Another scenic stop along the lake… to see a wacky “forest” of colored trees!
Orange on the bottom, yellow on the top! A wonderful winter installation against the snow.
There’s about a hundred of these great trees creating this colorful “forest” along
Lake Shore Drive, just south of Lincoln Park Zoo at the south end of the lagoon!

With the sun shining today, it was a great day for another bike ride along the lake.
A little chilly, but at least the bike trail was relatively dry. So with several layers on,
I set out for a great bike ride along Lake Michigan. Only to find… glaciers?!

To celebrate this not-so-special holiday, I spent the day with my “significant other”…

I was very excited to get an e-mail the other day from Kristen Kieffer.
Not only did she announce that she will soon be publishing her first instructional DVD…
which I will need to add to my collection as soon as it’s published. But it also
said that she’ll be coming to the Chicago area for a two-day workshop in September!

It’s already on my calendar. I can’t wait to see her working and showing off her technique.
She’s the queen of elegant stamping, beautiful slip trailing and other surface decorations!
Still a summer away, but something great to look forward to – September 22-23, 2010.

As I was writing the past couple posts, I was reminiscing about some of the potters
I’ve met over the years. In particular, the workshops I’ve attended that were taught
by “famous” potters. Being kind of new to the clay scene, I was impressed that the people
teaching were also the one’s showing their work in the gallery at Lillstreet Art Center.
Let alone, the potters you see in the pages of Ceramics Monthly. Clay rock stars!

Each workshop takes on a different tone – based on each artist and their perspective.
The very first one I went to was also left the biggest impression – Julia Galloway.
I had seen many of her pieces in the gallery, very detailed, elaborate and intricate.
Beautiful formed porcelain, altered, attached, carved, inscribed, drawn, glazed, etc.
I thought it a bit little too-“foofy” for my personal taste, but amazing & inspiring nonetheless.
So I signed up for the workshop… a little apprehensive because I thought it would
all be WAY over my head. I was still just a beginner.

But as soon as she introduced herself and started her shpiel… I was mesmerized!!!
I’m always intrigued & inspired by people who are truly eloquent, passionate about life
and can express their personality through the words the choose. Julia is one of those!
The workshop was incredible – a little beyond my skill level, but I could have just sat there
and listened to her talk. I had my first pottery crush.

So a few years later, when I found out that she would be coming back to Lillstreet for
another workshop, I was right there, the first one volunteering to be her workshop assistant.
So not only did I get to hang out with her, listen to her musings, assist during her workshop,
but I also got to help her set-up her gallery exhibit – and go out to dinner! But I digress…

The coolest part of her gallery exhibit was her new “installation” of tumblers.
A not-so-simple grid of 112 tumblers. Each placed on the right shelf. Each in its place.
Here’s the cool part… when they were all in place, and you stepped back to look…
it created one large glazed image on all of the tumblers. And oh, but wait there’s more…
if you turned all of the tumblers around 180-degrees, the same image would appear
but this time in a simple line drawing, not colorfully glazed! Crazy, I know…

As I have been cleaning, organizing & labeling my collection… I’ve been reminiscing
about the potters I’ve met. Some of the “Clay Rock Stars”… Julia Galloway being the first.
One of the favorites. And I got a couple of her beautiful tumblers as a souvenir…

So, like I mentioned in the last post, my Mom & I labeled my pottery collection.
Yep, we placed the name of each artist on the bottom to identify them.
Surprisingly, not every artist signs their work with an “identifiable” marking?!
I knew most, remembered a few, had to do some online searching for others…
but still can’t identify this one?! Any ideas of who this artist is?

Seems pretty easy… seems like the signature is pretty easy to read…
but I can’t find any confirmation anywhere. A friend of mine bought it for me.
Good use of sgraffito for the carved design. Nice grid… nice textures… kinda like my tiles!

As many of you know, I have been collecting mugs for several years now.
All handmade, one-of-a-kind ceramic masterpieces!!! Never been used…
Yes, sad, I know… but it makes for a fun collection. And for the word “mug”…
I use a loose interpretation that includes, cups & saucers, teabowls, tumblers, etc.
I’m not a mug snob… any one can play!

During my recent bathroom remodeling project, my mom and I took some time
to clean & organize the kitchen… which includes the mug collection shelves.
So we went through, dusted the shelves, washed the mugs… and labeled them all too!

Mugs made by my “talented friends.” Mugs by former teachers & studio mates.
Mugs from workshops I’ve attended. Some I’ve just purchased because I loved ’em!

