Both of my classes have been busy making batches of stamps to use on future pots… they still need to be bisqued before the can use them. I wonder where they got this fantastic idea???

As part of the commission project, the request was to make the stamped patterns be geometric shapes chosen by the eventual recipients of the mugs! They’re going to go to the Groom’s bridal party & friends… so they each got to choose their own “favorite” geometric shape. To make that happen, I needed to make some new stamps! Circle. Triangle. Line. Sphere. Hexagon. Circle & Line. Tetrahedron. Shamrock. Toroid… wait, what’s that???

Last week in my SURFACE DECORATION TECHNIQUES class, we tackled the traditional Korean technique of sanggam.

SANGGAM : The delicate technique of sanggam involves etching the desired motifs on the dry clay body and filling in the carved space with black and/or white slip, after which the translucent glaze is applied and the vessel fired.

I wanted to pre-prep my demo piece in advance, so I started by stamping a pattern in a platter made with brown stoneware. I used a few of my pre-existing handmade stamps. To be quite honest… this is my first time ever trying this technique, so I wanted to keep it kinda simple. Maybe more like a “mandala” kind of stamped pattern. I tried to keep it pretty clean & organized… with some “deep” stamps to help with the white slip that was still to come!!!

Tonight in my Beginner’s pottery class, we tackled throwing plates again… and then BY POPULAR DEMAND we made some stamps for them to use next week! It was all their idea… really… I was just there to encourage & teach!!! Let the addiction begin…

After my quick stamping demo, my SURFACE DECORATION students set-off to start stamping their own pieces & the bowls I gave them. So much fun to see them getting their groove on… and adding grooves & textures into the clay! So much fun for all of us… as MORE IS MORE!

A little closer detail of tonight’s quickie bowl stamping session.
The four bowls stamped… and the stamps that did the work!

BOWL ONE –

BOWL TWO –

BOWL THREE –

BOWL FOUR –

So I’ve just finished stamping the newest batch of cylinders… getting one step closer to becoming mugs! Stamping each of the cylinders with my own handmade stamps… one stamped impression at a time… again, and again, and again…

MUG 1 –

MUG 2 –

MUG 3 –

MUG 4 –

MUG 5 –

MUG 6 –

MUG 7 –

MUG 8 –

MUG 9 –

MUG 10 –

So now they’re back under plastic for the night…
as I’m hoping to trim the bottoms tomorrow.

Stamping patterns one indentation at a time… over & over again… to get a repetitive textured pattern all the way around the mug. I like to make my own clay stamps with my own patterns… better than buying someone else’s designs! I don’t sell my stamps… but I do teach my students how to make them & encourage everyone to try.

Starting the New Year with an annual new year tradition for me…
MAKING SOME NEW STAMPS!!!

I mean, it’s not like I don’t already have THOUSANDS of handmade stamps in my studio ready to be used. And yet I feel somehow compelled to make a new batch of stamps every year. Kicking off a new season of pottery production with some new stamps… hoping to find a few “favorites” in the bunch. They need to dry and get bisqued… but then I can’t wait to give them a try!!!

I also make sure to put a different texture design on each end of the stamp. Two stamps in the space of one! Takes up a lot less space in my studio… when you literally have a thousand of these!!! And yes, I do put my name on each one! It’s not a vanity thing… but I do allow my students to use some of them in class and we know how some things “travel” a bit in a classroom situation!

Doing some more repetitive stamping on a couple larger pieces tonight… row by row, layer by layer… one stamp at a time!