Clear skies… but surprisingly chilly & windy. Let’s just say…
that the ride south to the City was a lot more fun than the headwind coming back!

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Me liken’ the lichen. You lichen???
Or am I just barking up the wrong tree?

Happy Monday.
Happy mini-Mugshot Monday!!!

A great day of biking today as we completed our first Century of the season! We made it through a very hot & windy day from Crystal Lake up into Wisconsin and back. So much fun… with some great rest stops along the way. Crazy cyclists like Chris refueling with bagels for carbs, peanut butter for protein, pickles for salt… and the “Superman” neon rainbow bagel just for the fun of it!!!

As always.. the best” part of biking is STOPPING!
So of course we had to stop on the side of the road for a few alpacas!!!

Pedaled down to the 57th Street Art Fair today to see my friend Sarah Chapman
in booth #608. Got totally sidetracked by the pie!!!

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So I got an email from one of my Facebook Fans… Kate Chenok, a potter from the San Francisco area. She told me she was traveling for business and would LOVE to stop by my studio to meet me. She gave me her travel schedule and it aligned with the classes I teach on Mondays & Tuesdays. She suggested I check out her website to see her work… so I did. And I saw these wonderful little “folded mugs” on her website. And a plan started to develop…

Sure, she could easily stop by the studio and sit-in one of my classes while my students were working during Week #9. But I had a better plan… I figured it might be fun if Kate Chenok stopped by and then do a quick demo for my students! Perfect timing. Perfect plan!

So I asked her to swing by the studio on a Tuesday night. We’re in Week #9 of the ten-week session, and I thought my Beginner’s might like a little handbuilding “break” from the wheel. Kate got here a t little late… so we did a quick tour of my studio and Lillstreet… and then it was right into my classroom. Quick introduction and she was on for the demo.

We threw some quick slabs, and she showed how she adds texture using assorted texture forms, vinyl placemats, corrugated cardboard and more.

She then shared the patterns she uses to cut our a shape from the slab. Carefully aligning her textured design with the shape of the cut-out pattern.

And then that cut-out shape was carefully rolled and seamed together with angled edges… carefully seaming the seam with as little fudging & smudging as possible. The cutout darted sections are also scored, slipped and stuck together. Basically folding in the bottom of the cup.

After the darts are connected, she took a second to smooth out the interior and double-checking the security of the seam. All the while trying to keep the exterior pattern as clean and smudge-less as possible.

The square bottom “hole” that is created by the folding in of the darts needs to be filled. Another small piece of textured slab is scored and slipped into place.

After securing the bottom, a little refining of the rim is in order.

And then there’s the question of the seam. Is it smooth enough? Does it need to blend in better? Or should it be made more apparent?… or even decorated with little stamped buttons?!

After Kate finished her demo, we encouraged my students to step up and give it a go. Some of them were very excited… you could see it on their faces during the demo. So they pulled out their slabs and texture tools  and dove right in!!!

Kate was great… so sharing with her knowledge and time. Helping my students through every step of the process.

Such focus and determination by Carmina and Grace…

And here’s one of the “finished” pieces… a very sweet little pitcher that Grace made. She’s become quite the master of texture… and even added a bit of slip detail on top of the textured surface!!!

Huge thanks once again to Kate for stopping by and playing with my students. We all had a great time and learned a lot from her.

To see more about Kate Chenok and her work,
including her wonderful folded mugs, click here for her website.

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So the students in the  the Montessori School of Lake Forest, Adolescent Program have been working hard on their totem pole. My friend Claire has been working with them to create their final masterpiece. They’ve used my blog as inspiration & reference as I’ve made a few totems in my day. So I was excited when Claire contacted me to tell me about their project. And now they’re in the final stretch. And plans are in the works for the installation of their totem.

It was a rather dreary day when they assembled their totems. First with a rebar pole down the center, then stacking and filling it up section by section.

At some point along the way, the people that purchased their totem decided they wanted three shorter totems instead of the one tall one. Of course I would prefer the  one tall one, but that’s just me. And since the kids had planned on just one totem, they had made just one topper. So now they need three!!! Unfortunately, the additional toppers can’t be made “immediately” so they decided to top them off with blue potter’s buckets. Safe keeping to protect them from filling with water. When the final topper pieces are built and fired, they will finish them off… and hopefully send me more pictures!!!

So for now their totems are “done.” Standing proud.  And they look amazing!
Congratulations to Claire and all of the adolescents who took part in this special project.
Thanks for sharing your totem pole adventure with me! I can’t wait to see the finished totems!

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Another crystal clear morning with quiet ripples on the lake.
The weather this week has been pretty darn amazing!

Happy morning. Happy ride. Happy JUNE!!!