I finally had a chance to get back into the studio and try out a few press plates I purchased from Shayla Marsh. There are two different styles, and the first is a true press plate system made up of two pieces. The outer piece is used to cut the shape and acts as a guide for centering, while the inner piece is used to press the form. Working with these has me dreaming about buying a laser cutter so I could make custom shapes of my own. Every time I start looking into it, though, I remember both the cost and the reality that designing all those forms would probably turn into an entirely new hobby.

So here I am using the outer templates to lay out and cut the shapes from my slab. I used a needle tool to carefully trace around each form before removing the excess clay.


Here are all of the cut pieces laid out on the board, ready for the next step in the process.


This photo shows the two pieces together on top of the clay shape. The outer guide allows the inner press to be positioned perfectly in the center. Normally I estimate placement by eye and use my thumbs as a guide, but this method is much more precise and gives more consistent results.


Once everything is aligned, I carefully remove the outer guide, making sure not to shift the inner press off center.


Next comes the fun part. I press down onto a piece of foam, which allows the clay to sink and form the raised edges of the plate. This particular piece of foam is my dedicated dark-clay foam. I keep a separate one for white clay to avoid any unwanted staining or contamination.


And here is the finished piece, freshly formed and ready to begin the drying process.

I recently purchased GR Pottery's Wallie Crescent Moon. I liked the shape, but I really wanted to know if they would fit together in a larger pattern - which they do. How cool would this be as a lazy susan centerpiece?

This goblet was first in Annie's cups class and then we practiced it at the workshop. I really love this form. I think I want to alter it slightly, but I love the s-curve shape and the elevated foot.

This was made with another new Mugg Plugg, I think it's the 942. However, when cutting the form I messed up. It was too big then I was cutting on the fly and made it too small at the top. I made lemons from lemonade and made this little v-shape. I like it. I am worried that it will not have fit for purpose though and is too small and will tip over. We will see once it comes through glaze firing.

Still playing with a puki foot and designing a new bowl around it. These are the same dimensions except one is taller than the other. I feel like this is a nice serving bowl, or a bowl for a lot of ice cream. I plan on making a few more. I think I might also try to create a lid for for a jar in the future.


I was looking at this one drying and decided to try it out as a yarn bowl. I think it's deep enough. I forgot how difficult it is to carve the swirly thing.

Practicing my puki techniques as well as trying out a new Mugg Plugg.

This first one is with a puki bottom slightly raised.


This one is the Mugg Plugg TCC which has a curved bottom. I'm not sure I really got the curve feel to it. I'm going to have to try this one a few more times.




I do really like the puki bottom.

I had the opportunity to go to a workshop with Annie Chrietzberg at the Village Potters Guild in Plymouth, MI. It was a fantastic experience.

I first learned of Annie through Clayshare and had taken a few online workshops with her over the past few years. One that I would highly recommend is her January cups class which over the last few years has gone through her entire repertoire of cups.

There were two things I was really looking to get out of the class and I feel like I made progress on both. The first was how to use a puki. The puki is a way to create a footring on a hand built object. The second is hollow handles.

I've been in Michigan weekly for work for over a year now so all I had to do was drive a bit. The Village Potters Guild is a lovely little studio that I wish was closer to where I was working. Everyone there was so helpful. The food was some of the best I've ever had at a workshop. All in all it was a great two days. We managed to make 5 projects in the two days.




Technically I was supposed to make one of Annie's squirrels, but mine really wanted to be a sheep :)

In my last post I showed the stein I made from the templates I purchased last year. There were two steins, but then there was one. I actually attempted these two goblets first. However, I bailed on the stem. I really like them as rocks glasses.




The second two worked out well. I think I would make the base just a bit larger next time, but I'm pleased with these. I think I need to keep practicing both of these forms.

Late last year I bought a set of patterns for barware from Studio BDU.

I started with the Stein because that seemed like a good one to start with. I took this picture and look at the two amazing cups! Ok not amazing, but they worked. I learned a lot doing these two. The most important lesson I learned was to not attach the bottom to the cup before doing the stem.


The second most important lesson I learned was not to fiddle with the bottom (it had a wobble) when it was already past leather hard. Bummer.

I have no idea where I found the template for this (or I would give them credit). I printed it probably a year ago and only cut it out over the holidays. It's made with a single piece of clay that gets wrapped around itself to produce this bird. Took me a couple of tries to get the hang of it. And one bit the dust with some over zealous wiping, but I think it turned out pretty cute. I'm going to glaze it white and let the speckles shine through.

In the very near future I will start to stress about getting ready for spring shows, but right now I'm experimenting. Over the holiday I treated myself to a few Little Chip Extruder Dies.

I played with one of the basket weave dies and made a few baskets. I tried two as hump (over) and one as a slump (inside). Overally the hump was a little easier and it dried faster.

I decided not to put feet on this, but that means I won't be able to glaze the bottom. I think they're too large/heavy to stilt so I may regret this decision later, but I couldn't come up with a foot that didn't look weird. They have to make it to bisque, but so far I love how they've started.




This one was a hump. I have two more forms like this that are bigger that I think I will try next.




This one was a slump. I love the handles.




This one was a hump. I wish I had put handles on it. I thought about it as soon as I flipped it over, but I hadn't saved any clay.

Finally had some time to use my crochet texture plates. I was hoping for a little more definition, but this is definitely headed in the right direction. I'm learning a lot of it has to do with how well I roll in the texture while its on the plate. With this texture I can't really belly out the mugs much so I'm going to experiment with different shapes to see what works best.