We have an extruder that is like a giant cookie press. You put a die into it and a lump of clay and with considerable effort out comes a pre-formed bit of clay. In my case I took a couple of bits of extruded tube and made a vase and a little pitcher. I call these my Dr. Seus pieces because they are a little off kilter (that's the way the tubes came out of the extruder) and then the texture is whimsical too.
Next I took a class where we made a round 'planter'. It was warm and the humidity was low and we all had problems getting these together before they were so dry that they cracked. Then I decided to experiment with some glazes and frankly I view this to be the ugliest thing I've made.
But as a result I got it into my head to make two smaller ones to go with it. They turned out much better so while the first one will make a good door stop, the next too have pride of place on a bookcase.
Meanwhile, I got it into my head to make Walter a pencil cup. It's not perfectly round by it's not a bad first stab at making something round. And it goes with his pill box really well too.
All summer long people had been making vases using round lace placemats for texture. A new placemat came in that was wonderful and I had some red clay left so I made one too. Then in March 2020, I took this and taught the folks at Rancho Resort how to make them too.
The last class of the season we made a wonderful stylish mug.
