There are still far too many naked pots in my studio.
I just unloaded my second bisque kiln.  I now officially have a LOT OF POTS
to glaze & wad before I can ever start loading tomorrow night. Yikes!!!
Not quite sure how & when this is all going to get done?!

When you make a big batch of mugs…
at some point, you’ve got to glaze a big batch of mugs!

Same mugs… just a different, possibly cooler perspective…

There was a fresh “harvest” of gourds in my studio today!

Fans blowing & oscillating!!!
I finished as much as I could in the studio today. Fresh work has got to dry overnight
as they all go into another bisque kiln tomorrow!!! Thus, the fans…

Which really just means that it’s another day to “labor” in the studio, right?
I figure it’s my last chance to make anything new and still get it in my soda kiln
next Saturday. That’s me… pushing it right up to the wire… make, make, make…

My friend Claire had recommended these new ice cream bars a few days ago.
She said they were the best ice cream bars ever… and she was right. They’re
called Magnum Bars… and they’re dipped in chocolate, and then caramel, and then
chocolate again!!! Crazy, right!? I worked really hard in the studio today and I
thought I deserved a treat. Plus, they were on sale at the store. How could I resist?
Just think of the miles I’ll need to ride tomorrow to work that one off!!! Yikes!

With my Triathlon completed, it’s time to re-focus on my next big project.
I’ve got just two weeks until my next full soda kiln. And I’ve got a LOT of work
to do before then. Enough swimming, biking & running… time to get back
to some throwing, stamping & glazing!!!

I spent the afternoon in the studio trying to finish up some pieces with a few slip details.
As if the obsessive stamping weren’t enough, frequently I also go back and add a dab of
colored flashing slip into each stamp. I love how the soda firing makes these colors pop,
and adds another layer of interest into my work.

Who doesn’t need a little more obsession in their life anyway, right?!

After camp today, I stayed in my studio to do some stamping, trimming, detailing
& slip painting. Happy to report that all of the squared-off bowls are now done &
drying overnight! Mission accomplished…

Kind of ironic, as I watched the latest “Mission Impossible” movie on DVD while working.

So here’s the platter I threw for my class demo last Tuesday night.
I was hoping to keep it wet enough to stamp it as “class demo part two” next Tuesday.
But it was getting a little too dry a little too quickly. So I had to stamp it today. Here’s the
“demo” I was planning to share… this time in a sequential photo format.

The chosen stamp prepared to make its mark on the platter!

Just getting started… pressing the stamp into the moist clay one, by one, by one…

One row of stamping done. I always love to see how a basic platter can be transformed
so quickly with just a few impressions!

And if one row is pretty, a second row can only make it prettier, right?!

But why stop there? So I finished it off with some scalloped edge stamping. And some small
detailing with notches in the rim and small indentations in the stamps at the points.

Here are the three tools that did all the work… a stamp, a wooden tool… and my hand!