Sign up for my new wheelthrowing class and I PROMISE to not play “Unchained Melody”, make any bad “Ghost” references or even do any of these crazy antics. So much fun to watch… but I guarantee not to re-create any of these awkward “hidden camera” moments. I’d rather create my own awkward moments!!! Kidding. Kinda.

Click here for the “unchained” video on YouTube.

Just a quick diversion… and a nice segue for the next blog post…
Sure his bubbles may be a bit more dramatic & fun. But I can guarantee
that MY bubbles will be around a lot longer than his will be!

Click here to see the YouTube video.

One of my students was playing on YouTube and ran across this pottery video.
Click here for the video.

It’s kind of long… about an hour and 19 minutes.
But if you jump to about the 1:03 mark that’s when “the magic” begins!!!
And by “magic” I mean a crazy reference about ME!!!

Apparently this whole blogging, Facebooking, YouTubing and more has made me “a little famous” in Santa Clara, California?! The instructor in the video makes a specific reference of me and my “oodles & oodles of stamping.” Kinda cool, huh?!

WHOO-HOO!!! We’ve just passed another Facebook milestone. And I still remember when I didn’t think I needed to be on Facebook because I had nothing worthwhile to share. Apparently I was wrong. Thanks to everyone who continues to follow my pottery adventures, visual explorations, and just “a few” biking sunrises along the way! Remember, you may not get all of the posts in your News Feed, so check back and read the full Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page every now & again. And remember to “share” with your friends… I think we should shoot for 3,000 by the end of the year! Thanks again.

And oh, but wait there’s more… you can also do a “search” for Fire When Ready Pottery on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. You can find me & follow me pretty much everywhere! Have fun!!!

My how time flies…
Doesn’t see that long ago that Ally Sheedy was making it snow…

Click here for a video flashback on YouTube… “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”.

Here’s a little “Uptown Funk” to jazz up your otherwise dreadful time on the treadmill.
Wonder if we could add this into the CrossFit rotation next week?!… if nothing else, purely
for entertainment value as I can’t do much more than go forward without falling off!!!

Click here for the video by Carson Dean on YouTube.

And no, just for the record, I will NOT be adding this to my workout routine.
But in case you missed it the first time…
Click here for the video by Carson Dean on YouTube.

Here’s a beautiful video created by a wonderful potter Ayumi Horie.
She talks about her thoughts on clay. The beauty of clay. The meditative quality of all the repetitive work we do as potters. A lot of similar philosophies to my own. And you’ve got to love watching her add some textures & patterns into freshly thrown clay!!!

Click here for Ayumi Horie’s video on YouTube.
For more about Ayumi Horie and her pottery, click here for her website.

Well, it’s been awhile now… and time for another VIDEO on YouTube!!!
What with the Academy Awards coming in two weeks and all…

This time I tackled a softer platter than I’m accustomed to.
I threw the platter as a demo during my Tuesday night wheelthrowing class. It sat out during class and stiffened up more than I expected. So I brought it up to my studio, sprayed it really well with water and wrapped it up. Maybe too well.

As you know, timing is everything. And I knew that I had a certain “window of opportunity” to do some stamping… otherwise it might be too dry if I put it off any longer. So I forged ahead… and it was a little sticky. Typically I like the pot to be on the softer end of the “leather-hard” spectrum. But this one may have been a smidge too soft. If you watch closely, you can see the stamp sticking a bit… and more apparent, my fingers were sticking to the clay too!

But I decided to forge ahead… knowing that it might stick too much or slump too much.
It’s just clay, right?!

Click here to go to YouTube for “Another Stamped Platter.”

It’s been a little while since my last video… so I decided it’s about time!!!
This platter was made with B-Clay, and was a little bit softer than I would normally like for stamping. But with my busy schedule this week, I knew that I had limited time in the studio. So… go for it now?… or wait and run the chance of it drying up too much?

Of course I decided to go for it!!!
You just need to be a bit more careful, use more even pressure on both sides…
and hope that the stamp doesn’t “stick” when it gets a little damp.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

And here’s the set of tools that did all of the work…
one handmade stamp, two wooden tools and a thin sgraffito loop tool.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

Last night in class, one of the students brought in some Bulgarian pottery that demonstrated their traditional slip decorating style. We had discussed this traditional Bulgarian technique of slip decorating in class. I saw a YouTube video and decided I would try it for my class. If I’m going to mess up, why not do it in front of my students for a good laugh?! So we discussed it, did the demo and I posted it on my blog and Facebook page. Marina had seen the posts, and since she’s Bulgarian.. who better to bring in some actual pieces from Bulgaria???

Click here to see my original posting about this process…
including the original video that inspired my class demo on slip “dripping” decoration!

So here are a few colorful examples of the Bulgarian style of slip decoration. It’s a pretty amazing technique of dripping, banding, squirting and dragging through layers of colorful slips. These examples were gorgeous… and more colorful than I expected?!

Look close. It’s all done with colored slip. Drips. Bands. More drips. And dragging through…

Click here to see the original blog post about the video I saw online that started this whole thing. And special thanks for Marina for bringing in these beautiful samples. So fun to see this Bulgarian pottery story come full circle. Video. Demo. Gorgeous.