So MY part of the collaboration is done! Now it’s up to Cheryl to match-up her paintings to go with my soda-fired picture frames. I can’t wait to see how she pairs them up. I love her paintings… and I hope they “play well” with my frames! We’ll each be selling collaborations in our booths at ART IN THE BARN.

Making masks to bring a smile to your face! Ceramic masks to hang on the wall… textured, color slipped and almost ready for this weekend’s soda-firing! Too bad this don’t normally get to come out to play at art fairs… no place to hang them in my tent. But hopefully some of them will make an appearance at ART IN THE BARN this year as I have some walls to hang them on!

With some new textures & patterns thanks to my new Stodola rolling pins!

Caught by the teeniest sliver of sun through dining room blinds.
Slab-Wheel Combo Mugs ready & waiting for this Saturday’s Holiday Home Show!!!

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Last minute masks racing towards this weekend’s soda firing. Textures & colored flashing slips should look a lot better after soda-firing. Come see the finished pieces at my Holiday Home Show… always the weekend before Thanksgiving.

A little side-by-side duo action…

This past Saturday, I substituted for another wheelthrowing intermediate class…
and showed them all how to make the textured slab & wheelthrown combo mugs.
So here’s another batch from class that I will dip in a thin flashing slip, dry, bisque fire
and then send through my next soda kiln!

After last Tuesday night’s bowl demo, I had a table full of bowls to continue working on.
Sure, I could have left them as they were…. but why would I do that?!
Instead, I did a bit of stamping, texturing and detailing. So now my “not-so-basic-bowls”
are even less basic than they were after the throwing demo in class.

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I began my Tuesday evening by throwing a lot of cylinders in my studio. I had a plan…
I was on a mission… and my wheelthrowing class was going to be starting soon!

So I received a package of few carving tools in the mail awhile back… so exciting!!!
And I’m always telling my students to experiment, to try new things, to break out of their shells. To remember that it’s JUST CLAY!!! But I get it… my Beginners are working so hard to make each and every cylinder. It’s a lot of work. A lot of centering & focus. So much so that each piece is somehow considered “too precious” to experiment with. So tonight I plan to test them… to push them a bit… to show them that it’s NOT so precious. I figured if I provide them with already thrown cylinders, all of the “hard part” is done, right?

So I threw a bunch of cylinders and brought the down to class with me. I explained my “not-so-precious” texture & surface decoration challenge to them. I encouraged them each to do anything they wanted to the surface of their cylinder. To carve, slip, stamp, whatever!!! Just have fun… and see what happens with their new-found “freebie” not-so-precious cylinder!!! And here they go…

After class, I did a little “photo shoot” in my studio before they started to dry.

SO HERE”S YOUR CHALLENGE : Can you guess which ones are mine?!

Special thanks to Robert at C.I. Products for sending me a little “care package” of tools to try out. I’ve been kind of busy through the holidays… and finally found some time to try them out. And why not share my new tools with my students?! These Zebra Trimming Tools are pretty darn amazing. They took us a little while to get used to them. The blades are at a different angle than Kemper Tools…. and adjustable!!! The wood is so lightweight… and the foam grip pretty sweet too. But it’s really the extra-sharp blades that cut such a smooth clean line with nice line definition. I definitely look forward to using them more in my own work. Seeing what kinds of great textures & patterns I can come up with using these great new Zebra Tools!!! Thanks again Robert… your tools are GREAT!

Click here to see the wide assortment of tools from C.I. Products.
Or here to go straight to the Zebra Trimming Tools.
You’ll be glad you did… especially those of you who are carving crazy cool patterns, making cool textures and doing a lot of sgraffito or mishima.

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So many stamps. So many patterns. So many possibilities.
And just for the record, I have over six tool boxes just like this one
full of my handmade stamps!!!