Assembled… now with handles! This latest batch of hybrid mugs finally all have handles… thus making them MUGS!!! I’m a firm believer that a “mug” by this potter’s definition must have a handle!!! So they’re all attached & ready to “relax” a little under some plastic overnight… before I come back to touch them up a bit more before drying.

This week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled stamping & sprigging. I showed them the basics of how I approach a pot, how try emphasize the shape & geometry of the pot with my stamps… and the most important part… how to stamp! Sure, not rocket-science, but there are a few tricks!!! I did my demos and then set them loose… with their own stamps they had made the week before, as well as some of my collection. Many of them had made their “homework” pieces to work on, but I was glad I had a made a bunch too so they had more to “play” with! I tried to emphasize how stamping can become addictive… and they heard the mantra more than once…

MORE IS MORE!!!

White to black… and black to white. Just playing with some fun ombre’ blended slip colors. And then a little squiggling & chattering to add to the surface decoration & textures!

For tonight’s SURFACE DECORATION class, their homework assignment was to bring a couple soft-leatherhard pieces to class to work on… as tonight we’re focusing on Stamping & Sprigs. Well there’s a chance… hypothetically… that I “may” have made a few extra pieces for my students to work on in case they failed on their homework!!! Allegedly…

After last week’s demo on “thick slip” with my SURFACE DECORATION class, I’ve continued working on this platter in my studio. Now that it’s leatherhard, I decided to start carving a texture all around the flange of the platter. So much nicer with my favorite DiamondCore Tools carving tool. Crisp, clean edges every time!

After crackling slip, we spent the last half hour of our SURFACE DECORATION class making clay stamps. My goal is to have them bisqued quickly so we can start playing with them in next week’s class… where the focus will be “stamps & sprigs”!!!

Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we played with some different slip colors mixed with a sodium silicate solution to help us create these wonderful crackled surfaces on our wheelthrown pots!!! Exciting as every one is different every time!!!

While I’m in the middle of making my “normal” stamped mugs for a future soda-firing… I need to remind myself that it’s time to make more of these “hybrid” mugs too!!! My collection of carved handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools has recently “doubled” & I can’t wait to try out some of their newest patterns while making more of these wheelthrown & handbuilt combo “hybrid” mugs!

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…