As our week continues, my summer campers have moved on to FORGING!
Or at least some quick metalsmithing while making their knives, forks & spoons!
So while I was leading-the-charge for the first couple days of clay, my co-teacher
Michelle took the lead for the metalsmithing portion. She’s the pro. Not me.
I know just enough about metals to be dangerous!

Once Michelle had finished her demo, the kids set off on cutting out their own pieces.
Some of them cruised right through it. Others struggled. Some required laser focus…

Once they finished cutting out their shapes, they need to file the edges to remove any burs
or sharpness. We keep trying to tell the kids that their pieces need to be smooth so that they
don’t cut their mouths from eating off their own sharp-edged cutlery!!! Personally,
I’d rather be cutting metal… filing is not my favorite part of the project either!

Once cut & filed, Michelle did a demo on stamping, chasing & texturing. I like this part
because it’s texture & design. The kids love this part… lots of HAMMERING!!!

Tomorrow we finish the projects, and our clay pieces come out of the kiln!
We’ll put everything together and have a great potluck lunch to celebrate!

I call it potential.

Sure, it was dark this morning.
Sure, the sky was filled with clouds.
Sure, it looked like it might rain at any moment.
But it was beautiful, and worth the “risk.”

I had planned on swimming again this morning… but I thought better of that idea.
There I was with my wetsuit in my bag… and waves crashing all around me!
Probably not the best idea to be swimming in the lake right then, huh?!

So I pedaled a little further instead of swimming. Riptide warnings are never a good thing
As I pedaled, the sky show began. First with subtle pinks, which turned into golden hues.

Potential fulfilled.

The trouble with throwing twenty-four cylinders and stamping them for mugs,
is that at some point you need to make twenty-four handles to put on them.
Tonight was that night. Two dozen handles. Two dozen attachments. Two dozen mugs!

So I started with some wedged B-Clay to match the B-Clay cylinders.
I cut them into small chunks, then threw them down towards my wedging table
at an angle to create a slight carrot-shaped wedge of clay.

Then I started pulling the handles in the traditional way. Kinda like milking a cow!
I typically pull them into a nice strap shape, then add a little concave curve to the front
side of them. When I get them to the right width & thickness, the do a quick flip-over
and stick it to itself. That way I create a nice “pre-established-mug-handle-curved-shape”
to let them set-up in the right form. Waiting a few minutes until the are a bit stiffer and
no longer wet, shiny or squishy!

I then start attaching the handles to the mugs by cutting out the portion I need of each strap.
A little scoring & slipping on each to attach them to the mugs. After several mugs, with a few
Olympic moments on my TV, I finally got to the end of all twenty-four.

Then it’s just a quick misting of water and wrapped up for the night. I always like to let them
“even-out” their moisture levels between cylinders & handles before I open them up and let
them dry. So tomorrow night, I plan on painting some of them with a bit of decorative colored
slip and then they’re off to the drying rack.

It’s another week of summer camp… another round of “Fire, Forge & Feast.”
This is the first summer that we’ve offered two sessions of this summer camp.
It’s fun to have another batch of kids making their clay dinnerware sets.
Yesterday & today they came up with their themes, then made ceramic plates,
bowls, cups and handles out of terra cotta. We finished today with each of them
painting their work with Lillstreet‘s new underglaze/glaze combo!

Some of our themes this week?… “Alice In Wonderland,” zombies, flowers, “Harry Potter,”
Alaska, trees, Switzerland, “Doctor Who,” video games, and… my “least” favorite?…
mathematics! Yes, one of them is actually basing his entire set on mathematics!
I’m an artist… I don’t do math!

Gorgeous morning... little windy with a strong breezes off the lake….
and the water a little choppier than I’d like… but the sunrise was simply gorgeous
as parallel streaks of color splashed across the sky!

Soon enough, the pink skies give way to the golden sun as it breaks through the clouds!

Tonight in my beginning wheel class we tackled basic glazing techniques…
and then continued our throwing demonstrations with plates & platters.
I showed my students how to throw the plate. Then we discussed how plates are pretty
easy to throw… starting with a wide, low, flat cylinder… but tougher to trim & dry properly.

3-pound plate with white slip decoration – squiggled while still spinning!

6-pound platter… pretty plain now, but soon will be stamped which is no surprise!

The sunrise was beautiful this morning as the sky was pretty clear and bright.
I love when the sunrise goes through so many colors and changes.
from darkness, through oranges, to yellows and blue skies.

Apparently I’m not the only loon out there so early in the morning?!
At least it looked like a loon… dives like a loon… and swims like a loon.
So I assumed it might be a loon?! Right???

