Okay, so I would love to call this the POTTERY OLYMPICS…
but that only happens every four years! Ha!!!

So this week in class after we critiqued , judged & awarded the Nesting Bowls…
we moved onto the POTTERY OLYMPICS… okay, so maybe it’s not so bad…

We started by dividing the class into four teams of three. I had pre-chosen the Team Captains… by splitting up the couples… so it was Molly vs. Jacob vs. Patti vs. Jon. But then we found out that Jon was not coming to class for a medical issue… so his “Captain-manship” was handed off to Teresa who had just finished eating Jon’s dinner! So the four Team Captains chose their teams and we were almost ready to move on… except one team only had two people. So I drafted my friend Natalie who has recently returned to Chicago & Lillstreet to join us in the activities. She was great to agree on such short notice!!!

To kick it off… I had each team fill out a worksheet to assign who might be the “competitor” in some of the challenges… only using cryptic hints as to what the challenge would be.

CHALLENGE ONE
Each team had one bag of clay, a wire tool and one competitor to cut it up into predetermined weights. No scale. No weighing of the pieces. Just their best judgement with a chance to compare each ball to each other. At the end of the challenge, we weighed the balls of clay… to add up the variances. Team that was the closest to the correct weights would win the challenge!

We then did a bit of housekeeping…
Each team had a chance to even out their weighting mistakes, making sure their balls of clay were the correct weight. They then wedged them up – while another member of their team set-up a wheel for future throwing challenges!

CHALLENGE TWO
This time we had two competitors for each team… each using a two-pound ball of clay. They had a limited amount of time to hand roll the longest coils they could…. and limited table space! And here’s the twist… if your coil were to break during the challenge, you’re done! No squishing it back together. We would just measure the longest segment while the others continue to roll clay.

CHALLENGE THREE
For the next challenge… it was the third member of each team who did NOT roll a coil that was up! Now they had to use the recently-rolled coils to build the tallest coil cylinder. Simple enough, right? They could not continue rolling the coils… and it had to be freestanding at the end.

CHALLENGE FOUR
We then switched to a wheelthrowing challenge. All three players on each team would get a 3-pound ball of clay. Using one wheel per team, they would take turns throwing matching bowls! The first person would throw a bowl, and then they switched places as the second person stepped up to match that first bowl. Now with two bowls in, the third person stepped in to match the first two! Harder than it sounds… since there was no going back to “fix up” or alter the previous bowls!

CHALLENGE FIVE
We stuck with wheelthrowing for the next challenge… this time with two pre-determined players. Again with a three pound ball of clay they had to throw one “perfect” bowl. And here’s the twist… One throwing. One driving. Yep, one person was doing all of the centering & throwing… while the other person had complete control over the speed on the foot pedal.

 Whoops!!!…  I missed the photos of this one! But trust me, it was fun to watch!

CHALLENGE SIX
After two wheelthrowing challenges… we switched back to handbuilding for a slab throwing competition. With five pounds of clay, they had to throw the largest slab of clay… round-robin fashion with each team member taking a turn. And again, if their slab broke at any point… they were done with the challenge. No squishing it back together! Largest surface area wins!

It’s a “shame” no one had any fun!!!

CHALLENGE SEVEN
For their final challenge.. and the funniest… for me… each team had to throw one final “perfect” bowl with a four pound ball of clay. They would each have two minutes… switch… two minutes… switch… two minutes… Two full rounds of working on the same bowl. Yes, each team would continue to work on their one bowl to make it as “perfect” as they could. Each person had two “two-minute” chances to help their team

And here’s the best part… for ME at least… all the while BLINDFOLDED!!!

And then the final challenge envelope… THEIR HOMEWORK!!!

PSYCH!!!

They have no homework this week as they have all been working so hard over the past couple weeks.. the deserve a break – and some tie to make what ever they want for a change!

And again, I have the BEST STUDENTS EVER!!!
Each of them embraced my crazy challenges and played along with my silly reindeer games!

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This week in my Tuesday night pottery class, we did my favorite demo of EVERY session! It’s the night when I teach my class how to make bowls on purpose.. instead of a cylinder gone bad!!! We talked about how to make one from the get-go… starting with a nice smooth curve on the inside. And NOT a flat bottom or a gouge in the side anywhere! So they all gathered around so I could do my demo where I make that one “perfect” basic bowl.

BOWL #1 – The basic round bowl. This was our “starting place.”

So after throwing the first bowl… I set my students free to go back to their wheels and start making some bowls. While they were throwing, I was too!!! I continued to throw more “basic” bowls… a full bag of clay-s worth… which turned out to be eighteen bowls. Pretty close to matching basic bowls.

