A bit chilly outside today, so I stayed inside taking a bunch of pottery photos with my little “photo booth” set-up… in my kitchen!!!

It was another beautiful Sunday yesterday…
so of course I had to go for another adventure on my bike!
Headed north again enjoying blue skies & beautiful scenery. It was a wonderful day to play outside. I came home with my first tanlines of the season… and I had a WONDERFUL moment hanging out by the lake at Openlands Lakeshore Preserve!

Northwestern University… with its iconic entrance arch.

Bahai Temple… one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the Chicagoland area.

Ravinia Festival… which sadly, has recently announced that they will NOT be opening at all this summer for their ongoing concert series… due to the whole Coronavirus Pandemic!

Openlands Lakeshore Preserve… an amazing natural space up on the far north side. Beautiful, calming and SO much different that the same Lake Michigan lakefront down in the City!

Fort Sheridan – always a beautiful stop up north… and conveniently right next to Openlands Lakeshore Preserve!

Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve – with an amazing scenic overlook. A great view of the lake, the sky… and the surprising lack of people!!!

And some beautiful star magnolias… from “somewhere” along the way! One of my all-time favorites!!!

In the continuation of my pal Gerry’s birthday party in quarantine… looks like Rosene made some freshly baked brownies for him to celebrate… all decked out with candles and a special handmade platter! Sure there may not be frosting… but I know there are extra chocolate chips sprinkled in to make up for it!!!

With this whole self-isolation lock-down thing going on, we couldn’t celebrate Gerry’s birthday together today! Yet I felt somehow “obligated” to celebrate from here… so I “just had to” make some brownies & topped with my favorite ice cream… and a candle just to make it “official.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERRY… I was there in spirit… and in brownies!!!

Just like something out of “The Wizard Of Oz”…
a bucket of water takes down the Wicked Witch of the West!!!
Well, it didn’t take a bucket… and there wasn’t a witch…
but there was a lot of MELTING!!!

So when I was loading my bisque kiln, I was loading boards full of pieces into the kiln. Many of the boards had been stored in the kiln room for a couple weeks… to dry out… as well as to get them out of my small studio space! Some of them have been there for a couple days… some for a couple weeks.

To my surprise… when I took down a board of twelve mugs from the top shelf… and found that “something” had happened to a few of them. They looked weird, and it took some time for me to process what had occured.

Apparently, there was some sort of water dripping down onto them over time. That’s the best solution I’ve come up with. There’s a electrical pipe running along the ceiling about an inch from the corner. Which I think would lineup with the drip marks on the mugs. Yes… if you look closely… I believe this is “erosion” from repeated water drips falling on them!

It had to be happening for awhile… as you can also see drips on the wall! And the amount of “melting” is kinda crazy… I think this must have been going on for quite some time! And since it was on the top shelf and out of eye-sight… who knew?!

You can actually see where there’s an actual hole all the way RIGHT THRU the bottom of the mug!!!… drip… drip… drip… kinda like Chinese Water Torture during the War!!!

Luckily, the mugs can just be broken up and reclaimed again… IT’S JUST CLAY, right?! And I’ve learned a valuable lesson… no more greenware storage on the top shelf… at least not pushed all the way back… until we find out why water might be dripping from an electrical pipe?! Now THAT doesn’t sound good either, right?!

I’m so used to cranking out as much pottery as I can usually this time of year. You know, getting ready for all of the summer art fairs. Racing to meet deadlines. Scheduling and working towards kiln dates… work, work, work. But this whole Coronavirus thing is really screwing up my mojo! With all of the summer art fairs being cancelled one after another, it’s weird to NOT have that kind of pressure & incentive to keep busy in the studio. Plus, the fact that there is NO ONE around in the studio… there’s no excitement or “energy” there either! It’s just WEIRD.

But, I have been working in the studio… trying to keep busy… trying to maintain some sort of “normalcy” in my life. Trying to find it anywhere I can! So I finally made enough work to fill a bisque kiln. So here it is… layer-by=layer. Not my tightest packed kiln… but it did feel good loading & closing the lid!

Bisque Layer #1 – mugs, oval vases, bowls & ornaments

Bisque Layer #2 – more oval vases, bowls, square vases, berry bowls and more ornaments!

Bisque Layer #3 – sgraffito platters, platters, spoon rests, tiny bowls and a square vase!

Bisque Layer #4 – more berry bowls, mugs, bowls and couple square vases

Bisque Layer #5 – small plates for berry bowls stacked to fit.

i didn’t think I even had quite enough work to fill the kiln. Turns out that I did… as there were still a few pieces that didn’t quite fit into this load. Luckily, the top shelf worked out pretty well… loading pretty much right to the top. Not a lot of extra space there!

Desperate times call for desperate measures! So glad to see that my friend Julie has been taking care of herself & staying healthy with a little “retail therapy!” And supporting artists & local businesses at the same time! Thank You so much Julie… we all appreciate it! Distinct bath & body, Bachor pothole art… and ME!!!

In keeping with the weekly installments from CIRQUE DU SOLEIL…
here’s a special fundraising performance they did awhile back “One Night For One Drop.” But this time, the episode is interspersed with extra footage, shelter-at-home-rehearsals and special guests!

Click here to watch the full video performance on Facebook!

You even get to see the Kevin & Andrew Atherton, the aerial straps flying twins we all met during VARAKAI… how they are surviving at home with their kids – who will definitely be performing on the stage soon!!! Enjoy!

Okay… little-known fact here… besides me being a huge Cirque du Soleil dork!!! I have actually met Andrew & Kevin during their stint here in Chicago for VAREKAI. I had just watched the reality show based on the making of VAREKAI called “The Fire Within.” So we already had “met them” through the television. So when they arrived here in Chicago with the rest of the case… many of which we had also “already met” on TV. It was a little weird…’cuz you kinda felt like you already KNOW them!

Oh, but wait there’s more…

I actually worked with Cirque du Soleil for two seasons here in Chicago. I ushered the full-run of VAREKAI and DRALION while they were here. Yep, I said I was a dork, right?! So I still had my full-time corporate job, as well as pottery classes and TA’ing at Lillstreet. So why not add on more work?!!! Somehow I squeezed it all in. And LOVED IT!!! I mean… you get to see the shows for free, from all different angles & vantage points – and they PAY YOU!!! Plus, you get to go backstage, meet the performers & band, eat in the cafeteria with them, and hang out with sometimes on Mondays when the show is dark. The perfect “job” for a huge Cirque du Soleil fan like yours truly! Ahhh… the memories…

I still remember the day I called my parents to tell them that I got a new job and I was “running away to join the circus!” They didn’t find it as humorous as I did… but it was true! How many times do you actually get to use that line?!!!

And it looks like Ruth is enjoying some fresh blueberries… in her “appropriately designed” berry bowl! What a weird coincidence… I never really thought that THAT stamp with some blue colored slip would look that great with fresh blueberries!!! Who knew?!

Looks like my buddy is kicking off his birthday morning with a morning FaceTime with some of his kids… and a cup of Joe in one of my mugs!!! Looks like a great way to start the day!!!