For the end of this summer session, my Tuesday night pottery students have been challenged to make two matching mugs to trade on our last night of class. Of course, I’ve got to make mine too… so I threw the cylinders in class showing them how to make “matching” pieces… and then I did a bit of stamping and now adding handles! I’m making two sets… just in case something goes “wrong” along the way!!! Just hedging my bets….

Hot summer night… cool summer salad…
even “cooler” in a stamped & glazed serving bowl.

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Looks like Rick’s African violet garden is growing nicely… handmade flower pots with some young violets adapting to their new homes. Soon enough they’ll be filling out, flowering and ready to propagate some more cuttings! Thanks for sharing your pics!!!

So then this happened tonight!!!
I subbed for the Thursday night Soda Firing Class at Lillstreet.
We did a lot of chatting, solving all of the question of the pottery world…
and did a little stamping along the way!

Looks like someone has been paying attention in class?! One of my students did a bit of stamping this past Tuesday night… and her plates are looking AMAZING!!! Well done Michelle!

There’s been so much going on these days, that it was tough to find time to finish these mugs! Spray. Re-cover. Repeat. I was so happy that I finally found time last night to get them done. Score. Slip. Attach. Repeat.

My handles start out with a wedged “carrot” of clay. I then pull them the traditional way… with a bit of water and lot of friction!

When I have the handles pulled to my desired width & thickness…
I like to flip them into a loop, stand them up to let them stiffen up
with the curve already established.

So for now they’re drying slowly under plastic. I’ll do a last-minute cleaning & smoothing of the attachments today when I take off the plastic.

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Working on another set of porcelain mugs… stamping patterns & textures into them.
So here’s the before & after shots, as well as the stamps that did all of the magic!

Mug One -

Mug Two -

Mug Three -

Mug Four -

Mug Five -

Mug Six -

Mug Seven -

Mug Eight -

Mug Nine -

Mug Ten -

Mug Eleven -

Mug Twelve -

Mug Thirteen -

Mug Fourteen -

Mug Fifteen -

Mug Sixteen -

Mug Seventeen -

Mug Eighteen -

Mug Nineteen -

Mug Twenty -

Mug Twenty-One -

So for now they’re all wrapped up under plastic… waiting at least another night until they stiffen up enough for me to start trimming the bottoms. Once trimmed, they will all start getting handles to become mugs!

 

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It starts as a food dish, but then becomes a chaise lounge?!
Even my friend Chris’s bearded dragon deserves a fancy handmade
stamped dish to call his own!!!

Today was the third day of my Wheelthrowing Summer Camp…
and the kids trimmed their pots, decorated, added handles, slip-painted…
and “allegedly” may have done a tiny bit of stamping for fun textures!