Overnight the cylinders stiffened up to a “wet” leatherhard state. And since I need to
keep things moving forward, I unwrapped them and started stamping wetter than I’d like!
Here’s a few examples… side-by-side… plain and then stamped!

And here they are… the first batch of new mugs stamped and ready to dry some more.
Hopefully tomorrow I can start trimming, handle attaching & slip decorating!

So the production cycle has begun again…
and by now you might realize that I typically start with my favorite… MUGS!!!
So while my pile of reclaim is settling in & drying up a bit, I broke into a fresh
bag of soda clay to make a new batch of cylinders… soon to become mugs!

It’s time to get back into full production mode… and time for more clay!
And since my reclaim bucket was getting full, it’s also time to reclaim some clay.
Just a couple days of drying on my plaster bat and it should be “reclaimable.”
So it’s just a bit of work, a lot of wedging… and it seems like “free” clay to me!

Tonight we focused on making basic bowls… on purpose!
So instead of “embracing” that cylinder gone bad that happened to turn into a bowl…
this time trying to make a “real” bowl on purpose! And then making it your own!!!
So we made bowls, and then I demonstrated how to make each of them different
with some altered rims & slip decorations.

So I threw ten bowls. All basically the same. Basically round. Basically plain.
The my goal was to overwhelm then all with some quick tricks to make them special!!!

A simple fluted rim… and the basic bowl with a “dragonscale tool” flower in the bottom!

With a flanged rim… and then a flanged & fluted rim.

With a split-rim that I pinched together… and another split-rim that I squared off.

Bad photo… but this one was shaped using a rib that I cut out of an expired credit card.
And then I introduced colored slip as a decorative. Starting with a spiral dragged through!

Slip chattering.. and a slip stencil using a “2” cut out of the newspaper!

So now they’re in my studio, waiting to be stamped, accented & trimmed.
But I’m going to be gone for the weekend for ART DETOUR. So I’ll be wrapping them up
extra tight with soaking wet sponges under the plastic… and hoping that they stay wet!

During the Ravenswood Art Walk today, I was in my studio greeting customers
and making another batch of stamps! I figured if I’m going to be sitting around there
all day, I might as well get something accomplished. I always find it a little tough to
throw on the wheel getting all dirty when there are so many visitors, so many shoppers
and so many “interruptions.”

Instead, I sat there and made another batch of stamps. Not only will I have more patterns
to play with… but I also think that it’s a great demo for the visitors. I think it helps “explain”
that I make my own stamps – and then press them into my pots one-by-one-by-one to
create the textured patterns, surfaces & details.

And for those of you who may have missed it today, the Ravenswood Art Walk continues
tomorrow with artist studios & galleries open all up & down the Ravenswood Corridor!

So my day started out a little better today than yesterday.
Not quite as early. No kiln to unload. No rush to set things up when I got there.
Regardless… I was still a little tired after a late night of glazing & loading.

The fun continued today with more customers, more friends, more family.
And more chocolate shakes!!! Part of the “food court” area of the art fair
is this wonderful trailer from The Malt Shoppe. And over the years I have “trained”
them to make the best chocolate shakes ever! It starts with chocolate ice cream
and chocolate sauce. They mix it up into a shake, add more chocolate and mix again.
And then, just when they think it can’t get any chocolatey-er… I have them mix in
some hot fudge!!! I want the shake to be brown!. I want it to scream “chocolate”!!!
And over the years, they’ve been doing a great job… and this art fair was no exception!
Yesterday I only had one. But today I made up for lost time with three!!!
But who’s counting?!

At the end of the fair, it’s always an “adventure” to pack everything up and drive home.
Somehow even after selling a lot of pots all weekend long, it amazes me every time how
there’s not more empty space in the van?! Still packed. Still full. How does that happen?!

Yet again… after a full day at the art fair, then packing & shlepping it home…
it was back to the studio tonight for more glazing & kiln loading. There was and empty
shelf on the top of my back stack of the kiln. Plus, Corinne said that I could do another
layer or two on the front stack before she puts her sculptures in. So… despite my exhaustion,
I glazed more & loaded more. Until I couldn’t glaze no more…

Today was a very long day.
Not only did it start out very early unloading HOT monsters from the kiln.
And then a full day of chatting & selling pottery at the art fair. But that’s not it.
As if I had endless time, and endless energy… I also needed to go back to the
studio after the art fair to glaze and load part of another kiln! One of my fellow
studio mates is firing a kiln with her sculptural work in it on Tuesday. She offered
me some extra kiln space in her kiln… and you know how I love to fill a kiln!
Nothing pains me more than an “under-packed” kiln!!!

So I seized the moment… took on the opportunity… and pushed myself to work late
in the studio to glaze and pack the back stack of the cone 10 reduction kiln. Corinne
will be loading her work in the front of the kiln. And if all goes well, I’ll have some
new “replenishment” pieces just in time for “ART DETOUR.” Including some more
stamped bowls, tumblers and my new “line” of textured Relic Rattles!

So last night, I stopped by the studio after setting up my Barrington art fair booth.
I knew that my electric kiln full of monsters would still be warm from firing
overnight. And it was still just over 800-degrees. To hot to open… but I just had to!
So I cracked it open about a 1/4-inch with a thin shard. And went home for a quick sleep!

Then this morning, I stopped in on my was out to Barrington for the start of the fair.
When I got in, the kiln was still about 200-degrees hot. Warmer than I would like…
but I didn’t really ave any choice. I had to take them out. I had to take them to the fair.
So there I was, with a thick pair of gloves, carefully unloading another hot kiln!!!
Luckily, they all turned out great… so I pulled out, tried to cool them quickly so I could
pack them out without the foam sheets melting!!! Then it was off to the fair…
with a new collection of festive monsters in tow!

And the newest member in the tribe…

Okay, so it was another long night in the studio.
Frantically painting underglaze… and then spraying a layer of low-fire clear
glaze on them all. Glazing the insides… and bottoms… touch-ups… clean-ups…
Finally getting them all into the kiln around 11:30pm last night. A day late…

So right now… I’m exhausted but pleased that all my monsters are safely
packed away in the kiln firing. Although it’s going to be tight…
counting the hours until they will be fired, cooled and ready to unpack!
And there just aren’t enough hours between now and then…

So tonight I plunged head-first into the underglaze!
My plan was to paint all 72 monsters, cover them in clear glaze and get them into the kiln.
Some may call that a little over-ambitious… but I thought I could do it.

Well, needless to say, it really didn’t go as planned. I got them all painted with underglaze,
but didn’t have time to glaze them. When it got to be 5:00am… I had to throw in the towel,
put the lids back on the underglaze jars and go home for a VERY short nap! So I missed by
scheduled kiln time – luckily there’s a chance I can glaze them tomorrow and get them in
the kiln tomorrow night. So it looks like the “monsters” will be done in time for this
weekend’s art fair, but not a moment sooner!