Bisqued, waxed and waiting to be glazed.

So I started with some bottomless cylinders that I had already finessed into ovals. Then I added a smooth slab bottom, scored & slipped, and let them sit overnight after roughly trimming the slab with a smidge of a margin. I placed them on newspaper and under plastic. My hope was that the bottom slab might stiffen up a bit, but the rest of the cylinder would stay moist. And it worked. I also add a small tile weight inside so that there is no extra bulging or warping overnight. Not sure if there would be… but why not take the precaution just in case?

So today I came in to smooth out the bottoms for a more finished edge.
I start by cutting the bottom slab margin off with a needle tool.

Then I flip it over and do a light tapping with a paddle to compress the attachment
and create a bit of a beveled angle along the bottom edge.

More fun with a good action shot, right?

Then I take a stiff green Mud Tool plastic rib to “shave off” the excess clay that bulged out during the paddling.

And then I do some gentle smoothing & refining of the edge. Establishing a good beveled edge, as well as smoothing out the attachment so it looks like it might have been all one piece from the start.

At this point the “could be” done… but I have more plans for these ovals!!!
So they’re wrapped up overnight so I can continue working on them tomorrow after camp.
There’s got to be some texture somewhere, right???

Just finishing some colored slip accents on the last batch of mugs. These ones will be soda-fired so the slip colors should become more vibrant & reactive to the soda atmosphere. Couple more to go, and then calling it a night… as that sunrise bike ride comes around pretty darn early in the morning… followed by another full day of Summer Camp!

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After camp today, I finished up my latest batch of mugs. A few finishing touches and now they can be set out to dry. This batch is B-Clay and will be glazed mugs. I still have another batch to finish up made with Soda Clay… so I need to add some colored flashing soda slip accents to those and then they too can be set out to dry.

Got some stamped cylinders… stamped ’em… and now they need handles.
So I pulled these handles and let them set-up a bit before starting to attach them to the cylinders…. and it’s MUGS here we come!!!

Today’s cylinders all stamped and one step closer…
for tomorrow I’ll trim and add handles!

Kicking off the day with a pile of wedged clay balls…
oh, what to make?… what to make?… why not start with “my favorites”???

A quick batch of soon-to-be-mug cylinders! You know how I LOVE making mugs!!!

Playing with porcelain again… and a bit of black slip!
Pretty good chance that there’s some decorative sgraffito carving in my not-so-distant future!

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Remember that first bag of clay that made thirty cylinders a week ago?…
well, they’re all stamped, trimmed & dried.

And I figured if one bag of clay is good, two bags would be better!
So I made another thirty!!! This time thrown & stamped in one sitting…
and now trimming too!!! I’ve got “big plans” for these babies!!! More to come…

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