More mugs… dried and ready for a bisque firing!

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A little stamping on last week’s class demo platter.
Sure, I could have left it plain & smooth… but really, why would I ???

I was getting ready to paint some colored flashing slip accents on another batch of mugs. But every time I do this, I wish I could see better where I’ve painted. This particular slip color is just too close to the color of my clay body. Hard to keep track of where you’ve already been!

So I finally did it… I added some food coloring into my bucket of slip. The plan is to tint the slip so it shows up better… all the while knowing that the food coloring will burn out during firing. Cool trick, huh?

So I squeezed a few drops of yellow food coloring into my bucket of Smooth Orange Flashing Slip… and if you wait a few minutes before stirring, you get this really groovy pattern as the food coloring spreads. You kinda just want to stand there and watch!!!

Eventually I had to get back to work… so I stirred it up and started painting the slip accents on some mugs. I like to paint the top section as well as a center detail on each stamp. Since I only had yellow food coloring, the color change was not too dramatic. But it did give the slip a bit of a pale yellow tint so it was easier to see what I had painted and what I hadn’t as I was rotating the mug.

Adding some handles to the stamped cylinders. Making mugs is my favorite thing to do. So I’ve got them all done… and now they just need some painted accents with colored flashing slips!!!

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Throwing off the hump making some mini vases.
And yes, smaller vases need smaller stamps!!! Go figure.

Spinning fast. Trimming quick.
I LOVE my Giffin Grip!!!

It’s been a long morning of stamping cylinders. One step closer to making another batch of mugs. This time I made a few different shapes of cylinders… kinda hoping to find a new one that intrigues me. I also “forced” myself to do all the stamping with the new batch of stamps I made a couple weeks ago. So here are a few new mug shown before & after stamping… as well as the stamp that I used to make the pattern.

Mug A

Mug B

Mug C

Mug D

Mug E

Mug F

Mug G

Mug H

Mug I

Mug J

Mug K

Mug L

Mug M

Mug N

Mug O

Mug P

Mug Q

Mug R

Mug S

So now all of the cylinders are stamped and under plastic.
Next up will be trimming the bottoms and adding handles.

I frequently get asked what my studio looks like…. well, here it is as I was working at my wedging table this afternoon. A lot of pegboard. A lot of tools. A lot of handles to be attached to mugs!!! And one of my favorites on the TV… any guesses?

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After the workshop, I was back in the studio to turn my stamped cylinders into mugs.
So I started by wedging up some reclaim clay. It’s the same clay body as the thrown cylinders, but I needed to dry it out a bit as it was still too squishy. So I wedged it and then flattened out pieces as slabs so the moisture would soak into my canvas-covered table faster… and then wedged it back up again. I then cut it up into 36 nuggets of clay… one for each of the cylinders. It’s going to be a LONG afternoon!

Then I take each “nugget” and slam it against the table, throwing it a bit away from me so it compresses and elongates at the same time. I rotate the nugget in between each toss. After a few times, you start to get this “carrot” shaped piece of clay.

Then I pull my handles the old-fashioned way. Holding the thicker part of the “carrot” at the top, wetting my hand and sliding it down with a bit of friction. It’s that repeated swipe of friction that starts to lengthen the clay and make it into a strappy handle.Once I get it to the width & thickness I like, I do a quick flick, loop and squish to get them to stand up like this. I like how it establishes the curve of the handle right at the start. Easier than trying to manipulate a straight strap into a curve later.

I let them set-up for about 15-20 minutes. I want them to be malleable, but not sticky or squishy. Then I set in to attaching them. I do a bit of scoring on the cylinder, and then cut off the “good” portion of the handle that I want to use. I score the end of the handle and add some slip. Carefully squishing them together and smoothing out the attachment. I always do the top attachment first, but then do the same for the bottom once I’ve established the right size for the handle.

One the handle is attached both top & bottom, it’s on to the task of smoothing it all together. Trying to make it look nice and smooth, like the handle has grown out of the mug and is actually part of the mug… not just a squished on attachment.

Score. Slip. Repeat…  Score. Slip. Repeat…   Score. Slip. Repeat…  33 more times!

And now all 36 mugs are back under wraps for the night.
Tomorrow night I plan to add some accents with colored flashing slips.

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Spinning fast. Trimming smooth.
Love working with my Giffin Grip… makes studio life so much easier!

And then some signing to finish off the bottoms.
They are now under wraps again for the night… for tomorrow I add handles!

When I first started making pots, I signed the bottoms by printing my name in block letters. A couple years in, I switched to hand signing each and every pot. I prefer the personal signature to reinforce the “handmade-ed-ness” of each pot. And yet, I know some of those old pots are still out there… so we refer to the pots with printed letters as “vintage.”

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