I love the “antiqued” look & subdued colors these got from the cone 10 firing.
A simple underglaze wash inside the textures really made them pop! So now
they’re all ready to go… and are all coming with me to Hinsdale this weekend!

Hot, hot, hot… So today it’s been tap-dancing right around 100-degrees outside…
and not much better inside?! Maybe not the best day to be staining, varnishing
and gluing together more tiles “Clay Quilts”???

But if they’re going to be ready for this weekend’s art fair in Hinsdale…
I’ve got to keep plugging along regardless of the heat index!!!
I’m surrounded with fumes & fans… textures & tiles… sweaty & smelly…

So I’m heading back outdoors this weekend for another art fair!
My last weekend in Schaumburg was a little wetter than hoped for…
so my fingers are crossed that this coming weekend has better weather.
But just in case… pottery looks great wet & you won’t melt. I’m just sayin’…

Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival
Saturday, June 11th – 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday, June 12th – 10:00am-5:00pm
Located in Burlington Park in beautiful downtown Hinsdale
at Chicago and Garfield Avenues. Booth #101.

With a full collection of handmade pottery, I’ll be in the same booth location as usual.
Functional pieces like bowls, vases, mugs, plates and tumblers that you can use
everyday. Everything is food-safe, dishwasher-safe and microwave-safe.
Plus a wide collection of more decorative pieces like flower pots, terra cotta planters,
salt & pepper shakers, birdhouses, tiled wall pieces, ikebana vases & more!
All handmade… every piece is one-of-a-kind.

And don’t forget, Father’s Day is the following weekend…
and everyone’s Dad deserves a new, handmade coffee mug, right?

Hope to see you this weekend in Hinsdale!

If you can’t make it this weekend… you can always keep up
with what’s going on in the studio, as well as other stories, photos and adventures.
Click on www.facebook.com/firewhenreadypottery and then click “Like.”

Today was the “57th Street Art Fair” down on the south side of Chicago.
It’s always a fun day… chatting with my art friends, hanging out, shopping and not
having to deal with selling my own work for a change. So I hopped on my bike
and pedaled down to the Museum of Science & Industry, then went west a few blocks.

It was very hot & humid… and by the time I got to the fair I was a big sweaty mess.
But I was on a mission. My friend & potter in the Wisconsin Northwoods had called
me that morning and asked if I could purchase a piece for her from Roberta Polfus.
Roberta had posted some great pictures of her new work on Facebook, and Amy was
hoping to snag one of them… err, well, have me snag one for her! So I pedaled down
a little faster than usual… and got there a little sweatier than usual! Sadly, the piece
in question was not even at the art fair… Roberta’s saving it for an upcoming
gallery show she’s going to be in. Sorry Amy…

So then I spent the rest of the day bouncing from booth to booth saying hello
to my friends. It’s always a fun show because there are so many people there exhibiting
their work. Lots of people to talk with. Lots of great art to look at.

But then… out of nowhere, the skies began to darken, the wind picked up and there were
huge clouds coming our way. So I hopped back on my bike and pedaled north towards home.
Right into the eye of the storm! I made it to McCormick Place before the rain actually started.
By the time I got to the Museum Campus it was pouring and the temperature had dropped
dramatically. I even stopped under the bridge at Solidarity Drive… and called a few of my
friends at the fair to tell them to “batten the hatches”… something’s coming!

After “waiting it out” and not seeing an end in sight, I head out again in the deluge.
Getting completely soaked along the way. By the time I was home, I was dripping,
my shoes were squishing and the storm finally ended. And my thoughts were still back
at the art fair… hoping that everyone (and their tents) made it through the storm!

Check here for more information
as it is revealed… Art Detour.

The morning was so beautiful in its awakening. Such incredible shades of purples & blues,
slowing to changing to pinks & oranges. The sky was ablaze in stunning colors…
it was practically impossible to take a bad photo. The morning was picture perfect!

Sadly, the amazing show of color only lasts a few minutes each morning. As the sun begins
to crest on the horizon, the sky turned more blue… and the sun was just about ready to “pop”
over the edge. Beautiful every step of the way…

And then the sun came up… the colors dispersed and the sky lit up.
And I was finally back on the bike to finish my ride… pedal… pedal… pedal…
pedaling fast to make up for the time I spent shooting pictures.

So there I was…

reveling in the beautiful morning…

enjoying another fantastic sunrise…

cruising along minding my own business…

taking curves at a pretty good clip…

maybe going a little bit faster than I should be…

having fun…

when all of a sudden… imagine my SURPRISE!!!

Okay… so everyone’s been raving about the “Square” and how wonderful it is
for processing credit card transactions on my iPhone. My plan was to use it at
last weekend’s art fair… but everything didn’t go quite as planned!

When I got to the location, with a LOT of “atmospheric interference”…
which is just a nice euphemism for impending doom, gloom & storms…
my iPhone was not receiving a very strong signal. So we decided to go “old school”
with my original system of accepting cards and processing them after the show.
While I’m still intrigued by the “Square”… here’s a few things I learned…

1. With the “Square” you can now accept all four major credit cards for the same
minimal processing fee. No longer is American Express a huge expense to accept.
Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

2. You can still use the “Square” to process credit cards manually after the show
by typing the information in by hand. My understanding is that the processing fee
is slightly higher for manual transactions.

3. If you are going to process manually, you need to “capture” the credit card number
and expiration date as normal with your old knuckle-buster. But you ALSO need to
write down the “secret” code on the back of the card and the customer’s billing address
zip code. If you don’t have all of that information, you cannot process the card manually.

4. When you get to the point where the customer has to sign, they literally use the fleshy
tip of their finger to write on the iPhone screen. Here’s the best part… if they mess up
or want to start over, you just shake the phone and it erases the signature. Do over!

5. On the customer’s receipt, there’s actually a Google Map with a pinpoint showing
the actual location of where their credit card was used. Very cool.

6. Seriously seconds after pressing “send” to process & authorize the transaction,
the information showed up right away on my laptop. Right away!!!

So I’m looking forward to my next art fair and the chance to use the “Square”
as it is intended. Swiping the cards right through my iPhone. I’m sure I’ll have more
to say about the “Square” as I continue to use it more. But for now…
I’m hopefully intrigued and think it’s going to be great… as long as I can get past
poor reception and my fear of losing battery power after a long day at the fair?!

I just received this wonderful blog “comment” from one of my customers
at last weekend’s Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival. The show wasn’t all that great
due to the rain & flooding… but receiving “comments’ like this makes it all
a whole lot better! Thank you Carol…

“I fell in love with “my” coffee mug when I saw it on the shelf in your booth
at the Prairie Art Fair. The next day I was showing my friends what I purchased
at the fair and the Fire When Ready mug was the hands down favorite. Comments
ranged from: “beautiful”, to “stunning,” to “gorgeous,” to “what a work of art”!
Even the coffee tastes better when drinking it from a work of art.
I’d say you’re definitely doing something right!

Say it isn’t so… but we may have just broken a new record for THIS Spring?!
We have two days of sun in a row!!! Two, I say… count them TWO!!! In a ROW!!!