And that’s about as close as we came to seeing the sun today!
Well, the last three days… who am I kidding?!

One of my favorite flowers at the end of Summer… this purple clematis is climbing up the fence in my back courtyard. Striking color & distinctive shapes… and that center stamen & stigma is incredible!!! Hoping that we have a lot more blossoms to come… if we can ever get the sun to shine again after three days of rain & gray!!!

With all that’s going on these days… it’s hard to imagine that nineteen years ago today we went through another horrific tragedy. I remember that day specifically… watching it play out live on TV… shaken, scared, unsure… knowing that the world would be changed forever. And yet somehow the world came back from 911 altered & changed, working together showing resilience & humanity. Which gives me hope that we will come back from this pandemic as well. Sooner than later please.

It’s that time of the year… time when there’s an abundance of cherry tomatoes in everyone’s gardens. Well, those of you who HAVE a garden?!!!… sadly, not me.

But I digress… anyway, pretty little tomatoes need a pretty little bowl! Thanks Heidi for sharing your colorful harvest!!!

For those of who following the progress of the purple hyacinth bean vines growing on my back porch… well, they’re kinda taking over!!! They’ve filled in quite nicely practically covering my “curtain” of rusty gears. The flowers are popping out here & there mostly on the outside… as the gears are showing more on the porch side. The purple bean pods are starting to show up as well… promising a good harvest of seeds to grow again next year!

When Rosene sent me this picture of her grocery produce “harvest” on some of my pottery… it looked a little too much like she was setting up a still life to do a painting!!!

So I went ahead and made it for her!!!

Here’s your chance to come play in the mud with me!!! New for the Fall session starting next week… I’ll be teaching Advanced Wheelthrowing on Thursday mornings from 10:00am-1:00pm. There’s still a couple openings… even though my Beginning & Intermediate Wheel classes are already booked.

Check out www.lillstreet.com to register for Fall classes!!!

And not to be out-done… Melanie had a pretty adorable final piece in her Matryoshka set as well. This teeny-tiny little cat jar was just PRECIOUS!!! Also worth the wait… finally glazed after several months of waiting & sheltering-at-home!

So, after several month of pandemic, quarantines & sheltering-in-place… many of my students from last Winter’s LILLSTREET THROWDOWN have returned to Lillstreet to finish up the projects they were making during my challenges & contest class. One of the best challenges in class was for the students to build a set of Matryoshka Dolls… with a minimum of five pieces that all nestled in on each other. Most of them got their pieces made… but no one had a chance to glaze them as COVID-19 set-in just at the end of class. No time to finish. No time to glaze. Our final THROWDOWN class happened just days before the lockdown!

But now we’re back at Lillstreet… and students have returned to pick-up where they left off. There’s been a lot of glazing going on. Including Christine who won the Matryoshka Challenge… as well as the overall trophy!

Here’s a look at her Matryoshka set that recently came out of the glaze kiln!

Her set was based on the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class itself, and some of the bigger challenges along the way! BRILLIANT!!!

Her largest jar was an homage to… well, err… little embarrassing… ME!!!
It’s not everyday you get memorialized in underglaze!!! Complete with my tie-dyed t-shirt & black gym shorts!!

The other exterior sides of the largest jar hosted shelves of pots and the names of everyone in class! Again, honoring the class, the fun , and everyone who took part in Season Three of THE GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!

Oh… but then it opens up…

And then the second layer was based on the challenge when they all had to make Flower Bricks. Self-enclosed vases with a bunch of holes on the top for the flower stems to go through!

Inside the Flower Brick was a set of Matching Mugs… another one of our weekly class challenges. They were told to incorporate four different patterns & designs on the mugs… stripes, polka dots, paisley and plaid!

Inside the matching mugs, is a set of matching bowls. Another one of our class challenges! Smaller than the actual bowls made for the challenge… but they had to fit inside, right?!

And oh, but wait there’s more…
Inside the stacked bowls was a miniature ceramic OREO cookie!!!

YES!!!… Christine actually made a clay OREO cookie!!!
Okay, so “maybe” I have a bit of an OREO addiction going on.
Perhaps we ate far too many of them during class?!
But good to see that they’re getting honored in Christine’s set!!!

And there it is!!! Well worth the wait!!!
Even though the pandemic is still carrying on… it does feel great to be back at Lillstreet teaching & working. So good to see students back in classes, and campers back at Summer Camp. Happy that we are all making the best of the situation… with more than enough social-distancing, sanitizing, procedures and structural changes within Lillstreet.

Happy to see Christine’s finished set of Matryoshka nesting dolls!
A BRILLIANT concept!!! Thank you Christine for sharing your talents!

Life in the City… and somehow Nature perseveres! Normally just an iron gate to my back courtyard… now with a little “volunteer” petunia nestled in the corner. Struggling to survive… yet flourishing & making me smile every time I see it!