After riding to the Chicago Botanic Garden again this afternoon,
I was impressed by this stand of aspen trees as their silver leaves
glistened in the sun with great contrast to the brilliant blue skies.

I also loved the crusty green mosses & lichens growing on the sides
of some of the aspen trees. Love the colors. Love the textures.

Simple. Brilliant. Inspirational.
Go out and have some fun… play outside… play with the moon!

Just so you know, registration is now open for the Fall Session of classes
at Lillstreet Art Center. I will once again be teaching my adult Beginning &
Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class on Tuesday nights from 7:00-10:00pm.
The 10-week session of classes begins on Tuesday, September 14th.
And since this is the Fall Session I can almost guarantee that my class will
once again fill up very quickly. As Fall sets in, people are looking for something
to do… and a fun way to make some holiday presents for their loved ones!

Stop by to register, call Lillstreet Art Center or register online.
www.lillstreet.com

And for you “Dilberts” in the world… or those of you married to a “Dilbert”…
I can guarantee that in the 10-weeks, you’ll make some nice mugs, bowls & more…
and not a single spoon whittled in class! Guaranteed…

So today after camp, I stuck around and worked in the studio.
At first I was planning on going for another bike ride between camp
& my evening adult class, but it was far too hot & humid outside…
and my studio has air conditioning! So made the easy decision to stay
in the cool air and finish up a dozen mugs that were waiting for handles!

Another week. Another group of great kids. And another week of CHESS.
Yep, another week of themes, sculptures, clay and fun. Lots of fun!!!
And this week I also have really great kids – many of which I have had before.
The kids have already decided upon their themes of who is battling who.
Some have “cute” themes like Cats vs. Dogs… or Fruits vs. Vegetables.
Some have “sporty” themes like Baseball vs. Hockey… or Archers vs. Knights.
Some have “geographic” themes like North Pole vs. South Pole.
Some have “nutritional” themes like Good Foods vs. Junk Foods.
Some have “historic” themes like World War II: USA vs. Germany.

But no matter what the theme, they all have a LOT of work ahead of them
crafting all 32 chess pieces out of terra cotta clay. As the week progresses,
they will also start to paint their chess boards and by Friday be painting their
chess pieces with underglazes for more realistic & exciting pieces! But so far…
they’re diligently working to create all of their chess pieces!

Yesterday was a beautiful day… would it have been too much to have two days in a row?!
Apparently yes. Instead, we started the morning with a couple hours of drizzle followed
by a couple hours of strong, gusty winds. Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t like either
one of those conditions. But if I had to choose… I’d much rather have rain than wind.
With rain you might get wet, but you will dry… as will my pots! However with wind…
a strong gust can shake your nerves, shake your tent and shake your pots! Luckily,
we didn’t have any “wind related casualties” but it was a bit un-nerving for a large portion
of the day. Eventually, the sun came out, the wind died down and the swarms of dragonflies
all came back to the lake’s edge. But by the end of the day… the flowers were wilted,
the shelves were covered with a thick layer of dust and my booth neighbor’s husband Scott
was wilted as well… and tried to sneak in a quick nap before the tear-down process began.
Looks like it was a long day for all of us!

At the end of the long day, it’s another art fair done for the season. And another successful
art show in Evanston. It was a lot of fun to see so many of my friends, students and loyal
customers at the fair this weekend.  And it wasn’t quite the perfect weather weekend we
all hope for… but it wasn’t terrible either. Looking back – it could have been a LOT worse!

Next up?… Art In The Barn on September 25th & 26th in Barrington!

Oh yeah…
did I mention the best, most chocolate-iest milk shakes ever?!!! Over the course
of the two day art fair – I had three of them!!! From some small little white trailer called
“The Malt Shoppe” with the nicest “ice cream barristas” ever… they make a great shake.
Of course I had to help “train” them… chocolate milk shake with chocolate ice cream,
chocolate sauce, hot fudge, and if you think you couldn’t possibly add more chocolate – do.
There’s no such thing as too much chocolate in my shake. In fact, if they would just give me
a cup of hit fudge and a straw – I would be a happy kid. I have the palate of a 4-year old.
And even better – they also come out to Barrington in September. Something extra special
and extra chocolatey to look forward to!

