And oh, but wait there’s more... looks like there’s yet another hour-long special for we Cirque du Soleil Fans!!! This time it’s the show “ZED”… which only performed in Japan! So this might be your only chance to see this special show!!!

Click here to watch the hour-long video of “ZED” on Facebook.

So what’s YOUR all-time favorite Cirque du Soleil show???

Another wonderful installment from the folks at Cirque du Soleil… and even better… this time it’s a SING-A-LONG!!! And for those of you who don’t already know the words… like I do… they’ll run the words along the bottom so you can sing along too! They feature quite a few of their shows in this montage… only two of which I haven’t seen live!

Click here to watch the Cirque du Soleil SiNG-A -LONG Special on Facebook!

With Mother’s Day just over two weeks away, I’m pretty sure people are starting to think about what they should buy for Mom! And what could be better than some handmade pottery… how about a vase or pitcher that could hold that bouquet of flowers you SHOULD be giving Mom on her special day!

So this blog post is just a SNEAK PREVIEW of what’s going to go up on sale tomorrow on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook Page at 10:00am CST.

Plan ahead… pick & choose… I’m showing most of them from both sides as the soda-firing process is often very random and has different glaze & flashing effects on all sides! Once the “official” Photo Album of all these pieces is posted on my Facebook page, it will be a “first-come, first-served, grab-it-while-you-can” free for all!!!

Pitcher #1 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #2 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #3 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #4 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #5 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #6 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Pitcher #7 – soda-fired – 5.5″x 6.5″x 6.5″
$85 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

And oh, but wait there’s more…
Traditional vases… without spouts or handles!
Nothing too grand or huge, just a nice medium-sized vase for a bouquet of flowers!… or even a crock for kitchen tools?!

Vase #1 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5″
$50 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #2 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5″
$50 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #3 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5″
$50 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #4 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5″
$50 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #5 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #6 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #7 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #8 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #9 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #10 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 5.5″
$55 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #11 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 6.25″
$65 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #12 – soda-fired – 4.5″x 4.5″x 6.25″
$65 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #13 – soda-fired – a little bit larger… 6″x 6″x 7.5″
$75 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Vase #14 – soda-fired – a little bit smaller… 3.5″x 3.5″x 4.5″
$45 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

And then there’s these cuties… from my “Quite White Collection.”
After doing a bunch of soda-firing and colorful cone six firings, I decided to switch it up a bit and try doing the anti-thesis of all that… with pure & plain white! Still thrown & stamped in the same manner… just totally WHITE!!!

Quite White Vase #1 – high-fired porcelain – 3.5″x 3.5″x 4.75″
$45 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

Quite White Vase #2 – high-fired porcelain – 4″x 4″x 5″
$50 includes packing & shipping within contiguous US.

So there we have it… a lot of options…
vases & pitchers that could be the perfect gift for Mom!!!… `

I will be posting the “official” Facebook Photo Album on my pottery page tomorrow at 10:00am CST. The first person to place a comment of “MINE” on any of the photos within that “official” Photo Album will get that piece of pottery. We can work out several different easy-peezy payment methods and I’ll ship it out to you right away. So you’ll have plenty of time to buy a bouquet of flowers for Mom to go with her new pottery.

Okay… who am I kidding…
You can do it for yourself too… or even surprise someone else!
I know times are tough… days are difficult… and any little bit of brightness & joy can make all the difference as we all struggle through these trying times!

Thank You.

Another quiet & solitary night in the studio… no one around to divert my attention from throwing some more bowls. Just getting started on a fresh batch of new berry bowls. More to come!

My friend Donna Sauers posted a very thoughtful post on her Facebook page yesterday about how important art friends are during these trying times. And I have to agree. Being sheltered-in-place alone at home can be very quiet & lonely… but it’s great to be surrounded by a lot of artwork made by your Talented Friends! And we’re all looking forward to the day art fairs may start again, so we can get out to show-off our wares, and finally play with our Talented Friends again face-to-face!

I’ve collected a lot of art… and well as “collected” a lot of Talented Friends over the past few years. It is so great to have talented friends to play with, chat with, collaborate with and to help support & promote each other! So here’s Donna’s original post sharing some of her “collection”… including art by me & my Talented Friend Cory McCrory! Cory makes amazingly whimsical paper clay pieces, and Donna makes beautiful glass beads, jewelry and some new welded-metal-mixed media pieces!!! Check them both out on Facebook… while you’re still sitting on the sofa waiting for that commercial to end!

Yesterday I did my first ZOOM Meeting with a group of high school art students! I was contacted by art teacher Jason Catellier from Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Indiana. Apparently he and his ceramics students have found my blog, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook online and have been following me for awhile. They’ve used my stamped & textured work as “inspiration” for some of their class projects as well. Here are a couple examples of the student’s work…

So when Jason asked if I would be interested & available for a ZOOM Meeting with his students, I said YES!!! I’m fully aware of how so many teachers are scrambling and trying to figure out “new ways” to teach their students online with e-learning during this pandemic. So I figured if I could help out in any way… I’m in. It’s not like I have a whole lot of other busy engagements and things to do these days, right?!!!

So Jason set-up the ZOOM Meeting and sent me a link… for 3:00pm on Wednesday. I marked my calendar… I put a reminder on my phone… I even put a Post-it Note on my bathroom mirror… 3:00pm Wednesday! Got it.

