So last night I watched Kristen Kieffer’s new DVD about surface decoration.
Chapter One dealt with stamping… which you know I love. But one of her techniques
includes stamping that “bulges” and alters the shape a bit more than I’m used to.
And since I had some “plain” bowls waiting for some stamping… I thought I’d give it a try.
I like the result… however, I really want to make a few new stamps to go a little further
and “explore” the possibilities a little more! Thank you Kristen for the inspiration…

So I loaded another electric bisque kiln tonight before class. I love loading kilns.
It’s like a three-dimensional, spatial-relationship puzzle trying to fill every space,
fit it all together and get as much in as possible! The beauty of a bisque kiln is that you can
carefully stack the greenware to optimize the spacing in the kiln. I always do good
at the bottom layer, but it always seems tougher as you get towards the top and start to
run out of “options” and no more smaller pieces to squeeze in. I hate leaving open spaces.
It seems like a waste of space. I should have made more!

Layer One: All mugs!

Layer Two: More mugs, bowls and berry bowls…

Layer Three: Bowls, berry bowls, berry bowl plates… and a couple mugs!

Layer Four: Plates… and my new butter dish “prototypes”!!!

A lot of little plates thrown today… hopefully I’ll get them all trimmed tomorrow?!

And hopefully… everyone will want to buy a ceramic berry bowl this Spring!!!
So today I spent the day at the studio turning the stamped bowls into berry bowls.
I trimmed the foot, then pierced the bottom with drainage holes. Once they were done,
I needed to find a place to let them dry… so I used “The Annex.”

“The Annex”… which is my friend Karen Patinkin’s empty studio which I so kindly refer to
as “The Annex” every time I need to “sneak” in and borrow her empty table top. So while
she’s off traveling somewhere in Timbuktu (literally) and won’t be back for awhile. It’s the
perfect place for me to dry the berry bowls! She’ll never know… unless she reads my blog?!

So now that they are drying… I need to make the saucer to go under each one!
Small plates with the same fluted rim treatment – no stamping, just keeping ’em simple!

Also, I have found another great tool for making the holes in the bottom well-spaced and even.
I used to just guess visually and hope for the best. Some would work, some would be a little
wonky. This simple plastic disc has made all the difference in the world. They come in different
sizes, but this little size works great for me. It came as a set of two… one disc is divided into
even-numbered segments, the other disc is divided into odd-numbered segments. There are
little holes in the plastic to help mark the pot with even spacing before you actually go in
to cut the holes. Evenly spaced every time!

If you’re interested in getting your own disks, they cone from MKM Pottery Tools.
Phone (920) 205-2701 – or e-mail to:  mkmtools@sbcglobal.net

Well, here it is, finally… ceramic artist Kristen Kieffer has created her very first
instructional DVD showcasing her incredible surface decoration techniques.
I’ve been a fan of her intricate work for a long time, and just purchased my DVD
this morning. I can’t wait to get it…

To purchase your own copy, go to FilmBaby.com and search for Kristen Kieffer.
Or just click here!

As the summer art fair season comes looming ever closer, day by day, week by week…
I’m trying to get a head start on my studio production. Focusing on producing more work
instead of lollygagging and letting the days slip by. So tonight I stopped in the studio
to stamp all of the bowls I threw on Wednesday. They were a little damp, but I stamped
anyway… sadly, too wet to trim. That will have to wait until tomorrow…

So… on the first night of my Beginning Wheelthrowing class, I asked my students
what they hoped to get out of class. What they wanted to learn. What they wanted
to make. One of my brand new beginners said she wanted to make a butter dish.
I explained to Abby that they are typically handbuilt, and not wheelthrown…
but I was willing to take on the challenge! Last night, we tackled the butter dish!

But before I could teach it… I had to learn how to make them myself!
I had never made them before and questioned how to make them “my own.”
So with some measurements, some textures and some basic handbuilding skills…
these are the first two! The first “prototypes” now in the drying stage.

By the way… Abby made her first butter dish last night – and was VERY excited!!!

After another great class last night with my “not-so-beginners-anymore”…
where we played with some stamping, faceting, texturing and had some more fun with slip…
we even made slip squiggles in our bowls. So in the studio today, I continued to “squiggle”
and made a few more bowls!

With the mugs drying on my rolling cart, my studio worktable was empty.
The perfect chance to spread out some of my reclaim clay to let it dry up a bit
on a large plaster bat. So here it is… my big gooey pile of clay!

All of my trimmings & dried clay scraps are stored in a large bin covered in water.
Over time, the dried clay pieces absorb the water and “slake” down into a slimey sludge.
Mix it up a couple times, add some more dried clay scraps, some more water. Waiting for
the time when my worktable would be clear for the plaster bat. The sloppy clay is scooped
out onto the plaster bat which will help absorb the moisture.

So this big mound of gooey mess will sit for a few days until it is back to clay consistency.
The a little wedging… okay, a lot of wedging… and I’ve got a lot of new clay again!!!
Ready to make more pots with my newly reclaimed, recycled & ready-to-throw clay.

After a lengthy “hiatus” from the studio while remodeling my bathroom…
the mug cylinders I had thrown before renovation began had “a little bit of a wait”
for handles & slip. Going in just to spray them now & again… trying to keep them
feasible… keeping them moist so I could finish them off. For about three weeks!!!

The bathroom project is finally finished… and tonight I finished the mugs!
Now they just need a couple days to dry… then into a bisque kiln…