A little “urban decay” on weathered wood along the CTA train line…
seems oddly fitting for another gray & gloomy day.

To celebrate the last class of our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, we threw another potluck. And I decided to make a cheesecake… with homemade hot fudge… on a handmade platter. I considered it my own personal “throwdown.”

Spent a lot of time stamping… and stamping… and stamping. Adding some texture to my latest batch of bowls… soon to have HOLES. As these will quickly be turning into berry bowls!

Painting more flashing slip accents… this time on some textured square vases!
They’re currently laying down… but once this side sets-up a bit, I’ll stand them up
and slip paint the other side which has a different texture “picture” all together.

So after choosing their favorite tile, and getting their FREE BONUS CYLINDER…
let the surface decoration inspiration challenge begin! How to translate their first “tile” design onto a round cylinder form??? And here’s what they came up with…

Donna

Susan

Jacob

Molly

Claire

Dave

Tatiana

And then our TOP TWO winners!!!

Taylor

Ryan …who got huge kudos for tackling a carved project like this WITHOUT any sharp tools!!!

And then they thought they were done… happy to be done with that ONE TOOL.
But they weren’t. There was still one more trick up my sleeve!

After they had textured their tiles in class… I gave them their next challenge.
I told the that they needed to “choose their favorite tile” of the nine and get rid of the rest. hey could save them or squish them up… either way. And then I told them that with that SAME ONE TOOL and that one chosen tile, they had to translate their two-dimensional tile design onto a three-dimensional cylinder. And they had thirty minutes to complete the challenge!

A quick sense of panic swept across many faces, as they didn’t think they could throw a fresh cylinder and still stamp it when it was freshly-0thrown-wet in the time frame. So then I told them not to worry… as I had already pre-thrown the cylinders for them and they were already dried to the “wetter-side-of-leatherhard” which would be perfect for this challenge!

So again, they had thirty minutes to translate their flat tile design onto their cylinders!

Ummm… carving without a sharp tipped needle tool??

Yes, Ryan broke the tip off his tool and found that there was a thin wire inside
that he could cut with. A very short, very NOT sharp piece of wire!

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This week I challenged my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students to make a set of tiles. They needed to throw a slab and cute nine perfect 4″x4″ tiles.Many of them have never made tiles before, so it was fun to see their thought process as they only had twenty minutes!

A few of them thought THAT was the challenge… but the smart ones knew there would be a twist! So I challenged them again with textures & tools…. err, well ONE TOOL!

They each chose randomly to see which of these tools was going to be theirs
Some were excited.. .some were scared. And then I gave them the challenge guidelines…

They had to decorate all nine tiles with that ONE new tool.
All of the tiles should go together as a set, but none of them could be the same!
And for this challenge they had thirty minutes! And GO!!!

And there we have them… a fun collection of textured tiles. And a LOT of fun & camaraderie along the way. They were very entertaining… some times frustrated… and very ingenious about how to use that ONE tool. Some used both ends.. some took them apart… some broke them in half… and some pulled out the small wire from inside!!!

Jacob

David

Susan

Donna

Taylor

Ryan

Claire

Molly

Tatiana

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Not to be outdone… when Michelle saw Allison stamping her plate in class,
she decided to go for it too!!! It was a great night of stamping fun for my students
in class Tuesday night! Allison & Michelle have the bug… it’s a slippery-slope
down that stamping hole. Get ready for a sweet ride!

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Tuesday night in my Wheelthrowing Class, one of my returning students needed a way to decorate her plate… and decided to tackle stamping of the rim. Wonder where she got THAT idea?!… and I wonder where this stamping-prodigy has been hiding all this time? Allison’s plate turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!! I think she might be onto something here…

Another night working with “dramatic task lighting” in my studio…
only benefit being that the photos have great contrast to show off the stamped textures!!!
So here’s a sneak peek at the “before & after” on another stoneware platter…
and the tools that made the textures & patterns!

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