One of my returning students came in this session and said she wanted to focus on words & typography. She ended up with this great trick of using letter pasta! She presses the pasta into the moist clay. And burns them out in the bisque firing to literally put her voice into her pots… or in this case, Kenny’s voice!!!

Ya’ gotta love the organization… wioth the perfect containers in the perfect box. And then each containers holding letters that are pre-separated. I would expect nothing less form a good Montessori School teacher.

And here’s her mug… ready for any “Gambler” in the family!

After finishing my salt & pepper shakers, I was onto my next project. Refilling my inventory of miniature vases. It’s pretty tough to wedged & throw such a small ball of clay. So I find it so much easier to throw them off-the-hump. Which really just means that I wedge a large ball of clay, and center it very roughly. No need to get it perfect. Then, I pull a small part up to the top of the hump and center just that little bit. Don’t worry about all of the clay below that little bit. Then you throw a small vase and cut it off. Pull up another small bit, center it and throw another small vase. Cut it off… repeat… again, and again!!!

And of course… smaller vases need smaller stamps!

A little stamping… on a little vase… with a little stamp!

Now they’re all stamped and wrapped up in plastic. Waiting to be trimmed and slip accented.

Bowl #2 – Originally a plain bowl with a bent-out, flanged rim.
Now with a little accent border of stamped texture!

Bowl #3 – Originally a flared out rim & fluted edges.
Now with a border of stamping just below the fluted fun.

Bowl #4 – Originally a large plain flange on a small bowl.
Which is really just a great “canvas” to do some stamping, right?

Bowl #5 – This one was originally just a bowl with a split rim.
Now it’s stamped and pinched back together in all the right places!

Bowl #6 – In class we left this one with the split rim and pinched together in 8 places.
I added a couple stamps, some little add-ons and a bit of curving.

Tonight I stamped the larger berry bowls that I threw last night. Sure, they were still a little damp… which just makes it a little tougher & a little squishier. But sometimes that makes for deeper & more dynamic impressions!

BOWL A – plain and full of potential…

The chosen stamp…

The bowl after stamping & fluting… no longer plain…

Potential fulfilled.

BOWL B – Another plain bowl ready to go…

BOWL C – Ready for action.

BOWL D – not just your average bowl… soon ‘nuf.

BOWL E – waiting for the party…

PLATE – of course the drip plates that go with the berry bowls need to be stamped too!

So now they’re all wrapped up and drying a bit more under plastic. I’m hoping to get back to them tomorrow for a little trimming!

In tonight’s wheelthrowing class, we covered the basics again, cylinders, taller cylinders, soap dispensers – even a quick flower pot. Busy class. Then we ended with one of my favorite topics… stamp-making!

After teaching my class, it was back into the studio to finish stamping the rest of the bowls. Luckily, they had stiffened up just a little bit more so they weren’t sticky any more… and a lot easier to stamp! So it was a late night of stamping. But I was glad to get them done as they were in just the right state for some good, clean stamping… which for me, is on the slightly wetter end of the leatherhard spectrum. I’ve gotten to where I like a little squish in my stamp. Kinda like a little spring in my step…

Tonight I tried to stamp a few of the bowls I threw last night. They were still a bit too wet for my liking. A little too sticky. But with a little patience & perseverance, I did get a couple of them stamped & decorated before class started.

After a little trimming, stamping & slipping, the simple enclosed “cone” forms I threw Wednesday night were converted into wall pocket vases last night in the studio!

After bowling, pizza & ice cream, I went back to the studio for an evening of stamping. The pieces that I threw yesterday were a soft-leatherhard, some more so than others. So I started with the drier ones to allow the wetter ones to stiffen up while I was stamping. My plan worked. All stamped and wrapped up again for the night.