Today was one of the most beautiful Fall days ever.
Yes, it feels like Summer is over. The weather has cooled off, the humidity is gone, and today was perfect. Such a wonderful “Fall” day… to be “stuck” in my basement all day long.

Yes, I spent the day today with my best art fair assistants prepping, pricing & packing all of the pieces from my last soda kiln. We had a LOT of pots to tackle. Lots of pieces in milk crates with lots of protective foam sheeting.  It was a long day. We talked, we chatted, we solved all the problems of the world. But by the end of the day, we’re pretty much already packed up for “Art In The Barn.” Which is a pretty great feeling knowing that we’re almost weeks ahead of schedule!!!

And as a quick Thank You for their hard work… I took my Mom & Dad out to dinner!

Tonight I made some small textured terra cotta trays for my latest batch of salt & pepper shakers. They’re drying on a plastic grid with the hope that it will help avoid warping.

Of course the weights I put on top of them will help too!!!

Today I got a text message with an attached photo from my friend Pam. She recently had her PC rebuilt and she sent the photo to show me that she chose one of my sunrises for her screensaver! How cool is that?!… I’m “published” on someone’s computer!!!

Just one month until my next “adventure.”
Training has begun…

The clouds were dark. The wind was blowing. The waves were crashing.

And there was just a tiny sliver of sky under the clouds for the sun to blaze through this morning. And it did.

Crazy cool with all of the splashing & crashing.
Possibly the most dramatic sunrise we’ve had in awhile?!

All too soon, the sun went up into the clouds and darkness set back in. At least the waves were still crashing to continue my tumultuous morning ride!

It looks like not much is happening in the soda kiln room these days. It was a quick rush to finish my firing and clear out in time for the demolition. And now it seems to just be sitting there empty. Although if you look inside the room, you’ll see that the newly-poured cement foundation has been uncovered and is now drying & curing.

I had an afternoon meeting at Navy Pier today. Afterwards, we stopped off for a sweet treat at HÃ¥agen Dazs. I decided to splurge with a yummy chocolate shake. So I ordered “my usual.” A chocolate shake made with chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, hot fudge, and if they think it might be too chocolatey already… add even more chocolate. And let me just say, it may have been the best chocolate shake ever!!!

Well, let me just say… the girl who made it was WONDERFUL!!!
She followed the “recipe” and put her own spin on it. Not only did she use the extra dark, extra chocolatey ice cream. But she also pumped in both chocolate sauce AND hot fudge. But the real kicker was that she actually squirted some extra hot fudge into the cup, swirled it around and actually lined the entire cup interior with fudge. And then she poured the milk shake into the fudge-lined cup! SWEET!!!… literally!

I will be going back… and I will be looking for her again!

And just for the record, when I got home after a couple hours at the studio, I went for a quick 3-mile run to help “balance” things out a bit. I’m not sure if it is the cooler weather, or the sugar high, but I had a really nice run. My fastest three miles ever!

It’s always refreshing & encouraging to find out that someone out there is actually reading my blog. And that somehow, in some small way, my endless ramblings & photos might just be inspiring someone to play with their clay. I received this very sweet e-mail yesterday from a fan in Colorado. Warm fuzzies and visual proof that she’s tried some of my bowl demos! Thank you Roberta for reaffirming the reason I keep blogging! Here’s her letter…

Hi Gary! My name is Roberta. I live in Colorado. I am not even certain how I happened upon your blog, but I did, and I am so impressed with your positive energy and joy for everything you do. (I have it bookmarked now!) Because I am trying to learn everything I can about clay, I decided to try some of your rims that you had your class doing in the pictures.

I hope you don’t mind if I play with some of your ideas, and try to learn from you. If I were in Illinois, I would be in one of your classes! And yes, it probably looks like I took these pics on the hood of the truck! It was right next to the shop where I fire and glaze!! I also have to say I am a big fan of your photography!

Thank you for your uplifting presence on the Internet and the clay world!

Roberta

Another beautiful day on the lakefront.
Dark clouds in the early hours with big sweeping clouds as the sunrise progressed.

Once the sun go thigh enough, the beautiful orange & red colors dissipated into golden skies.

With a little colored underglaze, my little pumpkins really came to life tonight. With green stems and orange warts, these Jack O’Lanterns are ready to start drying.

Resting on an elevated plastic grate to help dry them quicker and more evenly, it’s always fun to see the whole batch of pumpkins smiling back at you!

Next up?…. a quick coat of clear glaze and then a trip into the kiln!
Once fired, all of these pumpkins will be coming with me to “Art In The Barn”
in a couple weeks… September 28th & 29th in Barrington.