We started the morning yesterday with some of my Summer Campers scraping & cleaning the ware boards they had uses the day before. No one likes a dry crusty ware board… wouldn’t it be nice if EVERYONE would do this before they put the shared ware boards back on the racks?!

Okay, so it took awhile…
but I finally have all forty… err, thirty-nine… handles attached!

After summer camp today, I putz’d around in my studio for awhile trying to catch up on a few “projects” that have been hanging out for quite awhile now. One of them was to pull out my latest batch of reclaimed clay & put it on a large plaster bat so it can start to dry. Goopey-gloppy fun… and a lot of FREE CLAY!!! Do you see the not-so-hidden surprise???!

Last night I had the pleasure of doing a little ZOOM studio tour & demonstration for the Glenview Art League. They all “stopped by” for some chatting & banter…. then a few demos of throwing on the wheel, followed by some stamping & surface decoration… and more discussion. Hopefully they all had fun… I know I did. After all, it was all about ME!!!… ha!

Such weird times when we’re still showing our studios, artwork & process through a small, non-tactile computer screen. I so look forward to getting back to in-person face-to-face fun! Keep getting those vaccines so we can get some herd immunity and get back to more normal days!

We’re nearing the end of the month…
and again, I’m looking for a little inspiration!

Scraping my table.
Spraying some pots.
Magical moments.

It’s a new day.
It’s a new clay!

Finished up my latest batch of reclaim clay with a bit of wedging & bagging today. Sure, it still needs more wedging when I go to actually use it… but for now it’s back to being real clay… real FREE CLAY!!!

And now that my reclaim bucket is empty… it’s time to start filling it up again! A little while back one of my students was cleaning off her shelves and brought me her bag of porcelain scraps asking if I wanted them to reclaim. Of course the answer is ALWAYS yes!!! Even better, her last class was a print-on-clay class, so all of her reclaim had already been rolled out into thin slabs. So I just broke them up, spread them out and I’ll let them dry out overnight.

Then I’ll crush them down to small little pieces with a rolling pin and into the reclaim bin they go. Thanks Katie for kickin’ off my next batch of FREE CLAY!!!

Another New Year tradition in my studio is pulling out the latest batch of reclaim clay. I figure it’s been slaking down all through the holidays and is now good & ready! Goopey, sloppy & messy… and my favorite FREE CLAY for the NEW YEAR!!!

And yes, if you look closely, there are a couple different kinds of clay mixed up in there. I don’t really care too much what goes in my reclaim bin… as long as it’s CLAY!!!… and a high-fire clay body. I figure it will all mix up to be some kinda good clay… and best of all FREE!!!

So the first mug “snagged” from today’s MUGSHOT MONDAY STUDIO SALE was “The Grinch” mug! And then the new owner got home to find a gift of macarons & tea waiting for her… and her heart grew three sizes that day!

A quick reminder that the MUGSHOT MONDAY SALE continues until 7:00pm in my studio. Lots of great mugs still looking for the forever homes!