Okay, so here’s a little story for you… bear with me…

Think back to Friday morning… as I was trying to pull together some art fair packing
before I needed to rush off to Summer Camp. I was down in my storage room pulling
out my booth shelves… counting to make sure I had enough to create my usual
booth layout. Number of shelves – check. Number of corners – check. Number of
semi-circle tables – check. Number of uprights – check. Number of corner posts… ONE?!
Uh oh… I need TWO to set up my booth. Two posts… not just one!

Of course, as I was now running late for Summer Camp and starting to panic,
I scanned the storage room quickly but found it nowhere. I know we’ve had a lot of
service people in the building doing some plumbing, construction and door installation.
Now I don’t want to blame anyone, but of course I feared that one of them may have taken
the post and “re-purposed it” for some other project. And now I’m out of luck.

Knowing that I had to get to Summer Camp, and knowing that I had to pack-up and
start setting up my art fair booth immediately after camp – there wasn’t much time to
resolve my dilemma. So I sent out a quick e-mail to people in my building who may have
had access, or responsible for any of the service people, to see if any of them had seen
the missing corner post. Of course, no one did. And of course… it is also quite likely that
I could have left it anywhere… at the last art fair, leaning against a tree somewhere, etc.
I wasn’t blaming anyone… I just needed to find the corner post!!! I needed it for the art fair!!!

I got to camp and was a little distracted at first – still worried about the corner post.
Still not sure what I was going to do… I guess some how rearrange the layout and somehow
jerry-rig the “corner” with two sets of shelves bungee corded together or something?!

But then… about a half hour into camp… my next door neighbor Melanie called.
She didn’t know where the post was, but the did have their construction guys there
for their bathroom remodel… and they were willing to make me a brand new post!!!
So that when I got home from camp it would be done and waiting for me – and good to go
to the art fair! Can you imaging that? What service… and what great neighbors!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Mia & Melanie!!!

When I got home from camp about 1:30pm… there it was… a brand new post
that was the same as the original post. They even drilled the holes for my shelving pegs
in the right places. And oh, but wait there’s more… they even stained it for me!!!

We tested it and then packed it into the van with everything else.
In the park, it worked just fine… and my near-disaster & Friday morning stress was gone.
All was right in the world… and my booth actually had BOTH sets of corner shelves!

I came home late Friday night after setting up and having dinner with my parents.
The art fair Saturday was great – and my new corner post worked just fine.
I got home late again Saturday night after the art fair… and another dinner with Mom & Dad.

When I got up this morning to go back to the art fair, I gathered my stuff and headed out
the back door of my condo… uh oh… there’s something in the way outside the door?!
Of course I think it is more construction stuff as our back porch has been a nightmare
for the past few months as Mia & Melanie are having their bathroom remodeled –
and everything is all over the back deck. So I opened the door carefully, hoping not to knock
anything over… and found out that somehow overnight the missing corner post was set
against my kitchen door. No note. No explanation. And will probably never know…

Glad to have it back… but still questioning where it was, who had it and who found it?!
And that’s my “Corner Post Mystery”… it all worked out fine, but still a bit strange!

It was a beautiful day today in Evanston. The weather was great. The crowd was there!
My booth is finally all set up and ready to go despite some early drama with a “missing”
corner post for my shelving units?! Issue resolved, huge thank you to Mia & Melanie!

So I was ready to go on time – and look who’s next to me…
that metalsmithing rock star Sarah Chapman!!! So it was a fun day for both of us.
It was great to see some of my favorite customers – and meet a bunch of new ones!

So my booth is all set up. My shelves are as stable as they’re going to be on the slope.
Their are lots of pots everywhere you look. The ikebana vases are all set with flowers…
and the whimsical Jack O’Lanterns are making an early seasonal appearance!

Plus, we’ve all learned that it’s not officially an art fair until the bag of Twizzlers
is opened up! And this time… a local rodent decided to join in the festivities!

Who needs a lot of loud music in the park with thousands of screaming people?
Sure, go downtown to Lollapalooza tonight to see Lady Gaga. But then, come up
to Evanston this weekend for a lot of art that you’ll really “go gaga” for!

Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival
Saturday & Sunday from 11:00-6:00pm – this weekend!
In Dawes Park on Sheridan Road at Church Street in Booth #43

As another week of Summer Camp comes to an end, we finish off with our
focus on Art History & Master Artists. I saw this video and loved it – and
found it oddly appropriate to finish off the great week of art. Check it out…

Classic Women In Art