Of course Summer Camp isn’t ALL FUN all of the time… because Rule #3 says that “any mess you make, YOU will be cleaning it up!” And they do!!! Even when it’s a lot of water spilled on the floor… so there they go… down on the floor with a sponge!!! Giddy-up!!!

Getting all muddy & dirty sure is fun!!!

It’s been another great week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp… with a younger group in the mornings, and an older group in the afternoon. It’s always fun to watch them learn how to throw on the wheel… struggle a bit… and then crank out a bunch of pots in just a couple days!!!

We had a surprise guest in my beginning pottery class Tuesday night! Nick came into class with a black duffel bag asking where he could stash it somewhere quite & clean. We put it under the wedging table… only after finding out that there was a four-week old puppy inside!!! My student Nick is a veterinarian and was at the vet clinic when someone found this cutie abandoned on the side of the road and brought him in. We all loved it… and told Nick that we now expect a different puppy in class each week!!! HA!!!

In class Monday night, we tackled a few different forms & decorating techniques. Like this large platter with some thick white slip decoration. The rim has a bit of a “Steven Showalter” influence… someone you should definitely be following on Instagram… and yet you know I can’t resist a good spiral… and there “might” just be a bit more stamping to come too!!!

Another beautiful sunrise… this time with some fun clouds to splash some color on & a stiff headwind for the first half of my ride. The clouds were cool as the sun popped up, and then hid behind, and then came out again! Kind of a double whammy sunrise!!!

Pretty exciting… a “small” surprise… with yet another orchid re-blooming!!! So cute, so pretty… even if it is a teeny-tiny miniature orchid flower!!!

What started as a very still & quiet morning, with some early morning fog, turned into a beautiful day with stunning reflections off the lake… with possibly the most perfect place to park my bike!

After pulling my reclaim out of my orange reclaim bin, it was time to re-fill it with some more clay scraps. I’ve had these bags sitting in the corner of my studio for two months now… ever since my trip to Minnesota for the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour. And today was the day to get rid of them!

One of my pottery friends lives up in Minneapolis and for some reason chooses not to reclaim her own clay. Instead she bags it up… and luckily for me, it’s waiting for me to take each year when I’m up there for the pottery tour. Sure, it’s a lot of work… but I think it’s well worth it… FREE PORCELAIN?… I’m in!!!

So I dumped out the clay one bag at a time. And went after it with a rolling pin to break it all down to small pieces which will “dissolve” faster and create a smoother reclaim slurry.

But then I found a few bags that much larger chunks in them… so I had to pull out the big guns… and actually break it up with a hammer… before I could rolling pin it!!!

The finer the clay is pulverized, the smoother my reclaim will be… which kinda equates to less wedging later. So it behooves me to do the work upfront before it goes into the reclaim bin.

So now all of the porcelain scraps have been broken down and put into my bin… covered with water, and stirred up. It will sit in there for two weeks or so until I’m ready to pull out the reconstituted clay to put back on the plaster bat to dry it out. Sure, it’s a good amount of work… but FREE CLAY is FREE CLAY… and FREE PORCELAIN is even better!!

After weeks of slaking down, it was finally a good day to pull out my latest batch of reclaim clay. Lots of scraps, trimmings & dried clay bits all soaked down in my big orange bin… and now setting out on a large plaster bat. The clay will sit on the bat for a few days as it slowly absorbs the water and helps to dry out the clay. When the clay gets stiffer, there’s a LOT of wedging in my future! But I’m in… FREE CLAY is the best clay!!!