Part Two of last night’s class demo was altering & decorating the bowls… making them “not-so-basic bowls!!! Encouraging my beginning students to make their bowls a bit more personal, to add some style & most importantly to just have MORE FUN with their clay!!! No one ever said that bowls need to stay plain & round, right?!

This morning started out with some ominous clouds moving in quickly… making me wonder if we were even going to get any sort of sunrise this morning?! It was close… great cloudscapes… and then all of a sudden a bit of color began to emerge. Then, just in the nick of time, the sun began to shine through. Followed by some crazy cool sunrays shooting out from the dark clouds. All the while… some pretty great morning reflections!

My morning ride started out pretty quiet… a bit hazy with a thick “marine layer” hovering low on the horizon. I had very low hopes for any kind of sunrise beauty… kinda gray, kinda boring… not a cloud in the sky. But then… halfway through my ride the clouds started moving in. And everything changed!!! Sunrise drama galore for the second half of my ride!!! Loved it!!!

More “hybrid mugs”… with bottoms thrown on the wheel, textured slabs attached by hand, then back on the wheel for shaping & refining. And then today… back on the wheel yet again for a nicely trimmed bottom with a sharp-looking footring!!! Handles coming soon…

The highlight finale of the Fourth of July Celebration yesterday was the AMAZING fireworks display that the town of Chenoa puts on every year. Bigger & better every year & totally synchronized to the music soundtrack. Crazy amazing fireworks… especially when seen from beneath the goalpost while the fireworks are shooting off from the other end of the football field!!! SPECTACULAR!!!

Celebrated the Fourth of July again this year with some of my “adopted family” of friends from college. They live in a small little town in central Illinois called Chenoa. They have the best “Norman Rockwell-esque” holiday celebrations in town. Including the annual “House Decorating Contest”. My friends won 2nd Place!!! But in my completely “non-biased” opinion… they shoulda won FIRST!!! They lost out to the house that won last year too… with just a couple patriotic inflatables… probably “Made in China!” Nothing as cool as all of the handmade, hand-painted & cool decorated efforts that my friends put in for their first entry ever! They even had Rosie hand-painting the stairs!!!

Textured slabs attached… another batch of hybrid mugs well under way. Next up… trimming & handles. Thanks again to my assortment of handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools for the fun textures & patterns!

Life amongst the lakefront rocks.

Pulling out some of my favorite textured handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools!
Making slabs… making sides for another batch of hybrid mugs!!!

My favorite barn along I-55 South… weathered, sun-scorched & falling apart. But I love it!!! I’ve been watching it “evolve” over the years all the way back to my college days at Illinois State. Last time I saw this barn the cupola had finally slide off the roof. Good to see someone cleaned that up… but left the rest of the barn for us all to enjoy!