So yesterday I was home in the morning. The sky was too cloudy & gray early in the morning so there was no real sunrise to make the morning bike ride worthwhile. Instead, I went for a late morning run through the neighborhood, came home, showered, had lunch and got ready to go into the studio. I was planning on taking my laptop with so I could get the screen all set-up with a good ZOOM angle & vantage point. I wanted to set-up my studio a bit better for a stamping demo, a little studio tour, and more! I’ve not done a big group ZOOM like this before… just a couple small ZOOM’s with family & friends. So I wanted to be prepared.

As I was looking up Jason’s e-mail with the ZOOM Meeting info and password so I write it down to take with me to the studio… I sent Jason a very quick confirmation e-mail as I was getting ready to leave my place… basically “See you in an hour!”

And that’s when it hit me… 3:00pm EASTERN TIME!!!

Not CENTRAL TIME like Chicago is!!!
So it was already 3:00pm there in Brownsburg!!!

INSTANT PANIC!!!

So I grabbed my stuff, dashed to my car and called into the ZOOM Meeting… so much for my planned preparation, set-up and calmness! Suddenly I was in my car driving… and trying to be cordially, chatty & engaging with these students I’ve never met! Yep, a great first impression, huh?

So there I am in the bottom left corner driving… with sunglasses… a terrible angle… and a weird “virtual background” which was still on my ZOOM from my last meeting with my sister & niece!

About ten minutes later, I arrived at Lillstreet Art Center to get into my studio. I decided to give them a quick tour of the first floor classrooms and kiln room. Nothing too exciting as there is basically nobody there working these days… just a lot of empty classrooms at this point! You can see the classroom I teach my Wheelthrowing Classes in towards the bottom right corner…

Kinda grainy when enlarged too much… sorry…

I finally made it up to my studio, took off my coat, did a couple deep-breaths… situated my iPhone for the meeting… instead of the laptop I had planned on using. Also, it took me a little while to figure out the volume situation… it was great in my car as it went through the car speakers. During the Lillstreet Tour I didn’t really notice the volume… as I’m sure I was babbling a bit and rambling with too much adrenaline from running late! It wasn’t until I got in my studio and settled in that I felt like we were back on track! Sorry Jason… my bad!!! Eastern time… who’da thunk?!

So we talked about my “journey” into pottery and how I’ve gotten to where I am now. I shared my story and answered a few questions along the way. We talked about following your passions, and listening to yourself, trusting your instincts and doing the things you love doing. We talked about art fairs, selling work and how much I LOVE art fairs with face-to-face interactions with customers. We talked about how to develop a personal style in your work, how to find your niche. I just kept talking… which many of you know is NOT too much of a stretch for me!

In my studio, we also did a little overview of the soda-firing process. So many schools don’t have that availability, so I tried to explain the process, the results and why soda-firing is so cool!!! You can kinda see me showing off a couple soda-fired vases in the bottom middle area…

And then I did a stamping demo for them. I had thrown a couple bowls the night before so they might be ready to stamp. They were a little wetter & squishier than I would have liked, but I set a few fans on them while we talked trying to set them up quickly. Once they were good to go… and we had a lull in the conversation… I re-set my camera angle… and started a quick bowl stamping demo for them to watch.

I totally diggin’ this little Brady Bunch moment as seen above… like they can really see me by looking down, or looking up?!

A little more stamping, a little more detailing…
a little more chatting about how I decorate my pieces, how I keep the round & not-warped, when I trim them, and how I dry them upside-down.

The meeting was originally scheduled for a 30-minute session for these kids. About an hour later, we started wrapping it up. Okay, so I like to talk about myself & my pottery! Sue me.

At the end of the meeting, there turned out to be a little friendly “competition” to see who would be the last one standing! They were down to four… me, Jason and two students!

But then Jason realized that quite possibly the girl in the top left corner just had a frozen screen image… as she wasn’t moving or talking! I know my chat was riveting, but I’m sure not enough to “stop someone in their tracks!”

Finally… we got there… and there was a big winner. CONGRATS!!!
If being the last one in a ZOOM meeting is even something to win!?

Jason and I chatted a little more after the students had left… his wife popped in for a second.. and then we were done!

We all hung up on our ZOOM meeting… and I was left with a stamped bowl, some tools to put away, and a great experience of doing my first ZOOM Meeting with an actual “classroom” of kids!

It was a little intimidating at first, and my “hour-start-time-mixup” didn’t help any!!! But once we got going… it was all good. I just hope that this group of high school ceramic students got something out of it. Maybe a little inspiration, a little insight into my technique that will encourage them to try… or just me sharing some basic life-lessons & thoughts. I know Jason mentioned how great it was hearing me echo some of the same comments he tells his kids all the time!

Thank You Jason and the ceramic kids from Brownsburg High School
for making my first ZOOM e-learning session a success! Keep up the good work… as best you can from your quarantined zones!

We will all get through this some how, some way, some time.
Stay safe. Stay creative!!!

Found a few beauties as I was walking up the street at home.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed these double? ruffled? bi-color? daffodils
before in my neighbor’s yard?!

Made Earth Day today a little more special.

Celebrating a little EARTH DAY today with some new growth after the rain … hoping that someday soon we’ll all be cleared to go outside to enjoy it, right?!!!

For today’s run, I strayed from my usual loop… heading north into Rogers Park and finding some more beautiful murals under the train tracks… like these wonderful birds under the bridge at Glenwood & Greenleaf.

You know I love a good spiral…
and I’m kinda fond of stamped patterns…
so here’s another soda-fired & stamped bowl to celebrate TEXTURE TUESDAY!