Clouds. Wind. With a small sliver of sunrise peeking through.
Just enough to catch a few waves before the sky lit-up with a beautiful “splotchy” sunrise!

And while my beginning Beginners were finishing up their mugs, my returning Advanced Beginners took on my “Throwing With Intention Challenge.” The goal is to draw three pieces of paper out of the hat, and then make whatever shape they tell you to. Throwing with intention rather than letting the wheel take over… and being “satisfied” with whatever the wheel gives you! After a little hesitancy, the Advanced Beginners tackled the challenge with ease & finesse. They must have has a great teacher?!!! Ha.

Tonight was our third class of the new class session at Lillstreet. And my “newbies” tackled their first mugs tonight. They all did great. It’s only Week Three and they’ve already done wedging, centering, throwing, cylinders, trimming and handles too!!! They’re off to a great start.

Sunrise?… not today.
Today was just a “Layer of Gray-er.”

I have some wonderful customers.
Always supportive. Always sharing. Always collecting.

Especially this family who have decided to create a “special place” in their kitchen to house their Fire When Ready Pottery mug collection. From what I’ve heard, there were a couple “false steps” along the way… but it looks like the installation this time was a success! And it looks like it was a full family project with both Dennis & Ann climbing in to get the project done… and Allison presumably behind the camera!!!

They came to ART IN THE BARN on Saturday, bought a few more mugs, and apparently tackled this “little” project yesterday.

Good thing Dennis is a chiropractor… I’m just sayin’.
And it looks pretty great. Easy access shelving for all of their favorite mugs!
Three sections “floating” above the counter-top. Right within arm’s distance.

And now they’ve been filled with mugs!!!

Okay, so I see a few “imposters” along the way… we’ll need to work on that. I might give a little slack to my friend Cory McCrory’s dotted lime green mug, but the others have got to go. Maybe relegated back into the cabinet from whence they came?! Sure, that crystalline mug looks pretty sweet too… but really?… back in the cabinet!!!

Thanks so much for sharing these photos…
and for giving my mugs such a place of honor in your kitchen!!! Love you guys!!!

Sweeping clouds covering the sky. With some enchanting flickering “firefly” installations courtesy of Sprint. A beautiful morning for reflection… and bike reflections!

A few minutes later…. the sky was getting bluer and the “globes” seemed a little warmer.

Still a lot of clouds in the sky. And yet there was still hope of a beautiful sunrise.
Sadly… no go. Close, but not quite…

Instead, I got some really cool bike reflections along the lake’s edge.

More clouds. More potential. A window of opportunity that never quite lined up.

Always good to see pollination in action… up close & personal.
Nature is pretty darn incredible.

Last night was the ArtBash Gala Fundraiser to benefit ArtReach Chicago. Unfortunately I couldn’t go to the ArtBash because of ART IN THE BARN conflicting on the same weekend. But I did get a opportunity to donate ten soda-fired tumblers for the VIP Swag Bags.

Exciting to see some of the happy faces that sent me a Selfie from the evening’s Gala festivities! Hope their “adult beverages” tasted even better in one of my stamped tumblers!

Ready for another day of fun at ART IN THE BARN.
It’s Day Two and it looks like another beautiful day in Barrington!
I’ve re-stocked and put everything back in its place. Not only do I have a spacious double booth… but I also have a great “backyard” space to overflow into as well. The perfect place to display some larger ClayQuilts… and the requisite Fall mum.

Gray skies with just a tiny splash of pink…
for just a brief moment of time. Then back to gray…