Lots of sun. Lots of clouds. Lots of photo…

The early morning sky was layered with spots of color.
Clouds of all different colors & shades. A calico patchwork of colors.

As the sun continued to rise, the clouds continued to blow in.
A dark wave of clouds threatening to take over the morning sky.

Luckily, the clouds didn’t ruin the show… they just made it better!!!

I tend to dabble in the bottom rungs with my palate of a four-year old.
You may have heard of my strange fascinationf & addiction to Oreos & Twizzlers.
But tonight one of my students brought in a much more “cultural” snack in for class. She recently visited Japan and brought back a box of wagashi rice candies. All labeled in Japanese. No explanation of flavors… or anything else?!

Odd texture. Kinda like a chalky, gummi, chew. Kinda squishy. Powdered exterior.
Odd flavors. Not quite sweet. Not quite fruity.
And yet strangely yummy… and I had more than my fair share of them!!!

Dramatic spiral. Crazy angle. Stamped border.
A beautiful platter in the making.

About three weeks ago, I went up for the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour.
It’s the biggest & best pottery tour of the entire year. So many great potters all assembled in one place. With a magnificent number of amazing pots to admire, caress, fondle and potentially purchase!!! Large white tents all over filled with pottery!!! What’s not to like?! Seven different studio locations hosting over fifty talented ceramic artists. Again this year, I did the tour with my friend & favorite metalsmith Sarah C. Chapman. She’s a pottery-lover too… so we tackled the Tour with reckless abandon!!!

So the question out there was….

Which three plates did I come home with?
I showed you fourteen different plate options and the challenge was to pick which three came home with me. Okay, so I said three… I guess I “forgot” to tell you it was TWO of each!!! My bad… oops!

And here are the Winners…

Beautifully slip-patterned & glazed plates by Ryan Greenheck.

And then we found these amazing plates during the stop at Will Swanson’s studio.
They are not only beautiful & stunning… but also incredibly crafted by the twosome of Ikuzi Teraki & Jeanne Bisson. The weight of the plates is amazing, the geometry, the simplicity, the texture, the feel, the color, the everything!!!

And I couldn’t stop at one set… because these ones were calling my name as well. Another amazing set of porcelain plates by Ikuzi Teraki & Jeanne Bisson.

So there are the winners in my little Plate Challenge.
Greenheck…     Teraki-Bisson…    and Teraki-Bisson.

Sure I should have stopped there. No need to get greedy… but c’mon…
With so much incredible pottery all over the place, how could I be expected to stop?!
So I also “had” to have these beauties as well…

Another set of bowl-plates by Bob Briscoe. I already have three sets of these and I use them almost every single day. I love them… I have three different colors & patterns, so what’s one more?

Plus, I “needed” to add another piece to my already-too-large” collection of Matt Metz pieces. He’s been working with a slightly new style with some new colors… including this buttery yellow.

I also got a set of tumblers by Shoko Teruyama… destined to be a beautiful new addition to my Mug Collection. Sure, they’re not mugs, but c’mon… they’re beautiful.

And who could resist a one-eyed panda?! Not me apparently!

The little add-on, unexpected purchase was this mask by Jenny Mendes. I was kind of hoping to get a mug for the “collection”… but Jenny doesn’t make mugs apparently?! Plus this rabbit-eared face was so much cooler, and so typically Jenny.

Another annual stop during the Minnesota Pottery Tour is a visit with The Rogue Potters. A fun group of wood-firing potters who aren’t really part of the “official” tour… but with a little grassroots marketing & signage, they’ve created a fun “addition” to the Tour. While there, I picked up this mug by Randal Anderson.

So there’s the recap. Another wonderful Pottery Tour up in the St. Croix area of Minnesota. So many potters. So many pots. So much fun. And so inspiring & rejuvenating… I need to make some more pots!!!

“The Quite White Collection” made its big debut this weekend…
a surprising & enjoyable departure from my soda-fired, colored work.
One bowl found the perfect companion while on my booth shelf.

Thank you to everyone who came out to Schaumburg this weekend.
It was great fun to play with everyone in the park. So much fun to see my pottery going off to “live” in new homes. Saturday was beautiful & amazing. Sunday was spotty… and ended with a bit of rain.

All in all, another great art fair in Schaumburg…
and as a side benefit, my tent got “washed clean” at the same time?!!!
And now drying down in the basement before packing away for Hinsdale…

After yesterday’s amazing sunrise, today was quite the opposite!!!
No sun. No rise. Just clouds and a LOT of wind!!!

On a good note… the lifeguard chairs are back. A welcome harbinger of Summer!!!

Who says a panoramic shot has to be horizontal?