Trying to keep busy… replenishing the inventory on some of the “basics”!

Well, tonight was the last night of our Winter session at Lillstreet Art Center.
The students are busily finishing up their class projects… and sharing some potluck
fun during the class. So while we were all hanging out, I noticed Nadine busily
carving away on a few of her pieces. She’s been in my class for a few sessions and
has recently become quite prolific. She’s a full-time lawyer looking for some fun
creative escape.  I think she would love to  make a change… and with her latest
carving & decorating adventures, I think she might be well on her way!

I especially love these sculpted pieces. Instead of carving patterns & textures, Nadine
decided to add some sculptural pieces on these cups. The frog mug is wonderful with
an amphibian on each side. I’m so excited to see these beautifully carved frogs on her pots…
instead of the mold-pressed, detail-free, same-old, same-old frogs that have been on some
other pots around Lillstreet for far too many years! At some point, I would have expected
those mold-pressed frogs to evolve into something better. Apparently not. But I am
SO EXCITED that Nadine is on a much better track already with her wonderful frogs!

I LOVE how that one frog is hanging on to the top rim of the mug!
And I can’t wait to see how she decides to glaze them! Hop to it Nadine!!!

More clay. More throwing. More pots. More fun in the studio.
Stamped and waiting to be trimmed! I love when you can throw ’em and dry ’em
enough to stamp them all in one day!

By now you should know that I love making ovals… so here’s the latest batch!
First as simple bottomless cylinders… then shaped, bottomed & decorated.

I’ve often thought that there had to be a better way to put holes in my berry bowls.
It finally dawned on me to bring in my power drill to do the holes. Yeah, it took me
long enough to figure that one out, right?!

With a little planning and some simple marks for spacing, the power drill was so much
quicker & a whole lot cleaner!!! When I used to push the hole punch tube through the
leatherhard clay I would always get these crazy burs and rough clay edges.
With the drill… not so much. I can’t believe it took me so long…

One of the worst parts about throwing 30 cylinders to become mugs…
is that at some point you need to pull 30 handles and attach 30 handles.
Today was the day.

Score. Slip. Attach. Repeat.
Score. Slip. Attach. Repeat.

Tonight was week #9 of my beginning wheelthrowing class. Only one more week!
They have all of the basic skills and are busy working & making pots!

So tonight I thought it would be great to surprise them all with a wonderful surface
decoration demonstration by my friend & potter Amy Higgason. Amy has been in town
for the weekend, and after her Trunk Show on Friday, we thought it would be fun for her
to do a demo for my class. So Amy threw a few pots last Friday, trimmed ’em today
and set off carving them tonight! A special treat for my students.

Amy started her demo with a discussion of the tools she uses… a few simple tools
that make a wide range of textures & patterns. Some of them actual ceramic tools,
while others are found items like a broken TV antennae! She then started in on her
demonstration of how she decorates a simple bowl.
Yeah, well it started out simple anyway…

Suddenly, not so simple of a bowl any more!!!

Then she moved on to a small creamer pitcher. A quick trick of cutting a vase shape to make
the spout. A little wetting, sponging, finessing and shaping to create the spout. After the spout
is formed, she then set in to the carving & decorating of this piece.

Amy then showed my class how she makes her leaf-shaped handles out of a slab.

And then in Amy World, a pitcher can’t be just a pitcher… it needs a saucer to sit on too!
And not just any saucer, but an over-the-top, decoratively carved plate!!!

And then to close out the evening, I surprised Amy with a birthday cake
to help celebrate her big day. Nothing says birthday like a big chocolate cake!!!

So let me send out a quick Thank You again to Amy Higgason for sharing her talents
& creativity with us. I’m sure my students were inspired and will be incorporating some of
her techniques into their work. I know I enjoyed Amy’s time here this weekend,
and I hope she had some fun with us celebrating her big birthday!

After yesterday’s productive day of throwing…
Today was another productive day of stamping & trimming.
And yes, all bowls & mugs are stamped. As well as another 25 pounds of freshly
thrown pieces that I did this morning that are also now stamped & trimmed.

Next up… looks like I need to make a few handles for the mugs, huh?!
As well as punching drainage holes to make these into berry bowls.
Oh, and then they need small drip plates too… always more work to do!!!

After I had moved all of my clay around… sweaty & exhausted…
I decided it was time to get busy. So I wedged up a bunch of clay and got down to business.

Lucky for me, my studio neighbor Karen is out of town for two weeks…
and she left her studio table wide open & clear – perfect for me to use for MY new pots!!!
Looks like tomorrow there’s going to be a lot of stamping & trimming?!

So my day in the studio started with me moving around a LOT of clay.
I had to organize all the boxes & bags of clay strewn about my studio.
And then I had to move up my most recent clay purchase from the loading dock.

It was a lot of work & sweat. Moving everything around in my studio. But once it was done,
it looked great. And I just kept telling myself that it was “thirty boxes of potential.”