Another day of gloopy-gloppy fun at Summer Camp. This group’s third & final day of wheelthrowing… for tomorrow we start trimming, carving, stamping & adding handles. And then Friday they’ll paint all of their masterpieces with colored slip. They will then be fired, glazed in clear & fired again after they’re gone. So the campers will need to come back to pick up their pottery treasures in a couple weeks!

A little Sunday night spruce-up in my studio. I trimmed & slip-painted a few class demo pieces, did some cleaning & pulled out a LOT of reclaimed clay onto my large plaster bat. It’s going to take a couple days for this gloppy pile to dry out a bit before I can start wedging it back into usable clay. But you know it’s my favorite… FREE CLAY!!!

Spent part of this weekend “working” in the studio reclaiming some dried clay. Trimmings, broken pieces & some class demos that “went bad.” Smashing, crushing & pulverizing bone dry clay can be kinda fun. Then I add it to my reclaim bin with slurry & water. Let it soak & slake down… soon enough I’ll turn it out into a large plaster bat. And voila’… FREE CLAY!!!

Balls of clay… with such potential… before & after!

Of course it wasn’t all fun & games in camp… as Isla didn’t quite pull her hair back far enough while throwing at the wheel! Her hair dangling too close to the spinning ball of clay. After several warnings… she ended up with a glop of clay tangled up in her curly locks!!! I gave her three options…

1. scissors

2. wash it out in the gross slop sink

3. let it dry completely and crumble it out later that night at home.

She chose option three… so this chunk dangled in her hair all day!!!
A good reminder for the other kids with long hair… listen to Gary!!!

After summer camp, but before teaching tonight… and I think I can crank out a quick batch of mini bowls. Fingers crossed…

The morning after… trimming scraps ready to toss into my reclaim bucket!

Spending a little time this evening crushing up some of my dried reclaim scraps… trying to make them as small as possible so that they slake down faster in my reclaim bin. Sure, it takes a little effort.. but reclaimed clay is the best! Because it’s FREE!!!

When the classroom reclaim buckets seem to take on a life of their own!!!

Cuteness in the reclaim buckets…
so many fun things popping up around Lillstreet these days!