Lots of pottery making and smiling have been happening at the studio. Here's what's going in and out of the kiln.
Leigh Ann is drawn to mandalas. I did a blog post of the first one we made together when I announced that classes would begin again. This time we started with a bit of image research. Once a pattern was found, I taught her how to transfer the pattern onto the clay and then, how to do the cuerda seca glaze technique I use on my work.
Once a pattern was selected we transferred it to the tile using basic geometry, glazed, and fired it to a colorful ending.
Here the two are fine tuning their work.
In the next class, I taught two friends how to make squish plates, an easy, fun, and very successful project that's perfect for beginners. Using a soft slab of clay you impress objects into the clay and create patterns. Using a mold you cut the shape of the plate out, place the clay and the form on a thick piece of foam, then squish the form and clay into the foam. Voila! You've got a plate that only needs a bit of attention around the edges. When the first firing was finished, also know as the bisque firing, I glazed them white and put them in the kiln for the final firing. Here they are.
One used elements of nature, gathered from outside the studio. The other used stamps I had carved out of clay.
In the image on the left, we modified an acorn top by sanding and cutting its stem down, the resulting circular pattern looks like a dandelion. The plates on the right were done with stamps I had made for previous classes.
Happy student with her first clay project.
My next pair of friends wanted to make birdhouses. Even I can't make a birdhouse in three hours, the allotted class time. Instead, we made mini houses that were easily finished in one class. They learned the skills needed to do bigger projects while making a successful smaller one. Everybody liked them so much they'll be coming back for another class to learn how to glaze them.
I drew one of the tiles but she glazed both of them.
Another approach is what this mother and daughter duo did. In advance of the class, I knew that the daughter wanted to make a mug and the mom wanted to decorate tiles. I had prepared pieces ahead for them and we had a pleasant afternoon glazing and chatting.
It was also a really lovely day and the studio was bathed in sunshine and light.
The chemistry between these two was lovely to experience.
The finished mug.