Another night. Another batch.
Stamped and waiting to be trimmed & “handled.”

And some of the stamps that did the “magic”…

Well, it’s been awhile now… and time for another VIDEO on YouTube!!!
What with the Academy Awards coming in two weeks and all…

This time I tackled a softer platter than I’m accustomed to.
I threw the platter as a demo during my Tuesday night wheelthrowing class. It sat out during class and stiffened up more than I expected. So I brought it up to my studio, sprayed it really well with water and wrapped it up. Maybe too well.

As you know, timing is everything. And I knew that I had a certain “window of opportunity” to do some stamping… otherwise it might be too dry if I put it off any longer. So I forged ahead… and it was a little sticky. Typically I like the pot to be on the softer end of the “leather-hard” spectrum. But this one may have been a smidge too soft. If you watch closely, you can see the stamp sticking a bit… and more apparent, my fingers were sticking to the clay too!

But I decided to forge ahead… knowing that it might stick too much or slump too much.
It’s just clay, right?!

Click here to go to YouTube for “Another Stamped Platter.”

Today was another productive day in the studio. Lots of new cylinders for another batch of mugs. This time slightly larger made from B-Clay. Throw a bunch of cylinders… then you need to stamp a LOT of cylinders too!!! Se here goes…

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.

So now they’ve all been stamped… and trimmed today as well!
I’m hoping to get back into the studio tomorrow to add handles to them all.
That is if the impending snow storm doesn’t keep me away?!

Okay, so I found it too tough to limit myself to 3 photos a day like was supposed to for the Facebook Portfolio Challenge. So I bumped it up to five. Still struggling… so it’s two posts a day?! And this one stretches it even further with TEN images of freshly stamped, leatherhard clay. My favorite stage of the whole process!!!

Tonight I played with my latest porcelain cylinders. Sure, they were still a little wetter than I wanted them to be. And I kinda knew that I should wait to stamp them. But I also know I have plans tomorrow night and wouldn’t be able to get back to them until later this weekend. So either I do them while they’re a bit squishy… or risk it and see if they dry too fast. I went for stamping them sooner than later. Carefully…

For the most part they turned out pretty good. It was a little bit tougher, and I had to work with a gentler touch. There’s a few tiny issues here & there… some of them need a little touching up when I do trimming & handle attachments.

Cup One…

Cup Two…

Cup Three…

Cup Four…

Cup Five…

Cup Six…

Cup Seven…

Cup Eight…

Cup Nine…

Cup Ten…

Cup Eleven…

Cup Twelve…

So now they’re all stamped and wrapped up. Waiting for them to stiffen up a bit more Drying to a state when I can start trimming. And then handles…

Tonight was the second pottery class of the new session for my Beginning Wheel students. And they’ve already tackled my two favorites… making mugs & making stamps!!! We’re off to a good start… and we still have eight more weeks to cover everything else!!!

As always, I’m starting off the New Year with another batch of New Stamps!
It felt great to get back in the studio and to get my hands dirty again!!!

Tomorrow is my last holiday home show of the season!
Mud & Metal : A Collaborative Holiday Home Show.
After Saturday, the shelves can start coming down… finally…

And I thought I might just taunt you a bit with a few shots of some of my work that will be available tomorrow! Lots of stamping. Lots of textures. Lots of soda-fired flashing. Be sure to stop by for some great holiday shopping… and warm apple cider too!

We’re open from 10:0am-6:00pm on Saturday, December 13th.
Me, my pottery, my tiles and Amy Taylor with her beautiful jewelry.
The perfect chance to knock some names of your holiday shopping list!!!

And as always, we still have “The Tired of Shlepping Sale” going on my back porch. The shelves have been replenished with even more clearance & discounted pricing! First come, first served… they’re priced to move!

I’m pretty excited about these new little cuties. They’re pretty much my “first” foray into porcelain… thanks to Emily for giving me all of her reclaim scraps a few months back.

They looked pretty sweet in the kiln, and even sweeter as I’m prepping them for this weekend’s Holiday Home Show. Love the soda finish on porcelain, and the colorful orange slip variations

Today was a productive day in the studio.
I stamped, I trimmed, I handled, I finished. I always love a day when I can throw things in the morning and they dry up fast enough that I can stamp them the same day!

Vase #1 – step-by-step…

Vase #2 – step-by-step…

Vase #3 – step-by-step…

Vase #4 – step-by-step…