So, after several month of pandemic, quarantines & sheltering-in-place… many of my students from last Winter’s LILLSTREET THROWDOWN have returned to Lillstreet to finish up the projects they were making during my challenges & contest class. One of the best challenges in class was for the students to build a set of Matryoshka Dolls… with a minimum of five pieces that all nestled in on each other. Most of them got their pieces made… but no one had a chance to glaze them as COVID-19 set-in just at the end of class. No time to finish. No time to glaze. Our final THROWDOWN class happened just days before the lockdown!

But now we’re back at Lillstreet… and students have returned to pick-up where they left off. There’s been a lot of glazing going on. Including Christine who won the Matryoshka Challenge… as well as the overall trophy!

Here’s a look at her Matryoshka set that recently came out of the glaze kiln!

Her set was based on the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class itself, and some of the bigger challenges along the way! BRILLIANT!!!

Her largest jar was an homage to… well, err… little embarrassing… ME!!!
It’s not everyday you get memorialized in underglaze!!! Complete with my tie-dyed t-shirt & black gym shorts!!

The other exterior sides of the largest jar hosted shelves of pots and the names of everyone in class! Again, honoring the class, the fun , and everyone who took part in Season Three of THE GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!

Oh… but then it opens up…

And then the second layer was based on the challenge when they all had to make Flower Bricks. Self-enclosed vases with a bunch of holes on the top for the flower stems to go through!

Inside the Flower Brick was a set of Matching Mugs… another one of our weekly class challenges. They were told to incorporate four different patterns & designs on the mugs… stripes, polka dots, paisley and plaid!

Inside the matching mugs, is a set of matching bowls. Another one of our class challenges! Smaller than the actual bowls made for the challenge… but they had to fit inside, right?!

And oh, but wait there’s more…
Inside the stacked bowls was a miniature ceramic OREO cookie!!!

YES!!!… Christine actually made a clay OREO cookie!!!
Okay, so “maybe” I have a bit of an OREO addiction going on.
Perhaps we ate far too many of them during class?!
But good to see that they’re getting honored in Christine’s set!!!

And there it is!!! Well worth the wait!!!
Even though the pandemic is still carrying on… it does feel great to be back at Lillstreet teaching & working. So good to see students back in classes, and campers back at Summer Camp. Happy that we are all making the best of the situation… with more than enough social-distancing, sanitizing, procedures and structural changes within Lillstreet.

Happy to see Christine’s finished set of Matryoshka nesting dolls!
A BRILLIANT concept!!! Thank you Christine for sharing your talents!

Life in the City… and somehow Nature perseveres! Normally just an iron gate to my back courtyard… now with a little “volunteer” petunia nestled in the corner. Struggling to survive… yet flourishing & making me smile every time I see it!

After the mug “trading-exchanging-stealing” game at my final Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… I came away with these two beauties! One faceted, twisted & textured mug by Christi, and a carved texture & shino swirl mug by Stephanie! Both wonderful additions to my ever-overflowing Mug Collection!

As part of the final class of my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class at Lillstreet, I had challenged them to bring two matching mugs for a fun “trading-exchanging-stealing” game! I made my mugs for the game… although I couldn’t make it to the final class as I was at ART IN THE GARDEN.

My substitute teacher Chelsea covered the class, and they all decided to trade the mugs – but to mix up the pairs so people would get two different mugs by two different people! Looks like Stephanie got one of mine!!!

Looks like another mini vase found a great use at a good home.
So fun to see these cutie-patooties making their way out into the world! If you think you might “need” one or two… I just uploaded a bunch of them into My Online Pottery Store on my blog. Here’s the link… http://firewhenreadypottery.com/my-online-pottery-store/

Perfect for TEXTURE TUESDAY!
It’s always fun to see student work on the carts at Lillstreet where your “influence” can be seen! Darcy took my online stamp-making workshop a couple months ago… and has clearly been giving her new stamps a little workout! These look GREAT Darcy!!! Keep it up… but be careful, it’s a VERY slippery slope!!!

Looks like Sarah and I are not the only ones doing a little re-planting… Diane bought a terra cotta flower pot at ART IN THE GARDEN specifically for her eucalyptus plant. Looks great, looks happy in its new home… but I must admit, I don’t know that I’ve EVER seen a living eucalyptus plant.

Odd… they’re always dried bundles?!

When I was re-planting the larger succulent, this little guy was kinda wedged in under the other one! So I separated them to give this one a little more breathing room! Loving the little red tips & accents… maybe they’ll get more prominent now that it’s out of the shadow of the bigger one???

Inspired by Sarah’s recent “non-collaboration” succulent plantings… I decided to replant a new succulent for my window too! Luckily, I had a large flower pot all ready to go. Can’t wait for this new one to grow into its pot!

Looks like my friend Sarah has done a little succulent re-planting! Loving the line-up of my stamped & soda-fired flower pots… sure, they were intended for a “collaboration” between us. But after a “couple” years of collecting dust in her studio… it’s good to see they’ve come out of retirement with a wonderful solution!!! Beautiful Sarah… and I still love the ONE piece that came out of that original project!!! HA!!!