After a quick summer camp demo, Colette took on a fun carving texture challenge… using one of my favorite DiamondCore Tools! Even the older kids appreciate using nicer tools for finer line carvings. And Colette rocked it!!!

Just finished another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp… and they cranked out a ton of cool pieces this week! All trimmed & decorated with colored slips. Now just waiting to be bisqued, clear glazed & fired again. Not too shabby for a bunch of 10-11 year olds, right?!

I came into my summer camp room to find that some adult student from last night left us a little “present” in the splash pan of one of the wheels! And yet somehow the kids always get blamed for leaving a mess? They don’t even use that kind of clay!!!

Plus, I have confidence… and I would easily bank on my summer campers cleaning better than most!!! They’re great when it comes to clean-up. I just wish everyone followed Gary’s Summer Camp Rule #3… “Whatever mess you make, you WILL be cleaning up!” Adults included…

We also had another birthday in camp today! So of course we needed a birthday cake… and two campers jumped right in!!! Aaron threw the cake on the wheel… and then Ophelia decorated it. So cute!!! Birthday boy Colin was very pleased with his first-ever clay birthday cake!!!

Another day of gloopy-gloppy fun at Summer Camp. This group’s third & final day of wheelthrowing… for tomorrow we start trimming, carving, stamping & adding handles. And then Friday they’ll paint all of their masterpieces with colored slip. They will then be fired, glazed in clear & fired again after they’re gone. So the campers will need to come back to pick up their pottery treasures in a couple weeks!

Yesterday at the end of summer camp, a couple of the kids finished early… and asked if they could make some stamps like the ones I made that I let them borrow. Of course I said YES!!!

A roomful of summer campers making a LOT of pots! Not bad for three days of wheelthrowing, one day trimming & one day painting. They were busy little campers this week… especially for a four-hour camp!!!

Now they’re off to a bisque firing, then a clear glaze & another firing to finish them off. And then the kids will come back to pick-up their pottery!

Another week of Summer Camp coming to an end today. A lot of painting with colored slips to make their mini masterpieces really come to life! So fun to see some additional creativity present itself when they start painting… too cute!!!

“Whatever mess you make, YOU will be cleaning it up.”

And they do willingly… even cleaning the floor if they spill water or slip. My campers learn the very first day that cleaning up after themselves is all part of the process. Now if we could just get a few more of the adult students to do the same?!

As if Wheelthrowing Summer Camp weren’t fun enough… I challenged my pre-teen campers to do a little blindfolded throwing!!! And they LOVED it!!! After just two-and-a-half days of learning to throw on a pottery wheel, I think they did an AMAZING JOB… and the giggles were absolutely contagious!!!