Once I had finished my class demos with marbled clay, my students got all colorful and started throwing their own marbled pieces! So much fun… as it’s kinda magical when the colors appear!!!

Just for fun, I followed up the first marbled clay demo with a simple two-color piece. Kinda looks right for the season… as the color reminded me of a yummy Shamrock Shake!!!

This week in my Beginning Wheel class we played with colored clay for “marbled” pots! I started by coloring some clay ahead of time for them with mason stains layered & wedged into B-Clay. We then layered regular B-Clay and/or Brown Stoneware with the colored clays… and then gave it two simple wedges to start the marbling. So much fun to see the colors presenting themselves as you’re throwing. When we were done, the pieces still have a “smudgy” layer of mixed clays like a dirty skin on the pot. When they get to leatherhard, we will carefully trim the entire surface off to reveal the clean lines of layered & marbled clays.

And yes, if we were doing more than one or two pots, I would have definitely used rubber gloves. But since this was a “quickie” demo and not a long-term pottery career of marbled clay… I figured it was tough enough for my students to throw their own forms, let alone to do it with gloves on!

With big clouds blowing through, there was some good potential for a beautiful sunrise this morning. Unfortunately, the clouds won!!! Still, it was amazing to be back out on the bike for my sunrise bike ride. The clouds were dramatic with the sun making a few intermittent appearances… as the wind was blowing making a strong headwind for the ride back home!

We had a surprisingly warm day here in Chicago today… lots of sun & lots of melting! And the perfect opportunity to get back out on my bike for another wonderful afternoon ride along the lakefront!

Just a quick reminder that the Chicago Public Art Group “A TIME TO UNITE” Fundraiser is still going on! The Silent Auction ends tomorrow 3/4/21 at 12:00pm CST. My stamped plate is part of the fundraiser… so click here if you want to support Chicago’s public art AND get a pretty sweet plate at the same time! – https://chicagopublicartgroup.betterworld.org/auctions/time-unite/items/gary-jackson

One of my students has been working on some small handbuilt vases with a brick pattern. But she was frustrated as she was limited in size to the texture mat she was using for the brick pattern. So I offered up some of my textured rolling pins from STODOLA as an option. Rikke chose this grid pattern… and is so excited to make larger versions of her small vases now that she can roll larger slab textures! So excited that she’ll be ordering her own custom brick pattern rolling pin from STODOLA soon!

Click here to go to the STODOLA website!

Another season DONE!
Lots of changes, twists, turns & new characters in Season Two!!!
Including one of my favorites… DESMOND.
Not to mention this “Other” character…
with his quirky quips, manic manipulations & fiendish facial expressions!!!
Gotta love him. Gotta hate him.

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with a quick reminder that you can shop online anytime! You can get your own mug to “celebrate” along… over 50 to choose from… as well as bowls, vases, berry bowls, and bunches of other pottery pieces.

Just click here to view My Online Pottery Store –
http://firewhenreadypottery.com/my-online-pottery-store/

Well, it’s another Monday, so I guess it’s time for another Mugshot… or eight?! Just a few more mugs hanging out on my back porch on a Monday afternoon!