With my pastry chefs bringing sweet treats week after week to pottery class,
I figured it was my turn to step up to the plate and bring something fun!
But I know the competition would be stiff, so I decided to take a different route!
How about a whimsical take on an apple pie… without any apples?!!!

It looked like an apple pie. It smelled like an apple pie.
And it appears as though they enjoyed it! Even though
not a single apple was employed in making my mock apple pie!

Don’t forget that you can also follow Fire When Ready Pottery on Facebook.
I know I have a tendency to ramble, to weave a picture with my words… some have even
referred to me as verbose! I call it colorful & descriptive. But if you want quicker, more
succinct, updates & pictures, don’t forget that you can add me to your live Facebook Feed.

Just click on the link below to go to Facebook. Then click the “LIKE” button at the top.
You’ll get regular updates, stories, photos & more! And if you want a little more
description, a few more pictures, a lot more words… keep coming here to the blog!!!

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After a lot of floral over-stimulation at the Garden Show,
I made it back to my studio… my own little garden! Yes, my holiday poinsettia
is still doing really well in the studio. A little dusty, but still bushy & blooming!

First off I attached handles to the latest batch of mugs… and drying slowly.

Next up, I threw some new bowls which will eventually become spring berry bowls.
As they were firming up, I was unsure what to throw next… especially as I was quickly
running out of table surface space. So?… what to throw?… fairly small that doesn’t take up
too much space?…. well, more ornaments of course! This time, a batch in B-Clay,
and another in Porcelain. Another 37 ornaments closer to Christmas!

By the time I finished throwing the ornaments, the bowls were ready for shaping & altering.
I covered them up for the night… hoping to trim them in a day or two, punch the drainage
holes and make the drip plates to finish the set. Sadly, I was too tired to remember to take
pictures… it had been a very long day of flowers, stained glass, mosaics & pottery!!!

Also at The Pier… interspersed in the Stained Glass Museum,
there is currently an exhibit of contemporary mosaics. Now generally I’m not
a huge fan of mosaics. But after seeing this exhibit, I may need to reconsider.
I was especially enamored by the mosaics of Laura Rendlen of Glen Ellyn
who does these intricate, almost “photo-realistic” mosaics with teenie-tiny pieces!

Plus a few others, like this incredible portrait of “Indian Prayers”…
not to be outdone by the whimsically crazy birds mosaic!

Thanks to the Chicago Mosaic School for bringing these out for all of us to see!

While “hanging out in the garden” today on Navy Pier, I also took time downstairs
to stroll through the Stained Glass Museum. It’s a wonderful collection of stained
glass artists through the years. Including beautiful works by Tiffany and his
contemporaries. Many people people make it straight from the parking garages
and up to Festival Hall for the special exhibits without ever seeing the beautiful
artwork that is housed at Navy Pier all year long! Here’s a glimpse…

Spring came a little early again this year to Chicago’s Navy Pier.
With a week of incredible floral displays and gardening tips & ideas at the
Chicago Flower & Garden Show. A week of seasonal fun to taunt those of us “suffering”
from Spring Fever. It was great to be surrounded by the scents & colors of Spring!

As well as some great gardens built & installed on the floor of Festival Hall. I especially
love that they install actual ponds & waterfalls, as well as wonderful Zen Gardens!

And one of my favorites… a incredibly whimsical & oversized croquet set
with a “floating” croquet mallet and huge levitating croquet balls made out of
white phaleanopolis orchids!

Plus it was fun to see one of my own creations at the entrance to greet visitors
as they enter the Garden Show. I designed this natural horse for a different event
with my side job I refer to as “the glitter gig.” Complete with river rock “socks”,
green moss patches and Spanish moss mane & tail. It was great to use her again
at the show. I like to refer to her as “Kate Moss.”

The first batch of ornaments for this year all came out of the bisque kiln just fine.
I’m always a “little” concerned when I fired enclosed forms… always hoping that
I remembered to put a small air hole somewhere?! Luckily I did… no explosions!!!

And now they’re all boxed up waiting for my next soda kiln…
plus I still need to make the little tripody-things that will hold them up in the kiln!

After class, I loaded another bisque kiln. Along with some terra cotta
work that is glazed inside. Luckily, they’re both firing to cone 04.
So it’s one kiln for all!

Layer #1 – terra cotta planters, ornaments & tiles… and two Patinkin cups.

Layer #2 – terra cotta planters, ornaments and even MORE tiles!
I love how the tiles stack and make a perimeter around the kiln. Funny.

Layer #3 – terra cotta drip trays and a couple test tiles for Karen Patinkin.
And you know how I hate open unused kiln shelf space… this killed me!

Layer #4 – terra cotta drip trays and a couple stamped square plates
by Karen Patinkin. Again, too much kiln shelf showing for my liking!

Layer #4-1/2 – my class demo stamped plate and the last water drip tray.

Layer #5 – topping off the kiln with some stacked bowls…
stamped & fluted but not fitting together in a stack as much as I would like.
Next time I need to remember to make different sizes so they stack better?!

And the two bowls that didn’t quite fit in… as much as I tried & tried.

And while I was loading my kiln, Lillstreet Artreach Director Jayson Lawfer
was loading his bowls in the kiln next to mine… and since he had a little space
left over, and some empty bowls… I was more than willing to “fill-in”
with some ornaments!

Tonight was Week #8 of my 10-week Beginning Wheelthrowing class.
And so far, this class has been one of the “sweetest” ones yet!
With three pastry chefs… and plenty of others joining in the fun, we’ve been
having great snacks every week. And tonight was no exception. We had a lot
of topics to cover in class, but everyone was more interested in the treats!

So, Olivia decided to make treats tonight – and they were FANTASTIC!!!
With her adorable Irish accent, Olivia coquettishly wouldn’t tell us what was in them,
other than chocolate, fruit & nuts. It was incredible. And I had to “make sure”
several times! It was a heavenly concoction of fudgey chocolate, pecans,
raisins, sugar, caramel and “some secret stuff.” After taste-testing it repeatedly,
I think the secret ingredient was some sort of cookie. Someone said “digestables”?
Olivia did say that there was no baking involved… which is always good.
And I told her she can bring them again ANY time!!!

Even the pastry chefs were impressed!

After yesterday’s throwing marathon, today had to be the stamping marathon!
Shucks, huh?… good thing I love stamping!

Although my pots were all still a little wetter that I would like them to be,
a little “strategic drying” really payed off. A little bit of fan. Some rotating.
A lot of waiting… and some trimming of older pots & another batch of tiles…
and I finally got to stamp all of the pots I made yesterday. Okay, so they were
still a little squishier than I would normally like… but it was fun to see the
transformation from “plain” to textured. So much better now…

Coming soon… a LOT of trimming and handles for the mugs!