AND A “LOON” CLARIFICATION FROM MY MINNESOTA COUSIN MICHAEL…
It’s a Cormorant – dirty filthy  – small fish fry eating machine!
Northern Lakes have DNR officers shooting them by the hundreds/thousands,
so that walleye fry have a chance to grow. Leech Lake has a huge project that started
some years ago, already making a difference to the catch limits.

It’s always fun during an art fair to make new artist friends…
especially when you like their work. And even more so when you trade!

Yep, this weekend at the Evanston Art Fair, I met a talented photographer and
his girlfriend as they stopped by my booth a couple times. Apparently, they’re
pottery fans. Lucky me. So when I finally had a chance to get out of my booth to
scan the tents, I ran across the booth of Josh Merrill… and his girlfriend “assistant.”
His photography is beautiful – much like the photos I’d like to take. So I was excited
when he offered up the “trade” opportunity… and I was in!!! Here are the three
photos I came home with… and I’m loving them!!!

So not only are his photographs beautiful, but I also like the fact that there’s a story
to go with every one of them! He can tell you exactly where & when he took the picture.
He’s passionate about his travels and capturing these beautiful images! He captures
nature in such a special way with incredible colors & composition. While his work focuses
mostly on beautiful nature shots, I was drawn to the urban decay of Gary, Indiana.

I totally trust that he has taken every image – unlike a lot of other art fair
photographers! C’mon… you know you’ve seen them… pictures from all over the
world, capturing images from every exotic destination, much like the images
you can easily & readily purchase online! And no “stories” to back them up.

Click here to check out more images from Josh Merrill Photography.

With my favorite metalsmith moving to Minneapolis, I found myself going to the
Evanston Lakeshore knowing that my favorite booth neighbor” wouldn’t be there.
Instead, Sarah Chapman would be showing her work at the Uptown Art Fair in
Minneapolis. So that also meant that I would be getting a new art fair neighbor!

Luckily, I had a very nice new neighbor who made some really incredible photos!
JD Dennision has this great technique of shooting much of his work at night with
a flash, and then inverting the image to give it a glowing, ethereal, unreal effect.
Many of them look similar to traditional Chinese calligraphy brush paintings!
Like the photo below… where the blue “flowers” are actually the green leaves, and the
yellow “sky” is actually the dark evening sky inverted. Crazy… but very cool.

It was a fun weekend. And having JD in the booth next to me was a pleasure.
He’s kinda “new” to the art fair circuit… and eager to pick my brain for stories, suggestions
and encouragement. This is his first summer doing art fairs, and he still has one more year
of college. I can’t wait to see how his career and photography grow & evolve in the years
to come. And I hope that he comes back to Evanston again next year so I know that I’ve
got a good booth neighbor!

This weekend was beautiful… okay, except for one little weather “situation.”

Saturday started out hot & humid with no breeze. Very sticky. At some point, the breeze
kicked in and the humidity seemed to drop a bit. We had a great day with a lot of great
customers stopping by to play in my booth. including my Northwoods potter-friend Amy
Higgason who surprised me with a visit! I didn’t even know she was in town! But as the day
went on, there were “rumors” of a big storm moving in. Late in the afternoon, everywhere
you looked there were people checking their smartphones for weather radar updates!
Soon enough, everyone was getting panicked as there were reports of a huge storm headed
our way! Reports of storm wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. Announcements over the PA,
staff members alerting all of the artists, and urgent panicked messages that we should pack
up and get out as soon as possible. Yes, we literally got evacuated from the art fair!!!

So we packed down the pottery as much as we could. Put most of the pots back into their
crates and lowered almost everything onto the floor of my booth. Tightening the anchor straps,
zipping down the sides and hoping for the best. At some point, you just need to trust that
everything will be okay… and you leave with fingers crossed. So mu parents and I went to
have dinner in Evanston. While we were there, the storm came crashing through with huge
winds, followed by crashing rain, and then it was over almost as quick as it came in.
A big sigh of relief… and then the skies cleared. However, the art fair was closed and we were
done for the day! Hoping for a better Sunday.

Later that night, we also found out that the storm was apparently worse downtown.
And the huge crowd of concert-goers down at Lollapalooza were actually evacuated as well…
picture thousands of people evacuated into the Grant Park underground parking garage!!!

Sunday was gorgeous! The humidity was gone, the sun was shining and it was perfect.
There was a great breeze coming in from the lake keeping it very cool & comfortable. In fact,
towards the end of the day, my Mom actually mentioned that she was “cold.” Go figure!
But to the rest of us, it was “picture perfect.”

And here’s the most beautiful “backyard view” from my booth. Yes, my booth literally backs up
to Lake Michigan. So not only do I get to enjoy the cooling breeze coming in off the lake while
chatting & playing with my friends & fans… but I also get this incredible view all day long!