About 15 minutes into my rise, it began to lighten up… but the clouds were still there.

I made it downtown and we were still surrounded in clouds.

Luckily, that little “sliver of color” that we saw early on was still there…
a small window of opportunity for the sun to find its way out. And it did…

And then the pink began… like a harbinger of sunrise!

Meanwhile, a quick glance behind as the skyline begins to reflect & the clouds dissipate.

Okay, back to the gorgeous sunrise…

And all too soon… the sun was back behind the clouds once again.
A beautiful, albeit a fleeting sunrise…

After detailing the bowls, I decided to start another batch of mugs. You know how I LOVE making mugs!!! They’re my favorite. And if I’m hoping to start the Holiday Home Show with a 100 mugs again this year… I’ve got some makin’ to do!!!

And from those balls of clay I made 18 cylinders. Each one a bit different.

Thrown on square bats – because I love throwing everything on a bat.

After they stiffened up a bit, I carefully removed them from the bats and placed them on a plastic ware board. A great way to condense space… and free up my bats for another round of something!!! They’ll all stay under wraps until I have time to stamp them all… maybe tomorrow???

Tonight I did a little detailing on a few of the bowls that I threw for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class. Some of them were just a little too “plain” for my liking. Sure, smooth is good… but isn’t a little stamping a lot more fun?!!!

So here’s the bowl I threw with a flared flange, with a perfect “place” for stamping.

And another bowl, this time with a wider flared flange. The wider flange makes the actual “curve” of the bowl smaller… so I decided to go with a smaller stamp.

In theory it sounded exciting.
Lots of fire. Lots of flames. Fireworks… and more!!! What’s not to like???

So last night I pedaled downtown with many, many layers on. It was the coldest night so far this Fall. Windy & cold. Somewhere in the low 40’s. Brrrrr… It was the FIRST time for this Great Chicago Fire Festival. So I felt “obligated” to go downtown for the fun!!!

I finally found a location along the Chicago River where I thought I might be able to see some of the festivities. And waited.

It started with some kayaks on the river pulling some floats of fire. Couldn’t see them, but the announcer told us they were there somewhere? Then they lowered flaming cauldrons from the bridges over the river. Each cauldron representing a different Chicago neighborhood… which made me think that these neighborhoods must be pretty darn small if the cauldron size meant anything?! A little anti-climactic with tiny flames in not-so-large cauldrons. Plus, we could only see two from where we were at.

Then they had some band & choir performance which might have been something important, but in reality is was a bunch of people on a Wendella boat driving by making noise. No flames. No fire.

Next they had some floating barges decorated like a paddleboats and a steam engine factory. Little bursts of flame. Mostly seen from the reflections on the Trump Tower. Again, the crowd was underwhelmed. Then we waited… and waited. I waited for about a half hour with nothing happening… so I decided to relocate to see if I could find a better vantage point. A LOT of people had already left entirely since there was nothing much going on. They were tired of waiting. But I wasn’t willing to give up. I had pedaled down just for this. And I was going to see something!!!

I found a better space with a better view of the buildings they had built to symbolize the buildings that were burnt during the REAL Chicago Fire in 1871. They had built three of these buildings barges for three different sections of river to accommodate the crowds. I was at the middle one. Waiting for it to catch on fire and burn to smithereens!!!

I was excited to have a better view… even if my view was obliterated with arms & cell phones!!! Sometimes the better view was to watch someone’s phone as though it were a not-so-jumbo-JumboTron. We all waited for the burning of the barges in the freezing wind. We waited… and waited…

And waited… with little flickers of flames here & there. So we waited…

And waited… so I took some time to admire the skyline at night. Bathed in pink lights for October Breast Awareness Month.

And we waited.
When finally they said they were having “Electrical Difficulties” and we should wait as they were going to have to ignite it all manually. And so we waited… and waited… another half-hour went by with a few more flickers. A hint of excitement as we all thought it might catch on fire as promised. And then we waited… and waited…

But then, out of nowhere, these two big “cranes” came up out of the water with firefighters on them and they hosed down the buildings. What? Weren’t they supposed to be burning? Wasn’t that why we were all there? For some real fire?!!! A lot of people were yelling at them to spray it with gasoline instead of water. But soon enough, the little flickers of flame were out. And everyone wondered if it was over.

Finally the announcer came back and said that they were going to move on to the finale of the show. Fireworks. And again we waited… for about 15 more minutes. Luckily, the fireworks seemed to go off without a hitch. And they were pretty darn spectacular. I must admit it was fun having them shooting from the center of the river, between buildings with the crowd pretty close on all sides. “Something” seemed to finally be going right. And the reflections on the buildings were pretty spectacular!!!

