So I spent part of the day today stamping my latest batch of cylinders destined to become MUGS!!! You know they’re my favorite thing to make… and my “default” if I don’t have a real plan going into the studio! So it was a good day… lots of stamping… lots of patterns… lots of FUN!!!

And making it a little “extra” fun… these are the first cylinders that I’ve stamped using the new batch of stamps I made a couple weeks ago! It’s always fun to see what patterns they actually make after bisque firing… both as single stamps, as well as in multiple repetitions!

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 K

And for now they’re all under wraps for the night. I hope to get them trimmed tomorrow… and quite possible get some handles on them too!!!

This week in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, they brought back their “dice-decorated” maquette cylinders along with the taller vases they made using the first piece as inspiration. The second part of the challenge was that it had to be a minimum of nine-inches tall. It was great to see how they each “embraced” the challenge both using the single die to decorated the cylinder, but then again to decorate the larger piece. The “spirit” of the challenge was to use that “one dice-one tool” concept for the larger vase once again… and to use the design concept from the first maquette cylinder to create a beautiful larger vase.

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Jen …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Molly …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Norah …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Taylor …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Tracy …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Christine …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Helen …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Jacob …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Jen …

Dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Stacey!
This project came in second… mostly for the overly-creative way Stacey worked outside of the box and extrapolated her layered maquette design into a stacked & textured “layer” vase!

And the FIRST PLACE dice-decorated maquette and “inspired” vase by Dana …
mostly for sticking with the “pure intention” of the challenge… and for learning & re-designing her vase based on what she liked & disliked about the maquette… as well as the smoothest burnished surface ever!!!

Just adding some colored slip accents to my mugs. Once these are glazed and go into the soda kiln… these flashing slip accents should turn bright colors and show the dramatic flashing effects of the soda environment!

Working on another batch of mugs for another MUGSHOT MONDAY!
Handles are now attached… just need to do a little detailing & slip painting before I can set them off to drying!

Finished up the latest batch of flower pots with some trimming, slip painting of accents and drilling drainage holes. So for now they dry before firing, glaze, and then fire again!

For the in-class challenge, they found out it would be a surface decoration challenge.
Easy-peezy… especially when I passed out some already-thrown cylinders for them to work on. So all they needed to do was decorate them!

Oh, but there’s a twist!
They needed to do their entire surface decoration using just one tool.
And it was NOT a tool of their choice…

They found out quickly that that one tool was going to be a basic DIE…
yes, DICE for everyone!!!

After their 45 minutes for the challenge. we gathered to look at each of them. It was fun to see how they had each approached the challenge differently. Some went straight for stamping, some for drawing with a corner, some with colorful underglazes or slips using the die as the paintbrush!

At the time, we discussed their newly-decorated cylinders… with them “thinking” that THIS was the challenge! We talked about texture, pattern, and approaches to the challenge itself. But then they found out that this was not a judged challenge for points… but instead a stepping-off point for their next challenge!

So their homework for the week is to create a new vase that is a minimum of 9-inches tall that has surface decoration made again with that ONE TOOL… the dice! Their new cylinder does not need to match exactly, but instead be “inspired by” the original cylinder. I told the to think of that original cylinder as the “maquette” for their larger vase. So now I’m looking forward to next Thursday night when we get to see their newly created vases with DICE DECORATIONS!

Looks like my friend Nancy made an amazing dinner tonight… and healthy too…
but “maybe-just-maybe” that platter has something to do with it?!
Thanks Nancy for sharing the photo!

Another Texture Tuesday two-fer!!! One stamped & soda-fired…
another colorfully withering away

Spring is going to get here eventually…
so I’m making sure that I’ll have some flower pots ready to go!
More throwing… more stamping… making homes for more plants!!!

Working in the studio tonight doing a little stamping.
Looks like more mugs in the making. Go figure.