Another holiday get-together… and another opportunity for another cheesecake! You know I love making them, decorating them & sharing them… oh yeah, and eating them!!! Happy Holidays!!!

The large purple platter has been so popular at my art fairs this summer… and I typically only had one per show! Well, this time… I HAVE TWO AUBERGINE PLATTERS for this weekend’s Mud & Metal Holiday Home Show!!! Yes, two… count them TWO!!!

My carved green bowl fresh out of the kiln…
just in time for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

Stamped & soda-fired… a great example of how the soda kiln atmosphere affects the sides of the pot. Chemically altering the colored slip accents on each stamp… as they all started out the same. Also creating a great “orange-peel” effect on the sides of this oval vase. Just a reminder… there is no glaze on the outside of this pot other than the tenmoku inlay. All of the “shine” & “glaze” comes from the soda-firing process.

Spent a little time this afternoon carving some leaf patterns on a small bowl with white slip banding. Always easier with my DiamondCore Carving Tools!

All stamped & detailed with colored flashing slip. Set aside for the night as they start to dry… for an upcoming bisque kiln! Meanwhile, freshly thrown pots cover my work table hoping that they stiffen up enough overnight so I can stamp them tomorrow!

No chance for a sunrise on this overly cloudy morning, so I did some early-morning stamping instead! No sweat… literally.

So after last week’s bowl demo for my Beginning Wheel students… and a little fun in class turning them into “not-so-basic bowls”… I “may have” taken them upstairs into my studio to do a little more stamping, decorating & trimming. You know my theory… MORE IS MORE!

Boy, these class demo pieces sure seem to dry out fast?!…
even though it was under plastic, this lidded jar demo piece was surprisingly dry when I checked on it. Too dry to stamp!!! So I resorted once again to carving some patterns on the lid with my DiamondCore Tools. Sure they work best on leatherhard clay, but still work great on drier clay too!

Carving through some white slip decoration… playing with my DiamondCore Tools again! Making fun leafy patterns through the widest band of white slip… to create a little color contrast when it’s glazed later.