When I was done throwing the bowls, re re-convened for Part Two of my bowl demo. This is the fun part where I show them some fun “tricks” they can use to make their own “basic” bowls not so basic any more!!!

BOWL #2 – FLUTED DUO
Two simple fluted twists, one on each side.

BOWL #3 – FLUTED MORE
And if two fluted twists are good, eight might be better?!

BOWL #4 – THIN FLANGE
Then  we took the top rim and flared it out & down to make a thin flanged rim.

BOWL #5 – WIDE FLANGE
If the thin flange was goo, maybe a wider flange would be better?

BOWL #6 – FLANGED & FLUTED
Folded out to make a thing flange and then added four fluted edges.

BOWL #7 – DOUBLE-DENTED
Who says a bowl needs to stay round?… and I’m thinking this might get a handle over from dent to dent.

BOWL #8 – SPLIT RIM WITH FOUR DENTS
I carefully split the rim using the pointed end of my wooden knife… and then dented it in at four places.

BOWL #9 – SPLIT RIM DENTED IN & DENTED OUT
After splitting the rim, I dented four spaces inwards, and then again four spaces outwards.

BOWL #10 – SPLIT RIM WITH EIGHT PINCHES
After splitting the rim, I carefully pinched it back together in eight places.

BOWL #11 – THE TRIPLE RIM CHALLENGE!!!
So Stacey, one of my former students who has seen the bowl demo before, challenged me to try a TRIPLE split rim!!! And you know I’m always up for a challenge!!! In retrospect, I kinda wish I had left a little more clay up in the rim if I had known I was going to go for the triple. But I perservered… and then pinched & pressed out in eight places.

My students were impressed… and referred to this a the “churro bowl.”

BOWL #12 – DRAGONSCALE FLOWER
Using my metal dragonscale tool, I pressed in the edges to make a stylized flower in the bottom of the bowl

After the first dozen bowls, I shifted gears and introduced my students to colored slip.
Just another fun way of decorating their “basic” bowls… to make them less basic!!!

BOWL #13 – THICK SLIP SPIRAL
I slathered on a layer of thick white slip, and then dragged the curved end of my wooden knife through the slip as the bowl was rotating on my wheel.

BOWL #14 – THICK SLIP SQUIGGLE
A thick layer of slip and then a little finger squiggle through for the pattern.

BOWL #15 – THICK SLIP PATCH
Using four pieces of newspaper dipped in water, I created a stencil by  placing the newspaper pieces in an open square. I filled that open square with thick slip, dragged a tool through it for the ridges, and then carefully removed the newspaper strips to reveal clean edges.

BOWL #16 – CHATTERING
Another layer of thick white slip, with some rhythmic tapping of a plastic rib through the slip as it was rotating on the wheel.

BOWL #17 – NEWSPAPER STENCIL
I carefully cut four letters out of the newspaper… I wet the letters and carefully pressed them smooth to the bowl. I carefully painted over the edges with some thin black slip, and the covered the entire bowl interior. The tough part is finding the newspaper letters to pull them out!!!

BOWL #18 – OMBRE
First a layer of thick white slip covering the interior, and then some thin black slip from the top edge inwards to blend and create the ombre effect.

For now they’re all under wraps in my studio. I’m pretty sure there’s a “good chance”there might be some stamping & detailing still to come before I trim the bottoms.

So it was another fun night – I LOVE this demo!!!
It’s so much fun to see the lights going off in my student’s heads as their eyes light up during the demo. A great combination of shock & awe as they start to see some of the possibilities. I know I might have overwhelmed thenm a bit… but my goal is that they got my main point…

Have fun.
Try something new.
Make your basic bowl not-so-basic.
Decorate it. make it yours.
I don’t care how.
But just HAVE FUN… it’s just clay!

 

 

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Still throwing. Still stamping.
Another vase and that one stamp that did all of the tough work!

And a detail of the freshly stamped surface… still a bit wet, and waiting for a little clean-up!

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Last week in my pottery class I challenged my students to make some ovals for our final class exchange game. I made two as part of our class demo… but then I figured maybe I should make some more?!!! Still a work in progress… unless you want an oval that doesn’t really hold anything?!!!

Playing with porcelain again… starting with some simple bowls!

So this week in my pottery class we tackled BOWLS!!!
And not just ANY bowls, but bowls on purpose… and not just a cylinder gone bad!!!
So many beginners are making bowls by accident. But tonight we started doing them on purpose from the very start. I did a bowl throwing demo for my students showing them the “right way” to make a basic round bowl. And then I “released” them back to their wheels to start throwing bowls. While they were working, I threw 18 bowls in total… apparently that’s what a bag of reclaim clay makes?!

