Another one of our Talented Friends is glass bead maker & metalsmith Donna Sauers. She’s been creating these wonderful “collections” of semi-precious gems and handblown glass beads for a few years. I was introduced to Donna through friends and now see her at many of the same art fairs I do through the summer. It’s exciting to have her “in the garden” with us this year. More time to play with Donna… and “fondle” her little treasures!

Beautiful glass beads in subtle color combinations & thoughtful designs.
Collections of textures, colors & shapes. Always fun to fidget with.

According to Donna…
“Creating the palettes and designs is where I believe my previous art background is a definite asset. My work table is covered with glass beads and gems. I approach my pieces as I would a painting combining different beads and elements to create depth and light. Each piece has a multitude of semi-precious gems that are wireworked throughout the piece to give it movement and interest.”

For more information & images of Donna’s beautiful work, click here for her website.

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One of my best friends in the ceramic world, and an occasional partner-in-crime, Cory McCrory is definitely one of My Talented Feriends. We’ve been buddies for several years now having met during the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival. Our booths were an aisle away, but close enough to see the wonders she was hawking. And I fell victim $$$… repeatedly!!! I now have more Cory McCrory pieces than I need… and have quite the “collection” set up at my place. Some have even referred to it as the Cory McCrory Shrine. And here’s why… her work is incredible, always with a wonderful sense of whimsy, a little off-center, with colors, textures and patterns… and SHE’s great too!!!

Last year we worked on some collaboration pieces for “Art In The Garden.”
And there’s a good chance it may happen again… hint, hint…

According to Cory…
It comes from the everyday. How little control we have over life and the way we deal with its challenges.  In my pots I try to poke a little fun, while where it comes from can be very deep and thought provoking. My work is made with paper stoneware, multi-fired oxidation to cone 7. I use slips, underglazes, terrasig and glaze.  I prefer a brown stoneware over white clays as I feel it better represents my subject. The beauty of a handmade pot is in the sensory driven exchange a person can have with it. It pleases me to make you smile.”

For more details or to see more of Cory’s whimsical work, click here for her website.

And a quick shot of one of my favorites… notice I said MINE!!!
Yep, this beauty is part of my own Cory McCrory Collection. So needless to say, this specific teapot will not be for sale at the show, but she might have others similar if you’re as lucky as me!!!

Click here for updates, photos and to follow “Art In The Garden” on Facebook.

The mastermind and gracious host for our Grassroots Art Fair is my friend Amy Taylor. I’ve known Amy for several years and have quite the collection of her pieces that I wear on a regular basis. You may have met her already on the art fair circuit… or as a Guest Artist at one of my December Holiday Home Shows. Her work is simple & clean, well-designed.. and often with a sense of whimsy! She has a tendency to work with some unique materials which I LOVE!!! I have two necklaces that are made out of vintage bowling balls. I have another one that is made out of the layers of old paint scraped off the floor at a car manufacturing plant. Crazy cool. Okay, sure… she also makes these beautiful, refined and elegant pieces as well. She’s got it all covered. Something beautiful for everyone!!!

According to Amy…
“My jewelry: is made of 14k and 18k gold and sterling silver. It is completely constructed (no cast elements) with an emphasis on unique hinge work, gemstone color juxtapostions, as well as found objects such as beach glass and rock. My influences are primarily architecture and nature, and my work is clean and simply executed.”

For more information or to see more of Amy’s work, click here for her website.

Click here for updates, photos and to follow “Art In The Garden” on Facebook.

So we’re just under three weeks away… and I’m frantically getting ready for my next art fair. It’s a smaller & more intimate show with great art by some of My Talented Friends. It’s our second year in this quaint garden setting. We had a great show last year, so we’re hoping to make it even better this year! Just a few tents. Talented friends. Great art. None of the hassles of those big shows!

Mark your calendars for the second weekend of September.
Saturday, September 12th & Sunday, September 13th, 2015 : 10:00am-5:00pm

Then stop by the garden to see the artists, chat with my friends and see some great art.
All in a beautiful backyard setting… not a congested city park!

Click here for updates, photos and to follow “Art In The Garden” on Facebook.

Special thanks to my friend Allison for “auditioning” to be the Fire When Ready Pottery poster girl. All the while enjoying the backyard view of my booth at the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival… BEFORE the storm crashed through!!!

Okay, so here’s a crazy cool video that shows the microburst storm that rolled through yesterday. The video was filmed at Montrose Beach here in Chicago. You’ll notice that the majority of the storm is passing north of Chicago. Yep, “conveniently” right where we were in Evanston. Smack dab in the middle of the storm!!!

Click here to watch the YouTube video.

It was a crazy day at the Evanston Lakeshore Art Festival yesterday.
It was another beautiful day until a huge storm rolled through… here’s what it looked like AFTER it blew through and made it out over the Lake.

They announced shortly before 3:00pm that they needed to close the fair and evacuate the park of customers. They all left quickly, and the artists were left to fend for themselves. We were still in our tent as the torrential rains, gale force winds and quarter-sized hail pummeled the fair.

Luckily, we survived the storm with no damage. Just wet & dirty with a lot of pots on the ground… and a green stamped platter that somehow “showed up” in my neighbor’s tent?! Ironically, nothing broke during the storm, but the very first customer AFTER the storm knocked over a miniature vase!

Other artists didn’t fair so well with damaged tents and a couple of them leaving in ambulances. Hopefully the artist directly across from us is doing better after getting a huge gash on his leg from a big piece of broken glass. EMT’s tended to him on-site and he was taken to the hospital for medical attention. There were also tents that collapsed during the storm, like this one of a potter from Seagrove, North Carolina.

During my short drive home from Evanston, there were a lot of trees down.
Uprooted or smashed & broken. Obvious signs that a lot of crazy weather had passed through!

Special thanks to everyone who helped out during the aftermath…
and those who checked in to make sure we were all fine after that crazy storm!!!

After yesterday’s huge microburst storm, I am very relieved & thrilled that we didn’t really lose any pottery. The winds were SO gusty that there were things flying around everywhere. Pots sliding off shelves, sounds of things crashing around us, tents shaking & moving… yet we stayed safe. As I was holding down the tent, my parents were quickly putting pots on the ground and saving as many as they could. This large slab vase & flowers made it through unscathed… along with all of the others!

We don’t “officially” open for another hour… but I’m all set-up and ready for business in Booth #32 at the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival. C’mon down and beat the rush!!!

A new predator has invaded the Chicago Lakefront.
An annual event where the lakefront gets infested with huge green dragonflies. Thousands of them!!! Everywhere you go along the Lake there are dragonflies. They seemed to “arrive” on the Lakefront just a couple days ago. If you look closely, you can see them in some of the sunrise photos!

So it was no surprise to find them all over the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival today. They’re pretty bold little buggers. Swooping. Swarming. Dive-bombing. But I’m more than willing to put up with them as they as also eating all of the mosquitoes and gnats. So much better to have some huge, cool-looking bugs than the little blood-sucking annoyance bugs!

And yet as soon as they appear they will also disappear.
Give them a couple days… and then they’re be gone for another year!

And one was even so bold as to land on my elbow. He hung on for quite awhile
eaving plenty of time for a little dragonfly selfie!