As part of my “big” production day in the studio, I threw five more serving bowls with soda clay. I let them set-up for awhile and had the opportunity to stamp them today. Usually I do it the next day, or even two days later. But since I was cranking things out today… it was great to be able to stamp them today!!! I’m kind of rushing to fill a kiln next weekend. The “faster” I can get things done, dried and into a bisque kiln the more time I’ll have to glaze & wad.

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Bowl #5 –

So now they’re loosely wrapped up for the night… and I hope to trim them tomorrow.

All assembled. Moisture levels evened out. Colored slip accents painted. Done. Drying.
One more thing… err, a dozen things..  checked off today’s “to do” list…

I was painting some colored slip accents on pieces today. And found myself struggling to see the difference between the clay color and where I had already painted the slip. Then I remembered the “food coloring trick.” Luckily, I had a couple bottles of food coloring in my studio from the last time I did this. The flashing slip I was working with was Nichols Blue… but it looked very close to my clay color. So I added blue food coloring! Knowing that the coloring will burn out of the slip when it goes into the kiln. A quick trick to make my life easier! And it’s fun to watch…

In fact, I had already done it once to this batch of slip which is why it’s already a light blue tint. But I wanted more. I wanted to play. I wanted it bluer than blue. I wanted to do it again. And I knew if I did, I could take pictures and share with you!

The fun part is when the food coloring spreads over the “water surface” of the slip… emanating from the dark center where the drop landed. So I let it spread… loving the tie-dyed effect until it stops. Then, and only then, it’s time to stir it all up!

Special thanks to my pottery friend Emily Murphy who showed me this trick years ago when she used to be my studio neighbor. She may not be right across the hall any more, but obviously the tricks she shared still influence my work!

Last night I threw twenty salty & pepper shakers. And then wrapped them up for the night. When I came back into the studio this evening, I found the typical condensation inside you’d expect. But I was intrigued by the little one spot on the plastic that had no moisture?! What gives?!

Upon closer inspection, I found that there was a teeny-tiny little hole in the plastic right there in the middle of the “dry spot.” Go figure.

Apparently, only twenty fit on my ware board. So that’s where I “had to stop” for the night. Next up, some stamping, trimming, slipping and hole punching to turn these into a new batch of salt & pepper shakers!

After Summer Camp, I finished adding handles to my latest batch of mugs.

It was moving along quite nicely, until it was time to teach my evening adult class… and I still had TWO handles to add. I “almost” got them done. Just two more. Two more and I would have been done. Instead, I had to come back up to my studio after class to finish those last two!!! So now they’re all under wraps for the night – and I’ll add some colored slip accents tomorrow!

Last night I continued my reclaiming of the “free” clay I got from Katie B.
The clay I had sliced thin was all dry, so I broke it up into small pieces and added it to my reclaim bucket. I then added enough water to cover the dried clay. Bubbles. Gurgling. And a slight hissing sound as the water seeped into the dry clay.

So now it sits… submerged & slaking. I’ll give it a few weeks, stir it up once & awhile, and when it’s ready… turn it back into “real” clay!!!

After camp, I went up to my studio to find a “surprise” pile of old clay to be reclaimed.

Katie Biderbost, one of my longtime pottery friends, gave me all of her “dead” bags of clay. She knows how much I love reclaiming to get free clay. So I sliced up several of the bags to help them dry out completely.

Tomorrow when they’re dry, I’ll crumble them up to add them into my reclaim bucket to begin the slaking process. Thank you Katie B. for the free clay!!!

It felt great to get back into the studio tonight after this weekend’s art fair in Evanston… and the start of another week of Summer Camp kicking off today. Luckily, the bowls I stamped last week were at a perfect leather-hard state for trimming. So now they are all trimmed, burnished, signed and drying upside-down.

Quick night in the studio tonight… and another two dozen done! Oh yeah, and five more bowls!!!