Spent the evening in the studio doing some more trimming with my new DiamondCore Tools! Their new trimming tools are pretty sweet… nice & sharp as you would expect, a comfortable wooden handle, and a bonus “carved shape” on the end of each one! Looks like they’ve just found their “new home” in my studio. Gotta LOVE some good pegboard!!!

Finally a few morning clouds for the sun to play with!
It was another beautiful morning… very quiet, very still.
So nice to start the day calmly with such a serene sunrise.

Looks like Kelly is enjoying her birthday with a yummy piece of pecan pie… in one of my sgraffito-carved bowls that she bought as a birthday present to herself.

Remember when people would actually write cards, letters & postcards… well, we’re bringing it back!!! My friends Emma & Clayton have started a new program to get people writing again… THE POSTCARD CLUB. I just got my first packet of postcards with some of Emma’s cool photographs on them! Can’t wait to mail them out… but to who?… that’s the question!

For more info… https://thepostcardclub.com/

By now you’ve probably figured out that I’m a huge Cirque du Soleil fan… err, groupie!
My first show was ALEGRIA on Chicago’s North Pier and was completely mesmerized by the magic, music & magnificence! I was hooked instantly… as soon as the singer hit the first few notes of the theme song!!! I bought the CD right there & then… and have listened to it like six million times!

I’ve since seen practically every show… and even worked for them when VAREKAI and DRALION came to Chicago! Yes, I’m a dork. And yet somehow it’s hard to believe that they’ve been around for thirty-six years already! So much fun to see their more meager beginnings here in this video… and how much they have changed & grown over the years!

From the Cirque du Soleil Facebook page…
The Cirque du Soleil story began 36 years ago today. We want to mark the occasion with you, our fans, who have supported us all these years with a special re-watch of our classics: Nouvelle Expérience, Saltimbanco and Cirque Réinventé.

Click here to watch the video on Facebook!

Another beautiful morning… no clouds, no wind, no worries. Just a very quiet sunrise along the lakefront. Simple reflections. Simple pleasures.

Tonight I painted all of the parts & pieces with a few different colored flashing slips. It will be fun to see how the colors interact with the soda-firing atmosphere in the kiln. Creating cool flashing marks on the pieces… adding a bit of “random” to my kinda obsessive control issues while stamping! Ha!!!

So the buds have finally opened on my dendrobium orchid… so exciting as it’s re-blooming for me for the very first time!!! Seemingly with “nothing but neglect” as its care regimen… maybe a splash of water if & when I remember?! Sure, there may not be a lot of flowers on this one… but it’s still pretty exciting. Guess my orchids have enjoyed quarantine a bit more than me!

This morning’s “cloud-free” sunrise was pretty… but it was this wonderful “community” mural at Sheridan & Howard that caught my attention. I loved the sense of whimsy & depicting the community all working together. The sunrise was just getting to it… illuminating the top section as I continued to pedal home.

For more about this mural… CLICK HERE for Matt Bourque’s website post about this mural.

Looks like Kristy has been cooking up a bowl full of yumminess up in Wisconsin! I can almost taste it from here… thanks for sharing!