You gotta love a Friday art fair set-up!
It takes so much time to pack everything up, shlepp it to the fair location and then set everything up. If it’s a Saturday morning set-up you’re always rushing to be ready in time. You’re exhausted before the show even begins! Luckily, “Art In The Barn” offers a Friday afternoon set-up. Which we eagerly take advantage of. So today we packed up my parents van… and by “we” I really mean my Dad. He prides himself in packing every inch of the van!!!

So there’s his van packed and ready to go… but, just for the record… my RAV4 was packed to the brim as well. A double-booth at “Art In The Barn” requires twice as much shelving & twice as much pottery. So we packed… and packed… and packed…

They’ve been under wraps for quite awhile now. A new Monster in the mix!
But tonight they finally came out of the the final glaze firing. Yeah!!!
So now these little Monsters are wrapped up, and then wrapped up again in packing materials, and getting ready for their journey to “Art In The Barn” this weekend. This year’s addition to “The Ghouls Collection.” The Mummy.

And he’s got friends… there are more than a dozen of these Mummies… but not two dozen.
Quantities are limited. And once they’re gone, they’re gone! These and the other Monsters – Pumpkins, Skulls, Frankensteins & Vampires!!! And like most “collectibles”… some of these may be “RETIRED” soon! Get ’em quick!!!

Here’s a small sampling of the mugs that will be coming with me to “Art In The Barn.”
I know I’m no good at posting pictures of my finished work… instead, you always see work in progress in my studio. That’s because as soon as the kiln gets unloaded it goes right into a crate. Then it’s priced & packed back into another crate and it’s off to an art fair. I need to build in some time to shoot more pictures of finished pieces to share here. Maybe that’s a good New Year’s Resolution for me?!

Anyway, here’s a dozen mugs that will be up for grabs this weekend in Barrington at
“Art In The Barn.” Yep.. these and a LOT more!!!
Remember, it’s a double booth of pottery fun!!! Lower Barn E4 & E6.

This morning was another cloud-free ride. Nothing too exciting. Just a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. The weather has been incredible this week!!!

But here’s the real shocker…
They’re already putting up Winter fencing along the lakefront bike trail.
What?… It’s STILL September!!! Not a good sign…

Nothing says “time to go to bed” better than a dining room full of freshly stained & varnished wood. More varnish layers tomorrow, then some tiles adhered Friday… and we’ll have some new ClayQuilts for this weekend’s art fair! Right down to the wire… and maybe some vivid dreams tonight from the fumes?!

Just a few days away… ART IN THE BARN.
My favorite art fair to kick-off the Fall season! With plenty of pottery headed out to Barrington, we will once again be setting up our double-booth in the Lower Barn E4 & E6 on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital. And just to clarify… a double-booth means at least twice as much pottery as my “in a tent” Summer art fairs!!!

Saturday, September 28th & Sunday, September 29th, 2013
10:00am-5:00pm each day
Located on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
on Route 22 about two miles west of Route 59. The really cool part is that this is also the original farm grounds for Quaker Oats. So all of the original barns, silos, corn cribs, machine sheds and everything else are still there… and for one weekend FILLED WITH ART!!!

Regardless of the weather, ART IN THE BARN is always fun.
My booth is inside the Lower Barn so we’re protected from the elements… yet open on one side for plenty of natural light.

And if you look closely… that’s my photographer friend Brad Pogatetz standing there under the big F. My booth just barely falls off the left side of the photo. There’s a LOT of pottery just to the left of that large photo on the easel. I think this photo was from the year that I met Brad and fell in LOVE with his incredible photos of rusty-crusty buildings & natural elements all combined in fantastic imagery! Check out the link to his website in the right side column of LINKS… or just click here!

This year’s addition to “The Ghoul Collection” has been a well guarded secret. The identity of which I have kept “under wraps” for a few weeks. I was trying to figure out my Ghoul-ish plan. And I didn’t want to share too much until I knew which direction they were going. Well, now they’re all made & drying. So I feel it’s safe to show off the “new ghoul in town” – The Mummy. Sure, I still need to paint them with underglaze, cover them with clear glaze, dry them and fire them. But I still have a couple days before “Art In The Barn.” Plenty of time, huh?… I hope at least…

As with every “ghoul” in the collection, these will be available in Limited Quantities.
When they’re gone, they’re gone!          At least until they rise from the dead again!

So I was shopping at Home Depot this evening for stain, varnish & brushes so I could make some quick ClayQuilts for this weekend. I happened to find myself checking out the “clearance” plants… picking up a few perennials to add to my garden for cheap. When all of a sudden I saw some flitting about in my peripheral vision. I assumed it was a bug… but no, it was a hummingbird. We don’t see many of them in the city. It was pretty cool. Luckily, I managed to grab my iPhone quickly to snap a couple pictures. Some were blurrier than others… but this one wasn’t too bad for a quick iPhone snapshot. A teeny tiny hummingbird flitting about.

Lots of clouds this morning.
Dark & dramatic in the early hours… but I must admit,
I was a little let down when the gray clouds moved in.

Only for the sun to make a big come-back in the last few minutes with all its cloudy contrasts & golden splendor.