Yesterday was a beautiful day for a roadtrip… so I decided to head south for a pottery delivery from my last online Facebook sale! Sure, I could have shipped it… but if I did that I wouldn’t get MORE FUDGE!!! My friends Keith & Julie opened MAURIE’S CANDY in Eureka, Illinois so I thought it would be fun to surprise them with their new pottery! Surprise on me… they weren’t there!!!

But two of their employees Rob & Tracy were eager to accept the package, and sell me some more FUDGE!!! We had a great visit… but as I was leaving I thought I overheard them say something about “splitting it”??? Not sure what that means?!!!

So I spent part of the night “processing” my clay… taking bags of kinda-wet reclaim, kinda-dry stoneware, and some random scraps of clay left over in a few bags sitting around my studio. It’s always nice to work them all together to make a “new” clay that is all evenly blended… and to get rid of a bunch of random clay bags lying around my studio!

Instead of wedging them all together, I like to alternate thinly sliced layers of each clay. Then I take the stack and cut it in half vertically… stacking one half on top of the other half. A little slam on the table, and then I repeat the slicing, stacking & slamming. Time after time. Eventually the clay layers thin out enough that the clay appears to be blended.

You can see that every time you slice and stack, the layers are getting thinner & thinner…

Sure, it still needs a little bit of wedging… but this is so much easier than wedging all of the clays together from the start!

Dramatic sunset effects drifting above Lillstreet… sometimes it pays off to look away… and to see what’s behind you even when a stunning sunset is in front of you!

As seen from the third floor at Lillstreet Art Center tonight.
I’m more of a sunrise guy… partially because our Chicago sunsets always have “something” in the way!

Okay sure, maybe there were some trees, fences, silhouettes, a lighthouse and a sunrise too! Another beautiful start to the day.

Get out and enjoy it today!!!

So after playing hooky all day on my bike while it was gorgeous outside…
I finally made it into the studio for a very productive evening!
Throwing LOTS of parts & pieces for another big project!

Looks like the remodeling at Lillstreet is coming along nicely… gradually preparing to open again to the public for classes starting in July! Hopefully. Of course we all know a LOT can happen between now & then… but they’re trying their best to make it safer & healthier for everyone when classes start again!

And look at all those new shelves waiting to be filled with pots!!!

Looks like the perfect spot for a quick rest by the lake. Blue skies, nice breeze… and another gorgeous day to play hooky outside on my bike!!!

But then again, I kinda think EVERY day is good for playing hooky!!!

Another day of packing & shipping out some pots…
before going outside to play!!!

With all of the protests & riots over the past weeks, infamous street artist Banksy has expressed his thoughts through images & words on his Instagram feed. Very thoughtful and well stated… as I would have expected.

For those who are not aware of Banksy and his work… Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director, active since the 1990s. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique.

He’s kind of a big deal.