Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class we all tackled stamping as their technique-du-jour! Not only did I bring down my pre-made bowls for them to play with… but I also brought some of my own handmade stamps! So we talked about some fun stamping techniques… and then I set them loose to do their own stamping!!!

Adding a little texture, pattern & design to a large platter… using one of my handmade clay stamps. Pressed into the rim of the platter one stamp at a time… one by one… by one… by one…

Always fun when you walk into start teaching your Intermediate Wheel class… and two of your students are already busy working on their pots! Looks like I’ve taught them well… perhaps too well?… seems my work here is done! (mic drop)

Stamping mugs again… using my own handmade clay stamps to make the impressions. I press them in when the clay is a soft-leatherhard. Still a little malleable, but not at all sticky. If the pots dry out too much, the stamp won’t go in deep enough to make a good impression.

MUG 1 –

MUG 2 –

MUG 3 –

MUG 4 –

MUG 5 –

MUG 6 –

MUG 7 –

MUG 8 –

MUG 9 –

Next up we need to do some trimming… carving out a footring on the bottom! Then a few handles… and voila’... soon we’ll have more mugs!!!

Trying to get a few more things done in the next two weeks… throwing, stamping, firing, glazing, firing… before the GLENVIEW SUMMER ART FAIR on July 30th & 31st. So I did a little stamping on another large platter. Here it is from the start… row after row… one stamped impression at a time!

I mean… one row is nice… but two might be better…

So why not go for a third row of stamps???

And if three rows are good… lets go one row further!!!

Looks like there’s just enough room left for one more row of stamps…. so let’s go for it!

Spent a little time in the studio this afternoon “finishing up” some of my recent class demo pieces. This was a request from my Intermediate Class to make a large two-part stacked piece. Kelly requested a planter… but I kinda think this landed somewhere “between” planter & vase?! I stuck with planter… and added drainage holes and threw a water trip tray today to go with it.

Stamping flower pots with my own handmade clay stamps…
one impression at a time… over & over & over…

Stamping up another platter… one handmade stamp pressed in over & over again… one by one by one… So much more fun that a plain, smooth plate!

As part of tonight’s Stamping Demo on ZOOM, I demonstrated on four different bowls adding a bit of texture & pattern to each of them. Here are the four demo bowls… followed by a few details shots, as well as pictures of the stamps that worked their magic!

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Tonight I did my stamping demo on ZOOM as part of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. We had a great time, answered a lot of questions, covered a lot of topics and stamped a couple bowls along the way! We thought it would be maybe 20 minutes… turned out a bit longer… almost a full hour longer!!! Like I said, we covered a LOT!!!

As part of the Pottery Tour, they’re hosting free demos by several of the Potters… all you need to do is register for free on the website! More of demos tomorrow – www.northernilpotterytour.com