After I had made all eighteen “basic” bowls… we re-grouped for the fun part of the demo! I showed them a lot of quick tricks on how to make their bowls “not-so-basic” anymore! We altered rims, did some texturing and I introduced colored slip as a decorative option. Ultimately I just wnat my students to learn to play with their clay, try new things and try to make it their own. Sure, almost anyone can make a round bowl. The wheel kinda does it for you. But the fun part is decorating it and making it your own!!!

Bowl #1 – Fluted Rim.
One finger inside, one finger outside, pinch & twist.

Bowl #2 – Fluted Rim again.
Because if four is good, eight might be better?

Bowl #3 – Narrow Flange.
Basically keeping a finger steady on the outside an inch lower than the rim, and then the inside hand gently bends the rim out over the stationery hand while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #4 – Wider Flange.
Because if a narrow flange is cool, a wider one might be better?

Bowl #5 – Flared & Fluted Flange Combo.
Bend the flange out first, and then come back to flute the edges.

Bowl #6 – Dragonscale Tool.
I have a cool metal tool designed for dragon or fish scales.
But it also works well to make this sort of flower effect in the bottom of a bowl.

Bowl #7 – Split Rim Pinched Together.
I start by splitting the rim carefully with the sharp point of my wooden knife.
Then I go back and pinch it back together in a few spots.

Bowl #8 – Split Rim Dented In.
Again, carefully split the rim, an then use the side of my wooden knife tool to dent inwards in eight places.

Bowl #9 – Split Rim In & Out
Another split rim, this time dented in for four, and out for four… which kind of squares it up a bit. Who says bowls need to be round???

And then I introduced colored slip to my class. We talked about some of the benefits of using slip now, as opposed to trying to glaze certain tings later. The we started playing with some thick white slip…

Bowl #10 – Thick White Slip Spiral
Simply coated the inside and then dragged a saturated brush of slip through it to make the spiral. The extra thickness will remain there through the bisque firing… and then show up even more when the glaze puddles & pools there.

Bowl #11 – Thick White Slip Spiral
Again I coated the inside of the bowl with a layer of thick white slip. And then I just dragged the rounded end of a tool through while the wheel was spinning. Easy-peezy!

Bowl #12 – Finger Squiggles
Same thick white slip… but finger painting to make the squiggles!

Bowl #13 – Thick White Slip Bands & Squiggles
So I combined the perfect banding with the imperfect squiggles. Banded first, squiggles to fill.

Bowl #14 – Chattered White Slip.
Another layer of thick white slip… and then some decorative chattering through the slip while the wheel is spinning. Chattering is basically rhythmic tapping of a plastic rib through the slip to reveal the clay body.

And if white slip is good, maybe TWO slips would be better???... so we added Black!

Bowl #15 – Black & White Ombre With Spiral.
I did the layer of white first, and then carefully blended a layer of black slip over it to create an ombre gradation. And then I dragged the rounded end of my wooden knife through the slip up & out. And I’m TOTALLY LOVING that fun little swoosh at the end… completely unplanned!!!

Bowl #16 – Shaped Rib With In-Dents & Out-Dents.
I used a decorative wooden rib pressed into the sides to create some grooves, then dented in & out, and then filled the bottom section with black slip.

Bowl #17 – Sponge Painting
This time I used a sea sponge to dab on layers of white & black slips. I’m kinda diggin’ the granite-marble sort of effect.

Bowl #18 – Splattered Slip
For this one I used a special little tool I found a few years back to splatter paint, slip or glaze. So I did a layer of splattered white, then a layer of black… and went back on to do some more black… and then some white… until I felt it was perfectly un-perfect!

And for now I have eighteen bowls to finish up. I’m fairly confident there will be some stamping, texturing, and further altering of these bowls. More is more, right?! And then after that, they will all need to be trimmed, fired, glazed and fired again!

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So, those wedged balls of terra cotta have been thrown into cylinders.
Just the “base” for a Halloween Ghoul still to come… so now it’s time for some
handbuilding, stylizing, carving, creepifying, and ghoulitizing!

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We’re just three days in, and my new batch of Summer Campers are well on their way. We’ve already centered, thrown, trimmed, stamped, slip painted & decorated a LOT of stoneware pots. All labeled and drying for a quick overnight firing so we can glaze them all on Friday! Things move fast around here during Summer Camp!!!

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