A pretty moody & dramatic morning along the lakefront. Beautiful saturated colors with golden reflections shimmering on the waves. A great way to start the morning before heading back to Schaumburg for Day Two of the PRAIRIE ARTS FESTIVAL. Yesterday was full of beautiful blue skies… this morning is starting with clouds, and the forecast seems to get worse throughout the day. Good thing pottery looks good when it’s wet… because it seems like we might be getting some rain later this afternoon. So come out to Schaumburg and say “Hi” if you see me hunkered down in my tent!!!

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday to be in the park… as it was also Day One of the Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival. Amazing weather all day… and I wasn’t kidding about the swans!!! Such a great day to play in the park, chat with a bunch or pottery lovers & see some pots go off to their new homes!!!

As part of my demo last night, I also wiped away my large platter piece. It’s just clay… no colored slip. The color difference is because the unwaxed unprotected areas stay light, whereas the wet etching areas get dark. I was getting some good texture difference in areas… but didn’t quite finish. So I’ll be coming back to it after this weekend’s art fair. The more I wipe away, the greater the difference between layers will be… so as usual… MORE IS MORE!

After the wax layer had cured & hardened, we wiped away the background with a wet sponge. If there was colored slip there, that got wiped away… anything that was “protected“ by the wax stayed in place. As they continued to wipe away with cold water, their images & patterns began to reveal themselves. And if you keep wiping more & more, you start to create two surface layers… the top one being your original layer, and the second layer a smidge lower. It’s that tactile contrast in depths that is really cool. We even used some Q-tips to get into it to create nice crisp edges. When finished, they will bisque & glaze as normal for a cool bowl either a groovy pattern… all done with Water Etching!

In class last night, my SURFACE DECORATION class was focused on Water Etching as their technique of the week. I provided them with bone dry bowls to play with… some covered with colored slip. They started by painting their designs onto their bowls with wax resist. The areas that are not “protected” by the wax will be “etched” or wiped away later… after the wax has had time to cure.

Last night in my studio before class… I did a little “pre-waxing” of my design to give it time to dry. The demo was going to be water etching with my SURFACE DECORATION class… and I had planned to do a little “cooking show switch-out” in mid-demo. So this was my platter before class… wax drying… and waiting for the actual water etching to begin!

Prepping, pricing & packing a new selection of stamped & soda-fired mugs in the basement. Fresh mugs for this weekend’s art fair in Hinsdale… hope to see you there!

Still prepping, pricing & packing!!! Trying to get everything ready for the SCHAUMBURG PRAIRIE ARTS FESTIVAL this weekend. Working in the basement finishing up these hybrid mugs… and splitting them up so I’m sure I have enough for each of my next three shows over the next three weekends!!!

Staying one step ahead… not just making pots, but also designing a new postcard for ART IN THE GARDEN – coming later this summer in September. We artists have to make art… but these days we need to do our own marketing too!!!

Early morning allium flowers in my front yard. Fun balls of small flower blossoms swaying on a tall stem. I kind of “assumed” they only came in purple when my cousin Kim & I planted a ton of bulbs last Fall. So it was great surprise to see these come up this Spring. Thanks again Kim!!!