From top to bottom, left to right…
Amy Higgason, Julia Galloway (2), Jeff Oestreich, Kathleen Guss & Stephen Robison,
Steve Lee, Kristen Kieffer, Christa Asaad (2), Suze Lindsay, Allison McGowan, Matt Metz,
Allegheny Meadows (2), Autumn Cipala, Julie Johnson, Shannon Blakey, Ellen Shankin,
Michael Corney, Margaret Bohls, Aaron Nelson, Simon Levin, Matt Metz, Jeff Oestreich,
Ellen Shankin, Katie Biderbost, Xiaosheng Bi, Steven Hill, Sam Clarkson, Cynthia Siegel,
Steve Lee, Cheryl & Ron Husby, Ernest Miller and Malcolm Davis.

Now don’t get me wrong… this is by no means the entire collection!
For those of you who have been to my place, you know that there are lots of “things”
everywhere to see. Things here… things there… a collection here… a collection there..
I have hopes of some day soon installing a new shelving system in my living room
that would hold around a hundred mugs. Until then, some mugs have been “displaced”
and forced to “live” somewhere else… over doorframes, fireplace mantle shelves, etc.
And still… there’s always room for more!!!

Last night was the kick-off of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics… and I loved it.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of watching sports… that is until the Olympics roll around.
The human drama. The competition. The one-shot-at-making-your-dreams-come-true!
Much better than those professional athletes making millions of dollars for just showing up!
Every time, my favorite part is the Opening Ceremonies. And last night was great.
The excitement. The colors. The pageantry. The emotion. The visual creativity.

It started out a little slow, with four “frozen” totem poles and introductions of the local tribes
of Canada… ho hum… and then they introduced the official Olympic people… again, boring.
I was getting a little concerned. But then it kicked in… and the pageantry began. With a much
smaller budget than Beijing, I think they did a wonderful job. With a lot of lighting, a lot of
dancing, and a lot of projections on white fabric… they created a masterpiece of imagery
as they “toured” the Canadian countryside. From the mountains & prairies… from sea
to shining see. Trees sprouted out of nowhere. Mountains rose from the arena floor.
Prairie grasses waving. Snowboarders skiing from the ceiling. Snow. Leaves. A polar bear.
And a school of whales seemingly “swimming” across the floor spouting water as they
“crested” the ocean’s surface… which was actually the floor?… but appeared to be water?…
but wasn’t?… thanks to the magic of huge floor-covering LED lighting panels. Not to mention
the rockin’ violinists & cloggers who danced with sparks shooting out of their heels!!!

Everything was magical, the excitement and spirit of the Olympics was definitely there to get
the party started. Until the “technical difficulty”… at the climactic moment when all eyes are
upon the four Canadian sports legends holding the Olympic Flames… waiting… and waiting…
for the four supports for the Olympic Flame to rise from the floor… and waiting… as only
three of them came up – and after waiting anxiously, they went ahead with just the three!
The flames were finally lit, and then Wayne Gretsky went out to light the outdoor version
of the Olympic Cauldron… without hesitation, without drama, without technical difficulties!

Typically the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are a little less than impressive.
Compared to what they pull out for the Summer version, Winter pales by comparison.
Even without the fresh memories of the spectacular opening in Beijing last summer.
Possibly, the most incredible thing I have EVER seen on television!!! All in all, I think
Vancouver made a valiant effort in the painful “Beijing Follow-up” position. And now…
let the games begin!!!

I saw this in an e-mail and I had to share…
Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan.
The designs have been cleverly planted. Farmers creating the huge displays
use no ink or dye. Instead, different color rice plants have been precisely and
strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields. As summer progresses
and the plants shot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge.

Rice paddy art was started in 1993 as a local revitalization project, an idea that grew
from meetings of the village committees. The different varieties of rice plants grow
alongside each other to create the masterpieces.

With the mugs drying on my rolling cart, my studio worktable was empty.
The perfect chance to spread out some of my reclaim clay to let it dry up a bit
on a large plaster bat. So here it is… my big gooey pile of clay!

All of my trimmings & dried clay scraps are stored in a large bin covered in water.
Over time, the dried clay pieces absorb the water and “slake” down into a slimey sludge.
Mix it up a couple times, add some more dried clay scraps, some more water. Waiting for
the time when my worktable would be clear for the plaster bat. The sloppy clay is scooped
out onto the plaster bat which will help absorb the moisture.

So this big mound of gooey mess will sit for a few days until it is back to clay consistency.
The a little wedging… okay, a lot of wedging… and I’ve got a lot of new clay again!!!
Ready to make more pots with my newly reclaimed, recycled & ready-to-throw clay.