Last night in our LILLSTREET THOWDOWN class, we started with critiquing the bowls that they had finished after last week’s challenge. Remember, they had each thrown two matching bowls, but then passed one of them down the table to another student to mix it up a bit. The task was to trim & refine both bowls. Fun to see how they each approach the “matching” bowls… and how they’ll inevitably turn out different when finished by different hands.

Congrats to Dana & Tracy for placing & earning points as our Top Two!!!

And while surface decoration was NOT actually part of our challenge parameters…
you know how I LOVE the ones that went just a bit further…. like these four….
because MORE IS MORE!!!

We then started with our throwing challenge for Week Two.
The task was to use 1-1/4 pounds of clay to throw their “most perfect” cylinder… with even wall thickness, straight sides, flat bottom, nice corner inside around the base and a refined rim. They had 10 minutes for that one “perfect” cylinder… so they were all quite focused while throwing!

Once they had that one cylinder done, we regrouped at the table to look at them.
We looked at the technique & results… determining which ones best met the parameters.
I think they all assumed we would be “judging” this cylinder &  awarding points…
but I never quite said that.   Instead…

Part two of the challenge was to take the next hour and throw as many MATCHING cylinders to that first “most perfect one.” I mean… they had “set the standers” by throwing that one “perfect” cylinder, so they should be able to make more, right???

After a very quick hour of throwing… while I ate an entire bag of Garrett Popcorn…
we pulled them all together to look at the matching sets of cylinders.
Some more matching than others.

After looking at all of the cylinders… a whopping total of 74 cylinders in one hour!!!…
we critiqued & counted how many “matching” ones they had. We didn’t count the ones that were taller… or the ones that were wider… or the ones that were just different all over the place!

Congratulations to Christine who came away with seven matching cylinders,
and Jacob who came away with six!

And oh, but wait there’s more!
They all got their next homework assignment… to take their favorite Top Four matching cylinders to turn into MATCHING MUGS! They need to trim, finish and add handles to make four matching mugs, And then decorate them too! Sure, they could decorate them however they wanted to… but what fun would that be for me??? Instead, I decided to make the decoration challenge a bit more challenging. So they need to us at least four of the following five design patterns… stripes, polka dots, plaid, paisley and spiral. So they need to incorporate multiple patterns to complete their set… but each mug can’t match and must be stand-alone beautiful on it’s own. A lot of challenges & parameters for this one. It might be a tough week for my homework-bound students. Can’t wait to see what they bring back to class next Thursday night!

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These are the base cylinders for this year’s Halloween Ghoul character.
It’s a Limited Edition every year, so I only need to make FORTY!!!
Got a few more cylinders to throw…

Okay, now let’s not get crazy…
these are three views of the same cylinders!!! It’s NOT over  a hundred cylinders!!!

Feeling a little uninspired this afternoon… so it’s back to my favorites…
MAKING MORE MUGS!!!

Playing with porcelain and throwing another batch of cylinders
that will soon be stamped, trimmed, handled and MUG-ified!!!

Another batch of cylinders on their way to becoming MUGS!!!
Of course they needed to be stamped… soon to be trimmed and have their handles
attached. Until then… they’re just kinda pretty cylinders!!!

Cylinder #1 –

Cylinder #2 –

Cylinder #3 –

Cylinder #4 –

Cylinder #5 –

Cylinder #6 –

Cylinder #7 –

Cylinder #8 –

Cylinder #9 –

Cylinder #10 –

Cylinder #11 –

Cylinder #12 –

After they had textured their tiles in class… I gave them their next challenge.
I told the that they needed to “choose their favorite tile” of the nine and get rid of the rest. hey could save them or squish them up… either way. And then I told them that with that SAME ONE TOOL and that one chosen tile, they had to translate their two-dimensional tile design onto a three-dimensional cylinder. And they had thirty minutes to complete the challenge!

A quick sense of panic swept across many faces, as they didn’t think they could throw a fresh cylinder and still stamp it when it was freshly-0thrown-wet in the time frame. So then I told them not to worry… as I had already pre-thrown the cylinders for them and they were already dried to the “wetter-side-of-leatherhard” which would be perfect for this challenge!

So again, they had thirty minutes to translate their flat tile design onto their cylinders!

Ummm… carving without a sharp tipped needle tool??

Yes, Ryan broke the tip off his tool and found that there was a thin wire inside
that he could cut with. A very short, very NOT sharp piece of wire!

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So, those wedged balls of terra cotta have been thrown into cylinders.
Just the “base” for a Halloween Ghoul still to come… so now it’s time for some
handbuilding, stylizing, carving, creepifying, and ghoulitizing!

Today’s cylinders all stamped and one step closer…
for tomorrow I’ll trim and add handles!

Kicking off the day with a pile of wedged clay balls…
oh, what to make?… what to make?… why not start with “my favorites”???

A quick batch of soon-to-be-mug cylinders! You know how I LOVE making mugs!!!