Look… we made it into the Evanston Made advertising!!! Yes, lots of art events & gallery shows all around Evanston on the first Saturday of every month… which just happens to be TOMORROW!!! Be sure to swing by… and then feel free to see the rest of the art shows in Evanston. But come to see us first… just sayin’…

I posted pictures of these tiles a couple days ago… but from the backside as I was stitching them together with copper wire. The pictures got a good amount of lovin’ as the backsides have some great soda flashing marks! But I’m hoping that people like the front side as much or more! I love how the textured tiles came together kinda like a cathedral window quilt. This one-of-a-kind wall piece will also be at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS”… and there’s just one… so it might go fast?!

Enough of the teasers… here’s a quick look of the big collaboration project we’ve all been working on! The “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” have been busy “making”… four tiles each for the four seasons! So sixteen tiles total in one large installation… but first we need to get it up on the wall?! The show opens at 2:00pm today, so we gotta get going quick!

Some of the newest “hybrid mugs” fresh from the kiln! Loving the textures & patterns – and how the soda-firing really makes them POP!!! All of these will be at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” this weekend. I’m guessing they might go fast… so you may want to come early!

Or at least I hope they do…

So here’s a quick peek at another wall installation I made for our “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” gallery show. Each piece is handmade, stamped, glaze-inlaid & soda-fired. I love how a random “constellation” cluster like this can fill a wall so beautifully! Smaller wall?… fewer pieces!!! Easy-peezy!

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall.

And here are the same tiles after soda-firing… framed & ready to be hung on the gallery wall. A fun collaboration challenge for each of us… making thematic tiles using our usual medium & techniques. So some are metal, some are glass, and mine are clay! We’ll have sixteen tiles in the collaboration wall installation. We’re pretty excited to see how it’s coming together… and we hope you can come see it in person this weekend in Evanston!

Okay, so a couple weeks back I made four tiles… as part of the “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” collaboration project based on the four seasons.

Truth be told… these were made for the soda kiln… shown here glazed & stained ready to go into the kiln. But with the randomness & occasional “tragic” results of a soda firing, I knew that I had to have a back-up plan… or two. So this was Plan A : soda fired. But to hedge my bets, I also made Plan B : glazed. And just in case… Plan C : plain tiles with some separate parts & pieces I could stack & add-on to the base tiles. Luckily, Plan A seems to have worked out fine. So I’m going with the Plan A ones for the show!!!

Putting together a little “surprise” for my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students… they might just recognize a few of these stamps… since THEY made them!!! Shhh… don’t tell anyone!

Opening tomorrow at 2:00pm!!!
I can’t believe it’s almost here… as we’ve all been working on this show for quite awhile! We’re busy setting up today… shelves, pedestal, mugs, pots, wall hangings, lighting, and so much more! Including a collaborative piece we’ve all worked on together inspired by the four seasons… spring, summer, fall & winter! We hope you can stop by to see us this weekend in Evanston!

So my talented metalsmith friend Sarah Chapman is sharing a little “teaser” of her pieces for the collaboration project we’re all working on for this weekend’s “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” gallery show. We’re each making four pieces… all of them squares… all of them with the same themes… hoping that they all some together when we install the show tomorrow! Remember, the show is this weekend on Friday, Saturday & Sunday in Evanston, Illinois.

Space 900 Gallery, 816 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60202