After yesterday’s throwing marathon, today had to be the stamping marathon!
Shucks, huh?… good thing I love stamping!

Although my pots were all still a little wetter that I would like them to be,
a little “strategic drying” really payed off. A little bit of fan. Some rotating.
A lot of waiting… and some trimming of older pots & another batch of tiles…
and I finally got to stamp all of the pots I made yesterday. Okay, so they were
still a little squishier than I would normally like… but it was fun to see the
transformation from “plain” to textured. So much better now…

Coming soon… a LOT of trimming and handles for the mugs!

Last night in class, in between the sweets, we talked about surface decoration
and how my students can turn their own “plain” pots into very special pots!!!
We talked about trying a bunch of techniques, finding the one they love the
most – and then exploiting i doing as much as they can with it. So during class,
I started each of the demo bowls, but quickly found out there was not going to be
enough time to finish the bowls during class. So I finished them tonight in the
studio. And now they’re drying overnight. Tomorrow I’ll clean them up a bit,
and brush off all of the little burrs & crumbles on the pots!

First I did a quick demo on basic stamping… my favorite which they expected…

And then we talked more about slip and how you can put it on with a more
“painterly” technique. So I put on a layer of white slip, and then did some freehand
swirls with green slip. I hope my students liked it… when I came back to it tonight
I realized that I didn’t like it all that much. So I carved through it tonight.
Still not sure if I like it any better than just the slip?! We’ll see…

Then we moved on to carving, and we discussed the work of my friend Amy Higgason.
She stopped by last session for a class demo, and some of my students were there for
that. Unfortunately, Amy wasn’t in town last night – so I had to do my best to attempt
to carve the pot… in something slightly similar to Amy’s beautiful style. One of Amy’s
“disciples” from her demo last session was there as well… and Pam was excited to show
my class one of her pieces that she was currently carving ala Amy Higgason!!!

The next bowl was carved again.. and then we added sprigs. Another Amy trick!
Amy does this incredible work, and I hope she doesn’t mind that I tried to emulate
her style for the benefit of my class. I know they LOVED seeing the demo again!
Plus, one of my concave stamps worked perfectly as a sprig mold.

One more bowl… what to do?… what to do?…
So the last bowl is surprisingly plain & smooth on the outside… let’s work inside!

So I covered the inside of the bowl I covered with a layer of black slip. And then began
a discussion of sgraffito with my class. I started to carve through, but only did a couple
swipes – before I realized that I needed to focus a bit more on my own… and my students
needed to get back to their own bowl making!!!

More bowls. More stamping. More fluted rims… and this time, in very close detail!
So much so, that if you look closely, you can see my fingerprints!

Yes… in that order.
Generally that’s the sequence I like to do it in.

I stamp my pots when the clay is considered “wet” leather-hard.
No longer sticky, no longer squishy. Yet still moist enough for a good impression.
Too wet and stamps stick, the shape gets all warpy and it’s no fun.
Too dry and the stamp impressions aren’t deep enough and the pot can crack.
Okay, this time they were still a bit squishy… but I digress…
After I stamp the last pot in the batch, the first pot is typically ready to be trimmed.
So I trim them all, and if they are going to be soda-fired, I add some colored slip accents.
Then I set them aside so they can dry… and that’s where we’re at as of tonight!

So I spent tonight at the studio stamping pots… okay, squishy pots.
I was kind of in a hurry and wanted to get them all stamped tonight.
For some reason?! Not sure why… I could have done them tomorrow?

Typically I stamp when the pots are a “damp” leatherhard. But since these
were some of the pots I threw yesterday, they were wetter than I would have liked.
So I unwrapped them, let them sit out for a little while and then stamped them
as they slowly stiffened up a bit. But I couldn’t wait.

So instead, I stamped very cautiously!!!

When I unloaded my electric kiln, I finally got my bisqued stamps back.
The newest batch of stamps ready to use. And lucky for me, I had twenty-seven
mug cylinders ready to be stamped! So I set forth and started stamping…

I “forced myself” to only use the new stamps for this go-around. Trying to figure out
which patterns I liked and which ones might not work out so well. I must say,
I was pleased with the results so far…

The New Year always make me excited with the promise of a new beginning.
Back to the studio. Back to a routine. Starting again with new possibilities!
So I did a little New Year’s shopping at the Container Store… which also gets me excited.
And I bought myself a new storage tray for my handmade stamps!

Why?…
Because the other three trays are already full!!!

And I once again started the New Year by making myself some new stamps!
Because you can never have too may, right?! New Year. New stamps. New patterns.
Each of them hand-carved… and double-sided with a pattern on each end.
At least now I have some place to put them after their bisqued… in my new storage tray!!!

See how nicely that story came around full circle?!

With pottery showing up in every room of my condo, there are still a few small “spaces”
here & there for other things between all the mugs! So there’s a lot of other great things…
not just mugs! Like some oval vases perfect for flowers, office supplies, junk mail
or a little bit of anything! All stamped and ready-to-go to a good home… or a great present!

After a beautiful (yet windy) afternoon of riding…
I went back to the studio this evening for some more fun… and more stamping!
Including another batch of mugs, this time made with B-Clay for the back of the kiln!

And there’s never enough bowls, right?
But don’t ask my Mom, she already thinks I have FAR too many bowls in inventory!

Plus, after a lot of stamping… I also cleaned my studio. Long overdue.
Okay, let’s not get crazy. There’s still a LOT to do. But I did make some good headway.
And, prepared another great surprise for my class this coming Tuesday night.
It’s going to be a big night of demos catching up from last week’s impromptu night
with Amy Higgason. So it’s going to be a night of plates, ovals and lidded jars!
And a special surprise “treat”…

So I’ve finally scheduled my next soda kiln firing for Wednesday, November 10th.
Now I’m trying to make all of the work I’ll need to fill it. And to be ready for
my Holiday Home Show which is now just four weeks away! So tonight I stamped,
and stamped, and stamped… larger bowls and smaller cups to become votives.
Looks like tomorrow I might have a LOT of trimming to do?!