Spent the day with My Talented Friend & master metalsmith Sarah Chapman today down at the ONE OF A KIND SHOW. So much fun to surround yourself with such talent & beautiful jewelry! I love having talented friends!!!

Check out more of her work online at www.chapmanmetals.com …
or follow her on Instagram : @chapmanmetals

This week in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, we tackled a couple different techniques for a fun tie-dyed effect… you all know I’m a kinda big fan of tie-dye!!!

So we started with a “squiggly” version… where I took a large plat platter, painted a layer of thick slip on top, and then dribbled some blobs of colored underglazes on top of it. Not really sure how this will work… but I’m always ready to try something new… it’s just clay, right?!

And then I took a plastic rib with a scalloped edge… a cake decorating tool… and started to squiggle through the layers of slip & underglazes to blend, blur & texture the plate. In hindsight, I kinda wish the plastic rib were either softer or thinner… as it was a bit tough to get some good squiggle up by the curve of the rim.

So here it is so far… I’m going to let it dry slowly and trim the bottom when it gets leatherhard. Still contemplating if it might “need” a bit of stamped texture somewhere?! And if so… where???

After bisque firing, I’m assumiong I’ll probably just sue some clear glaze to make the colors “pop” and give it all some shine. The downside might be… that I’m not fully confident that the colors of the underglazes will actually “survive” the high-fire cone 10 temperatures. But we’ll find out soon enough…

Not quite traditional “tie-dye”…. but pretty fun & groovy nonetheless!

On another damp & dreary Saturday, I thought a little splash of color might perk up your day! Like all of these beautiful coleus plants that my friends Rosene & Gerry have been growing all Winter in their basement… she started with over 600 cuttings!!! And now we’re just two weeks away from our little PLANTS & POTTERY POP-UP down by Peoria.

Friday, May 13th & Saturday, May 14th

I will be bringing a lot of pottery to go with a wide assortment of homegrown plants for your garden & home! Mark your calendar… more details to come!!!

This week in my SURFACE DECORATIONS class, we did a bit of carving for texture & pattern! I started with two bowls with slightly thicker walls, trimmed at leatherhard, and then we sat down to carve. Using my sharp DiamondCore Tools gives me nice crisp lines, grooves & incisions… and I’m always willing to let my students give them a try too… a mix of carving tools & trimming tools for an assortment of lines!!!

Possible my smallest batch of mugs ever?!…
a follow-up to last week’s class demo on throwing matching mugs!

Dark & gloomy with a lot of clouds… and a very small sliver of possibility. I kept hoping that the sun would peek through… but alas, it was just clouds. Plenty of gray clouds & serene reflections.

No spoilers here… except that I just finished THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN on HBO Max!!! Binged… and done!!!

I just wish there were more episodes… or a U.S. version I could compete & play on?! So many great projects. So many challenges. So much fun!!!

Stamping flower pots with my own handmade clay stamps…
one impression at a time… over & over & over…

Nothing better on a damp & rainy day… than to play in the studio, getting ready to stamp some more flower pots… and binge watching the start of THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN on HBOMax. Giddy-up!!!

Early morning breezes blowing in from the south… still a bit chilly, but hoping that we get the warm temps today as they’ve predicted!!! If so… I might just “have to” get out on my bike again for a few more miles this afternoon!