Everyone asked to see the masks after the soda-firing… so here they are fresh out of the kiln! Pretty excited about them. Still a bit warm in these photos… and now I need to add “dangling eyeballs” and wires to hang them on the backside!

Coming soon to ART IN THE BARN in Barrington…
three weeks on September 22nd & 23rd!

Fired, cooled and door bricks removed… everything looks good so far!!!
Can’t wait to see all of the “treasures” hidden inside.
And yes, all of the flat pieces that I was concerned about look GREAT!!!

After the rain at Ravinia, it was nice to have clouded skies WITHOUT the rain today! A moment of free-time to hangout on my bike along the lakefront… and taking a quick break at Montrose Harbor.

After pulling an “all-nighter” firing the kiln, and a quickie one-hour nap, last night we were off to Ravinia for a fun concert under the stars… err, clouds… err, umbrellas!!!

We started with some amazing clouds blowing in and great friends with great snacks. They brought wine for themselves, and OREO Handi-Snacks for me!!! They know me so well.

And then it started to rain, and then rain even MORE, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. We “sufffered through” The Thompson Twins who needed a little tune-up, and then the B-52’s rocked the place!!! Only to be topped off with Boy George and Culture Club. He was AMAZING!!! He did all of their hits and sounded perfect – like it hasn’t been over 30 years from when he was popular the first time! He even ended the show with tribute cover songs from Aretha Franklin & Prince. Great show. Great fun… and now to dry out!!! Ironic the night ended with Purple Rain, huh?!

After loading the soda kiln Friday night and “celebrating” with ice cream… I made the normally unpopular decision to pull an “all-nighter” and start up the kiln for the firing long run! It’s normally about a 13-hour firing, so I knew it would be a LONG night into morning.

Upside?… I got to see a nice sunrise from the rooftop deck at Lillstreet.
A nice little pick-me-up part way through!!!