Lots of fun & lots of pots!!! With pre-teens in the morning & teenagers in the afternoon, my week was filled with Wheelthrowing Summer Camp at Lillstreet Art Center. So much work, such determination & such creativity. In just five days, they threw a lot of pots, trimmed bottoms, made attachments & painted everything with colored slip! Soon enough they will be bisque fired, clear glazed & fired again. Then the campers will return to claim their treasures… and hopefully treasure their memories of camp!!! So much fun… and luckily, I have several more weeks of camp still to come!!! We’ve only just begun!!!

Week One of Summer Camp done. And eventful it was!!! We started the week with no air conditioning… sweltering during the hottest days of the heatwave! They moved us to a different classroom that was not quite as intolerable… and gave use a “swamp cooler.” Yep, I didn’t know either… a 5-gallon bucket of ice in front of a fan!!! Wait, what?! We made it through the day with only one camper passing out… but who’s counting? The rest of the week was warm… as we got moved back into our original “UN-air-conditioned“ room. Sweaty & clammy pretty much all day long!!!

But then today… THIS happened! They got a NEW air conditioning unit on the roof!l… YAY!!! Although I didn’t really expect them to open the ceiling completely… DURING camp!!! But they did. Very quickly… just a shower of dust… a new sky view… and then we had air conditioning again!!! Voila’!!!

Quick fix and the room got chilly as the old unit was lowered down from a crane
just outside our classroom window! Like I said… eventful.

Luckily, the new air conditioning unit should make the rest of Summer Camp
so much more enjoyable in there!!!

Meanwhile… looking back over my shoulder there was some drama brewing behind me.
It didn’t look like much in terms of weather… just some great colors, clouds & contrast.

With a bit of humidity back in the air, this morning’s ride was calm, quiet & a little sticky. Low-flying clouds on the horizon made for a delayed start… but it was well worth the wait!

A true sign of Summer… and the newest bloom in my front garden!

Plenty of clouds & plenty of fun! It was a beautiful morning for a sunrise bike ride! The oppressive heatwave & humidity seems to have broken & left Chicago for awhile. So it was quite nice this morning. As I had to “work-up a sweat”… not just “wake-up in a sweat”!!!

We had them last week & again last night in my pottery classes.
Mixed reviews… but my first snarky comment was
“Who is she?… and why does she get a special OREO?”

Generally we liked them, but I kinda felt I was done after two or three.
So I’d say in a battle of “celebrity OREOs”… I’m going with Post Malone for the win!!!

Tonight in class, my Beginning Wheel students trimmed & added handles making their first mugs of the session!!! Not too shabby for Week Two!!! Well done team!

Celebrating another TEXTURE TUESDAY with a new stamped vase… fresh out of the soda kiln!

It’s only Day Two of Summer Camp… and Rule #3 is already well in play!!!
With a splash of water on the floor… “Whatever mess you make, you WILL be cleaning up!”
And they do…