Tonight I did a little detailing on a few of the bowls that I threw for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class. Some of them were just a little too “plain” for my liking. Sure, smooth is good… but isn’t a little stamping a lot more fun?!!!

So here’s the bowl I threw with a flared flange, with a perfect “place” for stamping.

And another bowl, this time with a wider flared flange. The wider flange makes the actual “curve” of the bowl smaller… so I decided to go with a smaller stamp.

I’ve been working like crazy trying to get everything done in the studio for “Art In The Barn.”
Of course, I’m running a little late...

But I am trying a new form this time. I’ve made textured slab vases for a couple years. Each with a different pattern & color on each side. This time around I decided to try a round vase, with a bit more of a “constructed” feel. These are brand new. And I hope they all hold-up and work properly. And survive the firing.

Of course I should have tried just one prototype to check first.
But that’s just not how I work. So I dove right in and made a full batch.
Two sizes… and I’m hoping they survive.

Especially since they’re still wet and have been under plastic all day. I just added some colored slip accents, they’re sitting in front of a fan… and in just a few minutes will be going into a bisque kiln. Yikes! If they don’t get in, they won’t be out soon enough to glaze them and get them into my soda kiln. And if they don’t make it into my soda kiln… they don’t make it to “Art In The Barn.” And that would be bad… so, fingers crossed…

Tonight I threw a quick batch of tumblers.
With the my studio fans blowing in all the right directions… they were also ready to stamp tonight. At this rate, I will be trimming and slip decorating tomorrow. Why can’t everything come together this quickly???

Wall

A dozen wall pocket vases. Thrown, stamped & squished on one side.
Drying, then bisque firing. A round of glazing & re-firing. Then we’ll have plenty of vases for people to hang on the walls… or perfect for flowers or a cool pencil cup at your home office desk.

A few more “batches” of tiles. All textured, color-slipped and cut to size. Still drying. You can still see the difference in the batches and how some are darker (wetter) than the others.

Tonight I stamped all of the cylinders I threw to make a new batch of mugs. The B-Clay was a little “squishier” at this point than I would normally like, but I needed to get them done as my next kiln date is rapidly approaching. So a little more careful. A little less pressure. And a few more mugs stamped… before & after…

And now they’re all stamped & ready to be wrapped up for the night. A little more “slow drying” and hopefully I can start trimming tomorrow night before my new class begins!

And yes… I’m still working in the dark. Just the glow from my task lighting as the fluorescent light fixture in my studio is not working… and I’m still waiting for the landlord to fix it. Getting a little tired of wearing my “night goggles”… ha!

It’s been a little while since my last video… so I decided it’s about time!!!
This platter was made with B-Clay, and was a little bit softer than I would normally like for stamping. But with my busy schedule this week, I knew that I had limited time in the studio. So… go for it now?… or wait and run the chance of it drying up too much?

Of course I decided to go for it!!!
You just need to be a bit more careful, use more even pressure on both sides…
and hope that the stamp doesn’t “stick” when it gets a little damp.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

And here’s the set of tools that did all of the work…
one handmade stamp, two wooden tools and a thin sgraffito loop tool.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

Soon to be part of a few collaboration pieces I’m working on with my friend Cory McCrory!!!
Parts & pieces are coming together… mark your calendar for “Art In The Garden”
if you want to see the finished “Limited Edition” pieces. August 30th & 31st.

Okay, so I’ve been gone for three weeks. And that’s a LONG time.
So I haven’t been in the studio, or even touched clay in three LONG weeks!!!
But now that I’m back, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Including teaching my Beginning Wheelthrowing Tuesday night class. Last night was my first week back, but it was my students’ third class of the new session. I feel like I’ve missed out.. even though I know my teaching assistant Susan did a great job getting them started.

Last night we tackled pulling handles and attaching them onto some of the cylinders that had made & trimmed… without me!

And we followed that up with some stamp-making… you know it’s my favorite. And I always try to get through this demo early on on the session so they will have some of their own stamps to work with later in the session.

Let me just say… it felt great to be back. Great to meet my new students. And even better to touch clay again!!! It’s been too long…