So the “real” challenge this week for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWNers was to throw the largest platter they could with 6-pounds of clay… and then decorate it to “match” or coordinate with their perfect dinner plate! We were looking for well-thrown plates & platters, as well as well-applied surface decoration that pulls them both together. Yep, they didn’t see that one coming! And yet they all did FANTASTIC… quite impressive!

This past Thursday in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to make that one “perfect” dinner plate. Well-thrown & decorated in just 45 minutes. Several of them had never even thrown a plate before. Let alone decorating a freshly-thrown plate that is already wet & squishy!

Little did they know that there was still another “twist” to come…

So after I did my “not-so-basic bowls” demo last Tuesday night… I still felt like they could use a little sumthin’-sumthin’! So I did a bit more stamping & texturing… as you know I come from the school of MORE IS MORE!!!

Carving some patterns through a layer of white slip. When glazed & fired, the contrast of slip to clay body will become more apparent. Nice contrast to help accentuate the carved patterns!

Nice crisp lines when carving with my favorite tool from DiamondCore Tools!

And this is where we ended Tuesday night after my “bowls-bowls-bowls” demo with my Beginners. We talked all about altering shapes & added some decorative flourishes to their pieces not make their pots more unique. Basically… I just want them to have fun, express themselves & PLAY more with their clay!

Here we go…

Bowl #1 – Plain… the “BASIC” bowl fresh off the wheel. This is where they all started!

Bowl #2 – Two little fluted flips!

Bowl #3 – If two are nice, maybe eight fluted flips are better?

Bowl #4 – A flared flange.

Bowl #5 – A wider flared flange

Bowl #6 – A combination flared flange & fluted edges.

Bowl #7 – A split rim with two dramatic indents.
This one will get a big “up & over’ handle to make a basket-bowl.

Bowl #8 – Another split rim… this time with eight pinches to the rim.

Bowl #9 – A split rim with four indents to “square-up” the bowl a bit.

Bowl #10 – A split rim with four dents in & four dents out… kind of a lotus effect.

Bowl #11 – A “surprise” flower-snowflake-design in the bottom from a dragonscaler tool.

After the first few bowls, we discussed colored slips to add some design & detail to their bowls.
I personally like thick white slip a lot… adding texture & subtle contrast to the clay body.

Bowl #12 – Thick white slip with a simple spiral dragged through.

Bowl #13 – Thick white slip with some bands dragged through…
leaving a “canvas” area for carving in the future when the slip dries up a bit.

Bowl #14 – Thick white slip with some finger squiggles going through it while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #15 – Thick white slip with some rhythmic chattering with a rubber rib while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #16 – An ombre’ blend of white & black slip… which will probably be carved through later!

So for now all of the bowls are under plastic in my studio…
waiting for a little more… perhaps some stamping & detailing???

Letting things “roll” with my carved handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools!

After the hectic holidays, it feels great to be back in the studio…
getting back into the swing of things.

A simple dinner plate, now with a stamped rim to make it not-so-simple!

Oh, what to do when the class demo platter being safely stored under plastic stays under a little longer than you expected… maybe six weeks?…and now it’s too firm to stamp?! Time to pull out my favorite DiamondCore Tools to do a little texture carving! And I’m kinda diggin’ it… gonna need to make more like this!!!

Now THAT’s a lot of stamps!!! Actually, the surface decoration was created with just one of my handmade clay stamps. Pressed into the rim one-by-one, by one, by one, by one… all the way around a couple times! Fresh out of the kiln… again with my new favorite glaze… at least for this week!!! HA!!!

THE BIG CHRISTMAS MUG REVEAL!!! Not big mugs, just a big reveal!!! Especially made for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW. Limited quantities… so mark off your holiday gift list early tomorrow morning!!!