Who doesn’t love Summer Camp?
Today was my first day back to Summer Camp with a huge group of 17 kids getting all sloppy & muddy on the wheel. So funny. So messy. So much fun!

Apparently we made “the news” in the Chicago Tribune online. And if it’s on the Internet it has got to be true, right?! Huge thanks to everyone who came out to Hinsdale this weekend. We had a great time playing with so many people who went home with some new pottery!!! Thanks again. And special thanks to the Tribune for calling out me and my friend & glass bead jeweler Donna Sauers… and for making us both “popular” and “regular”?!

After a great art fair weekend in Hinsdale, I had an even better bike ride this morning.
The sky was great. Great clouds. Great colors. A great start to the day.

And now off to my first day of SUMMER CAMP!!!

After more than a “few” years…
I finally broke down and purchased a new cooler for my art fair snacks.
With the heat & humidity yesterday, chilled beverages were very necessary!!!

So here’s the story… a few years back, I found this Igloo Brand cooler in the parking lot of my summer job. It seemed to be in good condition, so I kept it, cleaned it up and have been using it for art fairs ever since. Okay, so it’s been a “few” years. Let’s just say, it was in the parking lot of Pirate’s Cover Theme Park. Which was my summer job through college!!! So this “garbage-picked” cooler has served me well. It wasn’t until my last art fair in Schaumburg that the click-closure button broke. And the cooler wouldn’t stay closed any longer. Of course I thought I would be able to squeak out a few more uses. Because obviously I don’t throw things away… and it had served me well.

Well, it didn’t. As I was carrying my snacks & drinks from my condo to the car, and then from car to my booth in Hinsdale, the “now-unlockable” cooler shifted, swiveled and all of the contents poured out as I was carrying it. Not once. Not twice… but THREE times!!! The last time was in front of my friend & photographer Josh Merrill’s booth. Slight embrrasment… and the decision that I would be stopping off at Target on the way home to buy a new cooler.

Finally.
Let’s hope this “new” cooler lasts as long!

A great start to another beautiful day. The heat & humidity have moved out overnight… and it was actually a bit chilly this morning. It’s going to be a wonderful Day Two for the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival. C’mon by!

The Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival is up & running. We’re in Booth #100 in the shade of a tree with a pretty sweet breeze. Looks like we’ve got beautiful weather in a beautiful park. Burlington Park in downtown Hinsdale today & tomorrow from 10:00-5:00.

Dramatic clouds filled the sky. Giving layers, angles and contrast to the sunrise.
Always the best way to start my day.

Just making a couple larger bowls. I find it’s easier to throw them larger and shape them of the clay is in the firmer side to start with. Easier to throw, but a bit tougher to center. These started out with about 6-pounds of clay each.

After they were thrown & shaped, the let them set-up overnight under some plastic. Then they were good for stamping & detailing.

Here’s the second large bowl in sharp contrast to the smaller cereal bowls on the bats nearby.

The outside is stamped with larger stamps. The inside shows the finger divots and smaller accent stamp. The rim is fluted and detailed.

It’s always so much fun to find out that someone out there is actually reading my blog, watching my videos and trying some of my ideas in their own work. I love sharing and story-telling… Good to know that someone is “listening.”

So I got this great e-mail from a “Fan” who is currently living in Japan.
Apparently, they don’t do much stamping in Japan?!

From an e-mail from David in Japan…
“Gary, I have to thank you for your blog and YouTube videos: they’ve been a brilliant inspiration for me here in Japan. Just by copying a few of the things you have done. I’m trying things here that nobody else, even my teachers, have done before. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve just started, but I think I’ll be stamping for quite a while from now. Thanks again!”