pot just right, you can get a pretty “perfect” footring on a pot that might have been “ruined” by a bad bottom!

A quiet Sunday night in the studio… just me and a few more mugs in the making! Whenever I can’t decide on what to make… MUGS seem to be my “go-to” default… every time!