Still working in the studio… and I’ve moved on to stamping some serving bowls. Just have to pick the stamps I want to use… and then start pressing them into the “softer-than-leatherhard” clay one by one… by one… by one…

Same clay, same day, much like many other days…
doing a bit of decorative stamping with my handmade clay stamps!

And there it is… after “just a few” stampings! I’m always enamored by how the repetition of just one handmade stamp can transform a smooth platter into a crazy cool textured pattern. Each stamped pressed in one by one… by one… by one…

Here we go… the first stamp is always the toughest. Once you press that first one in, you’ve kinda committed to doing it all. And it’s difficult to stamp with my fingers crossed! HA!!!

Another night in the studio… tackling a class demo platter. Sure, I could leave it smooth & plain, but what fun is that? So instead… time to pick “the right” stamp!!!

Just pulled out some of my MKM Pottery Tools hand rollers to help make some groovy cool textures! Doing a couple quick “test rolls” to figure out which rollers to use on this batch of hybrid mugs!

So I’ve taken the group of class demo bowl up to my studio for safe-keeping… and maybe a little stamping & detailing. Allegedly…

So I did in fact do some decorating… you know… MORE IS MORE!!!

So here are the bowls now after a little surface decoration fun…
with some stamping & some further altering of the rims!

So the cylinders that were thrown yesterday were ready today to start stamping. They were under plastic overnight so now they are at a good stage that I like to call “wet-leatherhard.” Not quite stiff enough to trim yet, not quite wet enough to be squishy or sticky… but instead firm enough to hold its shape, and yet wet enough to press in good impressions with my handmade stamps.

Mug #1 –

Mug #2 –

Mug #3 –

Mug #4 –

Mug #5 –

Mug #6 –

Mug #7 –

Mug #8 –

Mug #9 –

Mug #10 –

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Mug #14 –

Mug #15 –

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Mug #18 –

Mug #19 –

So for now they’re all back under plastic wraps… drying up a bit more until they are leatherhard and ready for trimming. And then… the ever-popular task of adding handles to all of them!!!

Lots of stamping… lots of patterns… lots of textures! Always fun using my own handmade clay stamps to create the surfaces on my mugs. All pressed in one by one… by one… by one…

After class last Tuesday, I spent a little more time with my class demo bowls. Just did a little more stamping & detailing… making the bowls even more not-so-basicER!!!

And for now, they’re back under plastic for the night… going to have a LOT of trimming to do pretty soon!