So this Thursday night was our last LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class!!! And there “may” have been a trophy & ribbons after a lot of great projects… and a bit of quick “Gary Math” to calculate the results!!! More to come… I mean, a LOT more to come…

Some time last week…

Another “monstrously“ fun night at the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN this past week!!! For their final handbuilding challenge… we took inspiration from Gretchen the “Master Monster Maker”… @biggirlco . I’ve loved seeing her monsters online over the years. So I shared her page with my class… discussed being “inspired” by her work… and definitely making our own versions & not copying hers!

So my class had just over two hours to make their own “free-standing” monster… with a minimum of 12” tall. Not an easy assignment… especially with a time restraint. Handbuilding takes time… as they learned… “wet clay” typically doesn’t want to stand up on its own! Everyone had a GREAT time… thanks again to Gretchen @biggirlco for the inspiration! We hope we did you proud!!!

This week in my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, we did a decorative platter challenge. Which started with 45 minutes to throw a five-pound platter. Not too tough… until they found out that they had to rotate around to different wheels every ten minutes or so. Picking up wherever the person before them left off. Then after several rounds, they ended back at their original wheel to see what kind of a platter was left for them! Some were very nice… while others may have struggled a bit & ended more with a small salad plate?!

Regardless, the real challenge was to decorate whatever platter was left for them! Embracing the nuances & pivoting as needed in the final minutes. We had some pretty sweet results after a lit of fun rotating & switching!

After all ten THROWDOWN Decathlon events… we ended up with a tie!!!
So we did a quick tie-breaker to figure out our medal winners!!!

Congratulations to our Bronze medalist Nicole… our Silver medalist Sara… and our Gold medalist Helen!!! All three of them survived the Decathlon and made it to our podium!!!

So much fun… a lot to cover in one night’s class!

Squiggles & spirals & slip… oh my!!! Plus I’m old enough to remember a good Spirograph design!!! So why not put it all together? The final event in our THROWDOWN Decathlon!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #10 : A groovy slip squiggle design with one pound of clay!

Pinch pots for the win!!! A quickie espresso cup with handle!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #9 : a pinch pot espresso cup with handle with one pound of clay!

As the good old Dunkin’ Donuts slogan goes… “Time to make the doughnuts!” The next THROWDOWN decathlon challenge was to throw a hollow & puffy doughnut on the wheel in the allotted ten minutes!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #8 : Largest doughnut with one pound of clay!

No slab rollers here in my THROWDOWN class!!! We’re pulling slabs by hand… my favorite way to make slabs!!!

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #7 : Largest rectangular “area” on a slab with one pound of clay!

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet… even when it’s clay?

THROWDOWN Decathlon Event #6 : Handbuild a realistic rose with stem with one pound of clay!