So my day in the studio started with me moving around a LOT of clay.
I had to organize all the boxes & bags of clay strewn about my studio.
And then I had to move up my most recent clay purchase from the loading dock.

It was a lot of work & sweat. Moving everything around in my studio. But once it was done,
it looked great. And I just kept telling myself that it was “thirty boxes of potential.”

Well, Tuesday night one of my students requested another plate throwing demo.
Who am I to disagree?… so I threw them a 7-pound platter demo for them.
And what’s a good platter without some fun stamping?! So here we go…

We always start with a plain platter and a smooth flange waiting for texture!
Then I root through my tool boxes full of stamps to find the one I want to use.

Some simple repetitive stamping with the same stamp creates a nice border.

And if one row of stamps is good, would more stamps be even better?!

And then, to accentuate the pointed design, I used a smaller stamp to make a tiny
indentation at the bottom of each point.

All the way around to make a nice repetitive pattern. A little fluting around the edge
and the platter is done for now. Now it needs to stiffen up a bit and dry enough to be
considered leatherhard – ready to trim! And there’s another platter done!

I think that the small flower pots I threw yesterday are going to be the perfect little pot
for window herb gardens! For some reason, they look a little larger than life in the photo?!
So the pots I threw yesterday before my bike ride are now all stamped, slipped, trimmed
and sitting on my rolling cart ready to dry.

Which was all part of my master plan… and time crunch.
I knew I had to make something that I could finish fairly quickly so that I could
get everything onto my rolling cart – and out of the way!

My friend & fellow potter Amy Higgason is coming in tomorrow to set up her work
for her Trunk Show in my studio. It was questionable for awhile whether she was
even going to make it to Chicago?! She was snowed in with over 3-feet of snow and
couldn’t even get out of her driveway. But she shoveled and drove south!!!
Can’t wait to see her and her new pots fresh from her kiln!!!

After my bike ride break… I was back in the studio trying to finish up some new pieces
I’ve been working on. After the Julia Galloway workshop, I realized that I have never
really made sugar & creamer sets. So why not give it a try… and use her inspiration
to make them with my own twist. So far so good… now they’re drying and waiting
for some flashing fun in the soda kiln. I’m pretty pleased… but a lot can still happen to them?!

I love having an “extra” bonus day to play. So I knew I had to make things!
The weather forecast is great and surprisingly warm & sunny. Knowing that I would
“need” to go for a bike ride, I went into the studio early to throw some simple shapes
that will become small flower pots.

Tonight I loaded another electric bisque kiln.
Admittedly, not my best job of packing it tight. You know it kills me to leave open space!
But I had some odd sized, and odd shaped, pieces that didn’t quite “fit” together nicely.
Plus the glazed terra cotta planter trays that wouldn’t allow me to stack things as usual.
It always feels good to get fragile greenware off my studio shelves and safely into a kiln.
One step closer to some new finished pots!

Layer #1 -always my favorite layer – when you have a lot of pots to choose from to fill.
Starting with oval casserole dishes, oval vases, test tiles, mugs and more “kiln filler.”

Layer #2 -stamped platters, glazed terra cotta trays… and more kiln filler!

Layer #3 -a stamped platter, small casserole dishes and glazed terra cotta trays.

Layer #4 -mugs, small casserole dishes… and one filler piece from Karen Patinkin!

Tonight I went out to LaGrange to play with my friend Nancy at her pottery studio.
If you recall, Nancy is also the one who got me started in pottery several years ago.
She’s also one of  Village Potters in LaGrange… and they’re preparing for their
charity event “Empty Bowls.” They’re hosting two open house days for people to come in
to throw bowls. I can’t make either of those days, so I went out tonight so we would have
time to play, chat and make some bowls!!! I made a dozen “empty bowls” for the cause…
and one larger one for them to auction off!

Tonight’s “empty bowl” production reminded me of the night I teach my class
how to make bowls. We work on making bowls with intention, and not a cylinder gone bad.
And then I make a lot of bowls and show my students quickly how that can be altered, fluted,
pinched and shaped to make each one different from the next. So each of my twelve bowls
had a different look. Nancy will be responsible for trimming and glazing to get them ready
for their April 26th “Empty Bowls” charity event.

Many of the potter/owners come from the former Terra Incognito in LaGrange.
When that Terra location closed, they needed a place to work… so they banded together
and opened this great studio space! They’re still in the fledgling stage, but growing quickly!

