A couple weeks ago his gallery show closed… but I just ran across these photos and thought I should share. Gabriel Mo was one of the Resident Artists in the Metals Department at Lillstreet Art Center. Unfortunately, the term of his Residency was great affected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Coming to Lillstreet with such hope & promise, but then finding it all changed as the world changed so quickly for everyone.

At the end of his Lillstreet Residency, there was a small Gallery Showing of his work in the Lillstreet Annex Gallery on the second floor. I passed through the show many times as I was on my way to my studio. Alsways enamored by the architectural style, the crisp lines, the contrast of metals… and the fact that they’re all “kinetic” pieces that move, swing, swivel, open, close, etc. A simple touch in the right places made all the difference… and it was great to see the sketches with the pieces as well.

But for me… it was ALL ABOUT THE SHADOWS!!!
Sure, his metalwork was amazing, but I was intrigued by the shadows!

Sadly his show has alrady been taken down from the Lillstreet Gallery Annex. Although you can click here to see more on Gabriel’s website.

And a huge THANKS to Pam Robinson for coordinating this show and creating a moment of beauty during the Corona pandemic. While everything was shut down, people sheltered-at-home, and Chicago opening back up so slowly… Pam found a way to work through the safety issues to create this socially-distant Gallery Opening to celebrate Gabriel’s work, and his time at Lillstreet. Surely NOT what he expected his Artist-in-Residence time to be like!

Sweet little stamped vase with some sweet little flowers!
Thanks Rosene for this little retro-feeling vignette photo!

Another dark start for my morning ride. Not a lot of sunrise spectacle… but it was great to find that the lakefront bike trail has finally been re-opened from North Avenue to Navy Pier… with a few sections repaired after the erosion & pavement issues from last winter. Now if we could just do “something” to take care of the lake flooding right up & over the shore and onto the bike trail.

While I was at it tonight… I also stamped a larger flower pot… which was my “demo-on-demand” demo request Tuesday night before we did the bowls!!! Thanks Christy!

After making a batch of ten basic bowls last Tuesday night… and showing them how to do some quick alterations to the rims to make each one unique. But then again, you know my mantra… MORE IS MORE!!! So I did some more!!! Some stamping & indenting of rims, adding patterns & textures… just to make them one small step over-the-top!

Here’s a few of the bowls… and the some of the tools I used to make the magic!

So for now, the ten bowls have all been “accented & detailed” a bit. They are back under plastic for the night as I hope to trim them tomorrow night.

It was a beautiful day to get outside and play hooky on my bike. Strange how different this all looks during daylight hours?! Huh.

And what’s YOUR punchline?!
To go with this cool, kinda-retro mural in the Bucktown Neighborhood.

So our baby blocks finally came out of the kiln…
and I got together last night with Molly & Jacob to drop them off!

Remember, we made these ceramic blocks last session pre-Covid during our Lillstreet Throwdown class. Newly pregnant at the time, but now they’re one month away from their due date! They loved their baby blocks… so ADORABLE… and I loved the Lickety Split frozen custard we went out for afterwards too!

My orchids are still blooming in my kitchen window! This is one of the orchids that is re-blooming all on its own… and it keeps surprising me how much longer these blooms are lasting than any store-bought orchids that are already in mid-bloom!

Gotta love a good spiral… whether it’s monochromatic or ombre’! Just some more time last night playing with colored slips in my demo bowls! Spinning spirals… always FUN!!!