Time to “cook” some pumpkins! Just loading one last bisque kiln before this weekend’s soda firing. Lots of pumpkins going in… hopefully all DRY so we don’t have any pumpkin explosions this time around?!

A quiet morning along the lakefront… a lot quieter than yesterday! Didn’t have 7,000 athletes crowding the lakefront for the CHICAGO TRIATHLON. Instead, just some low-flying cloud cover… with a little sunrise trying to work itself through. A great start to the day… and a chance to work some of that lactic acid out of my muscles from yesterday’s race!

Looks like Ashley is giving her new tulipiere a little test run at home! Sure, they may not be tulips?… but this flower arrangement looks AMAZING!!! I love when a pottery “challenge” in class comes together and something beautiful like is the result. Nicely done Ashley… we love it!

Pieces & parts… looks like Amy has a great start on her part of our collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN!!! Remember my mini cutie-patooties?… well this little handful of metal will somehow work together with them??? Can’t wait to see where she’s going with these…

After the the CHICAGO TRIATHLON (en route back to the Transition Area to reclaim our gear) Tracy and I took a moment for our annual Buckingham Fountain photo-shoot! Always fun to play around with a friend… and even though I live in Chicago, somehow I turn into a total “tourist” when it comes to Chicago Landmarks! Bring out the camera…

So today was another day “playing” down on the Chicago lakefront! Another CHICAGO TRIATHLON under my belt. I went once again for the full International distance… basically a one mile swim in Lake Michigan, followed by twenty-five miles of biking on Lake Shore Drive & Lower Wacker Drive & ending with a six mile run along the lakefront south to 31st Street Beach and back through the Museum Campus towards the Finish Line near the Art Institute.

It was a fun day overall. I felt pretty confident & strong… even though the conditions were less than ideal. The second half of the swim was so choppy it felt like a washing machine! Riding south on Lake Shore Drive all directly into the headwind. And the run was very sunny & humid… so excited to make it to the Finish Line!!!

Batch number two DONE!… and DRYING!!!
Again, I need to make sure they’re completely dry before they go into a bisque kiln. To help speed that along, I’m drying them on an elevated plastic grid so that they can get some air exposure from the bottom too!

So my second batch of pumpkins is coming along nicely… stems, warts, colored flashing slip. Check, check & check!

Looks like the uber-talented Mary Foster has a great start on some new mini paintings for ART IN THE GARDEN… now if only they had some great ceramic frames to go with them?! Oh wait… sounds like another collaboration in the making?! I think there’s a “pretty good chance” you might see the final collaborations in two weeks at ART IN THE GARDEN. Just a hunch…

So apparently this is what happens when you go into the studio early in the morning… and have that nagging feeling that you might not have enough pieces to fill next weekend’s soda kiln?! And you have a little panic… and start throwing MORE!!!

It’s gonna be tough to get these all stamped, trimmed, dried, bisqued & glazed before going into my soda kiln next weekend!

Uh oh… tick-tock, tick-tock…