While many of them are there for studio hours, Village Potters do offer classes and workshops
for people of all ages. They also have shelf space for rent for potters out there who need to
find a place to work. They also have a nice Gallery space at the entrance. So if you’re ever
in need of some fine pottery, or a quick gift, be sure to stop by the Village Potters…
and tell them that Gary sent you!!!

Village Potters : 333 North LaGrange Road, Suite 2, LaGrange Park, Illinois 60526
(708) 352-2330  :  www.villagepotters.com

So the plates that I threw last week as part of my class demo were finally at the right
leatherhard stage for stamping. It’s always tricky… can’t be too dry, can’t be too wet.
Got to get them right when they’re wet enough for good impressions, but not too wet
as to be sticky or squishy. Tonight they were ready for stamping!

So here goes… The first plate is a large dinner plate. Thrown with about four pounds of clay.
When I’m ready to start, one of the toughest decisions is “which stamp”??? I have hundreds
to choose from. So the possibilities are endless. I try not to dwell on it… just grab a favorite!

So here’s the lucky stamp chosen to tackle the rim of this plate…

Then, that one stamp rhythmically pressed in over & over & over again…

And the rim suddenly has a whole new texture. So much more fun than the plain,
old smooth flange that the plate started with!

Now plate #2 is a bit larger. Thrown with about six pounds of clay. The rim is plain,
but the center “food area” has a dramatic, concentric circle design created on the wheel
as I was finishing the throwing demo.

So again, which stamp gets to come out to play?… this one apparently!!!

Around & around, this time developing a nice scalloped pattern around the edge.
This pattern is also quite conducive to a fluted edge. So I did…

And there it is… a scalloped pattern of stamps with another small detail stamp
at the points, as well as on the tips of the fluted edge “high points.”

So now, both plants are back under plastic drying some more. I’ve got to wait for them
to dry to the right stage for trimming. I always tell my students that throwing plates is easy.
It’s the drying & trimming that is difficult. So now I wait… for the difficult part!

Last Spring, I made a collection of textured terra cotta planters.
It never crossed my mind that they would need water drip trays to go with them…
because in my mind, I would be using the terra cotta planter outside and would not
use a tray?! But when I posted pictures, I got a few comments from people asking me
here the trays were?! Uh oh…

So… I quickly made another collection of textured terra cotta planters WITH trays!
And we started out the summer art fair schedule with both options.
With tray. Without tray. I was anxious o see which would sell better.

It didn’t take long for us to see that practically everyone wanted a tray.
Who knew?! Not me apparently. But by the end of the art fair season, I had no more
planters with trays. But I did have the tray-less planters. So tonight I finished up a
bunch of trays to “complete” the planter sets for this season.

So now they’re drying. Then they’ll be stained with black underglaze to “antique” them
a bit and make the textures pop. Then it’s a layer of glaze on the bottom… and into the kiln!
And if all goes well, last year’s “trayless” planters will this year BETRAYED!!!

So when I was trimming a bunch of pots today, finishing them off and signing the bottoms…
I remembered how many questions I get during art fair season about my signature on the
bottoms. And yes… for the record… I do in fact sign every pot by hand. One at a time.
It never crossed my mind that many people “assume” that there is a some signature stamp
somehow involved in the process. But the answer is NO. I don’t believe in that. Never have.
I think a signature is a signature. And should be done by hand. If I had a “signature stamp”
then anyone could be “signing” pots with my name?! Interns… Apprentices… Imposters?!
I think it’s important that each piece is signed by hand… by me!

So I teach my students to sign all of their pots as well. And it’s one of my “pet peeves”
when they try to sign their pots with their sharp needle tool. I try to explain to them
that it is too pointy and will just make a scratchy signature that won’t look so good and
will have sharp edges all over the place. Instead, I suggest that they use a dull,
round-ended tool like a pencil, chopstick or ball-point pen to “displace” the clay as they
sign pots instead of painfully scraping into it with their needle tool. In my studio, I use
a ball-tipped tool for my signature. I found it, liked it… and bought a few of them!!!

So over the years, I have signed a lot of pots. And like I said, I never knew that many
people have “assumed” that I used a stamp to keep it so consistent. But it’s not a stamp.

But for those of you have known me and my pottery from the beginning…
you may recall some beginner pots that weren’t signed. My “early pots” have my first name
& year carved in with a needle tool. Yes, I did it too… a needle tool. I have since learned
better. But if you find an old pot with block lettering, we lovingly & mockingly
refer to those ones as “vintage.”