Urban sunset with an old train bridge silhouette over the river.

And just a few moments later… it changes so quickly!!!

And this is where we ended Tuesday night after my “bowls-bowls-bowls” demo with my Beginners. We talked all about altering shapes & added some decorative flourishes to their pieces not make their pots more unique. Basically… I just want them to have fun, express themselves & PLAY more with their clay!

Here we go…

Bowl #1 – Plain… the “BASIC” bowl fresh off the wheel. This is where they all started!

Bowl #2 – Two little fluted flips!

Bowl #3 – If two are nice, maybe eight fluted flips are better?

Bowl #4 – A flared flange.

Bowl #5 – A wider flared flange

Bowl #6 – A combination flared flange & fluted edges.

Bowl #7 – A split rim with two dramatic indents.
This one will get a big “up & over’ handle to make a basket-bowl.

Bowl #8 – Another split rim… this time with eight pinches to the rim.

Bowl #9 – A split rim with four indents to “square-up” the bowl a bit.

Bowl #10 – A split rim with four dents in & four dents out… kind of a lotus effect.

Bowl #11 – A “surprise” flower-snowflake-design in the bottom from a dragonscaler tool.

After the first few bowls, we discussed colored slips to add some design & detail to their bowls.
I personally like thick white slip a lot… adding texture & subtle contrast to the clay body.

Bowl #12 – Thick white slip with a simple spiral dragged through.

Bowl #13 – Thick white slip with some bands dragged through…
leaving a “canvas” area for carving in the future when the slip dries up a bit.

Bowl #14 – Thick white slip with some finger squiggles going through it while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #15 – Thick white slip with some rhythmic chattering with a rubber rib while spinning on the wheel.

Bowl #16 – An ombre’ blend of white & black slip… which will probably be carved through later!

So for now all of the bowls are under plastic in my studio…
waiting for a little more… perhaps some stamping & detailing???

So this week in my beginning Wheel class we discussed making “bowls on purpose, and not cylinders gone bad.” I did a demo… and then sent them off to make their own. Then I made “a few more” so we could start talking about alterations & surface decorations in an effort to make their basic bowls “not-so-basic”!

As predicted, we got a thin covering of ice overnight so everything is a shining wonderland. I do appreciate how you can see the little pellets of salt doing their job… an early & icy morning starting off at the studio! Be careful out there everyone!!!

A quick batch of mug cylinders this morning… fulfilling another 10×10 challenge. Ten pieces thrown before 10:00am! Next up… stamping, trimming & handles!

A brief moment of morning magic!

So excited to see that part of the Driehaus Stained Glass Museum has been re-installed at Navy Pier. Select pieces now illuminate the first floor walkway as you head down towards Sable Hotel. Fingers crossed that they install even more if the collection that lived in The Pier several years ago!

Every season I “struggle” between wanting to be surprised with the THROWDOWN final projects… and wanting to help my students along the way. So this season they’re all working on full tea sets based on traditional fairy tales. And I am so excited to see these “parts & pieces” by Taylor.

Can you guess Taylor’s fairy tale theme yet???

At the end of our THROWDOWN night… my pinch-pot cup & saucer found a special landing place! Smack dab on top on one of the classroom reclaim barrels!

During our night of blindfolded fun… my LILLSTREET THROWDOWNER’s did get to take a break to enjoy another OREO favorite with their blindfolds off!!! Thanks to Becky for bringing them in!