Yesterday was the last day of Wheelthrowing Camp. Some kids finished decorating & glazing earlier than others. I offered to let them handbuild with terra cotta for awhile… and for the first time EVER, one of them asked if I could show them how to make their own stamps!!! What?… of course I can. Potential prodigy?

This week in class I did a “demo-on-demand” on how to throw plates. Sure, I could have left my demo plain, but what fun is that?! Always better after a bit of stamping!

And the stamp that did most of the work…

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It’s another week of Summer Camp and my wheelthrowers are working hard on their new pots. It’s so much fun to see them working so intently as they decorate their pieces… some with stamps (go figure) and colored slip accents!

Last week, several of my beginning students made some clay stamps in class.
Tonight they get them back so they can start playing with texture & patterns.
Let the addiction begin!

Last night before teaching class, I had just enough time to stamp another platter…
actually the demo platter I threw for class last week.

I started stamping with one stamp pressed in one… by one… by one… all the way around!

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Another platter. Another stamp. Stamp. Stamp. Repeat.
And repeat again… and again… one by one… from plain to fully stamped!

And done. For now.
Next up is drying slowly… bisque firing… glazing… and firing again! Quite the process!!!

With Spring pop out all around us, I figured I better start cranking out some more flower pots for my first few art fairs! Throwns & stamped… still need to be trimmed, clip painted and have drainage holes drilled through the bottom.

Oh yeah, and I still need to make their drip plates too!

 

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Fresh from the bisque kiln… my latest batch of NEW STAMPS!!!
So now I can give them each a little test-run to see which ones I love….
and which ones I’ll learn to love!

And yes, I do write my name on the side of all my stamps… as they have a tendency to “travel” down to the classrooms on occasion for demos and such. And I’d kinda like to get them back when I’m done demo-ing, right?

 

Time to do a bit of detailing on the latest batch of bowls. They’ve set-up a bit and are now a “wet-leatherhard” stage. Not quite dry enough for trimming, but stiff enough to hold it’s shape during the stamping process. Gauging the right wetness is kind of mportant when you’re going in to for a full day of stamping!!!

Bowl #1 –

 

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

 

Bowl #5 –

Bowl #6 –

Bowl #7 –

Bowl #8 –

Bowl #9 –

Bowl #10 –

Bowl #11 –

Bowl #12 –

And for now these bowls are stamped and back under plastic for the night.
But then coming soon… power tools to make them berry bowls!!!

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