After spending some time “de-Christmasing” my studio tonight
and packing away all of my decorations, I had time left to play with some clay
and make a few new stamps. It’s kind of become an annual tradition…
New Stamps for the New Year!

And yes, I do put my name on every stamp… you never know who’s going to
borrow something, where they may “travel” on their own, and I frequently
let my class students borrow a few to decorate their pots!

So now that I have a “few” mugs built and ready to bisque, this weekend I started
working on making new bowls for my upcoming kiln. So I threw some last night,
more today… and luckily, was able to start stamping today! If all goes well, I will
be able to finish stamping tomorrow and get them all trimmed as well. I know it’s
quick, but I’m hoping to get them into my Tuesday night bisque kiln!

And now for a quick glimpse at the tools of the trade!
A couple toolboxes full of handmade stamps and my trusty Shimpo banding wheel.
My first pottery gift from my parents when I started getting “serious” about clay!

Overnight the cylinders stiffened up to a “wet” leatherhard state. And since I need to
keep things moving forward, I unwrapped them and started stamping wetter than I’d like!
Here’s a few examples… side-by-side… plain and then stamped!

And here they are… the first batch of new mugs stamped and ready to dry some more.
Hopefully tomorrow I can start trimming, handle attaching & slip decorating!

During the Ravenswood Art Walk today, I was in my studio greeting customers
and making another batch of stamps! I figured if I’m going to be sitting around there
all day, I might as well get something accomplished. I always find it a little tough to
throw on the wheel getting all dirty when there are so many visitors, so many shoppers
and so many “interruptions.”

Instead, I sat there and made another batch of stamps. Not only will I have more patterns
to play with… but I also think that it’s a great demo for the visitors. I think it helps “explain”
that I make my own stamps – and then press them into my pots one-by-one-by-one to
create the textured patterns, surfaces & details.

And for those of you who may have missed it today, the Ravenswood Art Walk continues
tomorrow with artist studios & galleries open all up & down the Ravenswood Corridor!

After throwing my latest batch of ornament forms “off-the-hump”…
I’ve let them set-up a bit and they were no longer sticky or squishy.
So it was time to trim them, add a clay hoop-hanger and some stamps & textures!

Next up… a little slip decoration for color accents, drying then to the bisque kiln!

Continuing my “Labor day Weekend” by “laboring” in the studio!
And today I was assembling some oval casserole dishes. So here a few shots
of each one along the way. Basically three easy steps…

Step One: Throw a bottomless cylinder, and re-shape it into an oval.
Step Two: Stamp the textures & patterns into soft leather-hard clay.
Step Three: Add a slab bottom and lug handles.

Oval #1… in three easy steps…

Oval #2… in three easy steps…

Oval #3… in three easy steps…

Oval #4… in three easy steps…

So now it’s some “slow drying” and then off to the bisque kiln…

It’s been a productive day in the studio. Turning some basic bowls that “anyone”
could make… into stamped & textured bowls ala ME!!! So here goes…

Bowl #1 – before & after…

Bowl #2 – before & after…

Bowl #3 – before & after…

Bowl #4 – before & after…

Bowl #5 – before & after…

So now it’s a little more drying time… then some trimming to make a nice foot!

Tonight I stamped the plate I made for my class demo the other night.
Sure, you could leave the flange plain & unadorned… but what fun would that be?!!!

The latest batch of “mugs-in-the-making” were all stamped today.
So next I need to trim them all and add handles… more fun, on the way to more mugs!

The weekend weather had been incredible. Sunny. Warm. Rain-free!!!
And I’m been playing more… more… more… outside all day, inside at night!
Including a night in the studio stamping the cylinders that I made Friday night.

After stamping in the studio, I also went downstairs into the classroom and did some
very long-overdue glazing of my class demo pieces. For those who have been around
Lillstreet, many of you have seen my class demo on glazing. And how I tend to bring out
a bunch of my bisque, show ’em how to wax the bottoms… and then end up talking far
too much!!! So much “new” information to share with the Beginners. So many tips.
So many warnings. So much excitement. But after all the fun, I generally only glaze like
one piece during the demo, and then everything goes back onto my teacher shelf. After
a couple sessions, my pile of “unglazed” class demos was taking over my shelf. And with
the new Summer Session starting this week, it was imperative to make room for the new
class. So I glazed… and glazed… and glazed… my least favorite part of the process…