Great excitement. Great Fireworks. Fantastic fireworks!!!… some redemption.

But in the end,  we were still left with this little buildings barge… totally UN-BURNT!!!
mwah… mwah… mwah…

Maybe next year will be better? … if there even is a next year for this new festival?!!!

So here’s the basic concept… just in case you missed the first season… you get to sit around watching TV and watch other people sitting around watching TV. And trust me, they’re making all of the same comments you’re saying in your head. Only funnier!!! They cover a wide range of shows, several during each episode. And the “family” dynamics are hysterical!!! They’ve collected a great group of characters fitting all of the basic demographics.

The Zeno Family : My favorite character of the entire show is Mom Princella… her comments & facial reactions crack me up!!!

Julie and Brandy: BFFs and Writing Partners

Blake, Scott, and Emerson: Gay BFFs

Amanda and Kenya: Sisters and Roommates

The Egber Family

Cathy and Destiney: Sisters

The Resnick Family

Teddi, Ayn, and Sue: Neighbors/Friends

And with a crazy cast of characters making crazy faces like this.. what’s not to like?
I dare you to watch a clip and NOT laugh out loud!!! You’ll be hooked in no time.
And I’ve given you a few video clips to get you started. Have fun!!!

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Rising Star.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “American Ninja Warrior.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Kandi’s Wedding.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Sing Your Face Off.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Orphan Black.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “Return Amish.”

Click for a video of The People’s Couch Watches “The Tony Awards.”

The new season of “The People’s Couch” begins this Tuesday, October 7th on BRAVO at 9:00pm Central. Set your DVR… you’re going to want a recorded episode so you can rewind and laugh time & time again!!!

This year I have been invited to be the Guest Artist at City Olive
for the Andersonville Arts & Design Weekend. I’ve had a small selection of my work in the store for a few years in both the Andersonville and Roscoe Village locations. Mostly oil pourers and olive trays which fit perfect with the store’s product selection. But for this weekend, my product selection will be bumped up quite a bit. So if you haven’t had a chance to get some Fire When Ready Pottery at one of my summer art fairs, here’s your chance in a local Chicago neighborhood.

My work will be well represented and surrounded by gourmet olive oils, imported foods, pastas, cookies, sweet treats and wonderful gift ideas. City Olive has an overwhelming selection of olive oils from around the world. So overwhelming that they even have an oil “taste-testing” area for those who want to learn more before they buy their flavored oils.

So mark your calendar for the second weekend of October for this fun event.
Stroll up and down the streets of Andersonville to see some of the best local artists.
Feel free to stop by any of the shops… but be sure to stop & shop at City Olive!!!
And be sure to say hello to my friend Karen who owns the store. She’ll be glad to see you!

Andersonville Arts and Design Weekend at City Olive
Friday, October 10th, 2014 – 11:00am-9:00pm
Saturday, October 11th, 2014 – 11:00am-5:00pm
Sunday, October 12th, 2014 – 12:00pm-5:00pm
5644 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60660

So I sort of feel like I’m “cheating” on my Tuesday pottery class, but…
look what one of my Holiday Elves brought in for snacks.
Yep… “Breakfast of Champions”!!!

Many years ago I did an art fair in Elmhurst for the holidays. During a slow moment in the show, I had a chance to wander around the show and see some of the other artists. I remember being taken by some wonderful baskets made by this cute little lady. A few years later, I find out that Guy Nicol, the art photographer across the hall from my studio, also photographs these wonderful baskets. Small world, huh?

So imagine my surprise when this session of classes I have a new teaching assistant Cynthia… and it turns out that she’s the daughter of the cute little basket weaver!!! Cynthia brought in some of her Mom’s work to class so we could all see them. And they’re still pretty fantastic. Not only are they incredibly beautiful… but they are also made from pine needles… yes, PINE NEEDLES!!! Crazy, huh? Apparently she uses raffia to “stitch” it all together and make some beautiful detailed patterns. And surprisingly, the baskets are very tight & sturdy… not a flimsy little basket one might expect?!

And my personal favorite, the cutest and smallest of the basket samples she brought in. It fit perfectly in my hand, the pattern mesmerizing. The perfect basket… now only if it could hold a hot fudge sundae?!!!

Unfortunately, Florence does not have a website to show off her work. So if you’re interested in finding out more information or purchasing a basket of your own, her’s her contact information…

And thanks to Cynthia for bringing in these beautiful baskets to class for my students to see.