Last Friday night was the Opening Night
for FINDING FOREVER CUP EXHIBITION.

From the sounds of it, everything went incredibly well. So excited that Pam’s charity event came together and was a huge success!!! Thanks to everyone who donated cups, and to everyone who bought them to help the cause!

For a review of the project and the Opening, click here for Pam’s story.
FINDING FOREVER CUP EXHIBITION.

Is it such a bad thing that I made some new tiles tonight with fresh wet clay BEFORE teaching class and loaded them into my bisque kiln AFTER class?! They maybe had about three hours to “dry.” That should be enough, right?!

More gray clouds.
Surprisingly warm at the start… even more surprisingly cold by the end of my ride.
At least a 10-degree drop in temperature.

With a sudden slice of color low on the horizon before the sun went back behind the clouds.

And gone… back to gray.

Racing to fill my kiln. Another bisque kiln being loaded Tuesday night.
Time for one last batch…

Thrown & stamped yesterday. Trimmed & slip painted today.
Done.

This pencil cactus sits outside on my kitchen window ledge all summer long. When I brought it inside today to avoid the freezing temps, I was surprised at how red the tips of the cactus had become. Beautiful accents to this normally green cactus. I hope that’s not a bad sign that I left it outside too long?…

With my last batch of “new” work drying for tomorrow night’s bisque kiln, it’s time to turn my attention to glazing everything else! Starting with the first big batch of mugs.

The first step is to clean them all and inlay the temoku glaze into the stamps. I painted it into & over the stamps, and then wipe off the top layer with a damp sponge to reveal the stamped texture now with inlaid color contrast.

Another dark & gloomy morning…
Until…                                               wait for it…

For about seven minutes this morning the sky was awash with beautiful red clouds.
A short-lived sky show of color.

And then gone… and back to gray.

This morning started very early… about 5:30am meeting up with friends Chris & Leona. Soon enough we were on our way downtown on the EL. Lots of other runners were up & about with us, as the train quickly filled up with runners in layers of moisture-wicking fabrics!

We decided what we were going to wear for the day and dropped off extra clothing & stuff at Gear Check. Them we were ready to get going… kinda chilly. But we knew we would warm up quickly once we started running. Unfortunately, we needed to wait a while for our Corral to cross the starting line. About 45 minutes… waiting… as Wave by Wave before us started the race…

Finally it was time to start…

We were moving closer… and watching footage on the JumboTron.
FORTY THOUSAND RUNNERS!!! All flocking to Grant Park for today’s festivities.

And there it was… finally… the Starting Line!!!
And we’re off…

A leisurely 15 kilometers later we crossed the Finish Line… that’s just under 10 miles.
Chris & Leona were ahead of me, and waiting at the Finish Line. Let me just say, this body is not made for speed. I’m more of an endurance kind of guy. Nonetheless, it was great to see them waiting for me as we got our 15K Finisher Medals.

Then we were off to the Post Race Party for our congratulatory HOT CHOCOLATE MUG & CHOCOLATE FONDUE!!! Along the way, I found my friend Pam. She did the 5K and had already done her chocolate celebration!!!

Chris, Leona and I finally made it the goodies… and it was well worth the run!!!
A fun Hot Chocolate Mug with hot chocolate, marshmallow, chocolate fondue, banana, Rice Krispie Treat, pretzels and sugar wafers… oh yeah, and a wet-nap!!!

The wind was gusting… and I was trying my best to get every drop of chocolate…
apparently, not doing so good at it…

I wasn’t the only one with chocolate on my face…

Back at home, I unloaded my goodies… took a hot shower, did some stretching and went on with my day headed back to the studio! Another fun day… and another 15K under my belt.