After today’s art fair in Hinsdale, I had a nice dinner with my booth neighbor Rhonda. She contacted me on Friday and suggested we do dinner after the show… and went on to suggest we go to Jade Dragon for Chinese food. She knew that for years I would go there with my Mom & Dad after the show on Saturdays. She thought it would be a nice way to honor my Mom… and I got warm fuzzies! And then tonight we ordered all of the same foods that my Mom would have ordered. Such a nice evening with my very thoughtful friend Rhonda!

Not a lot of finished artworks at the Shepherds Festival… more supplies for the crafters. But we did kinda like these little wall hangings… I assume they must be woven, felted, stitched, beaded and who knows what else? All affixed to a piece of weathered barn board… which I’m always into!!!

And you can’t really call it “a collection” with just ONE… so… this little sweetie came home too!!! Such amazing sgraffito line-work on such a small piece of porcelain pottery. Just for the record, this little pot is only 2.5-inches tall. Another AMAZING piece from Becky Lloyd from North Carolina… and already thinking about what might piece join these two next year?!

Okay, so I “may” have done a little more damage while shopping at the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour. I’ve followed Becky Lloyd on Instagram for awhile now… and have been amazed by her detailed sgraffito work. I saw her pieces for the first time last year during the tour… and have thought about them every since! Dare I say coveted? So this weekend I felt myself slipping… sensing the start of a new collection… and YES, I took this amazing piece home with me!!! The sgraffito carving is so tight & precise… and so tiny in spaces that it looks gray, not black & white… until you look really close and see that there are still individual carving lines there!!! BEAUTIFUL… and I’m so excited to own this stunner now!!!

Be sure to check her out on Instagram – @beckylloydyogamama

Okay, I couldn’t decide… so I got TWO!

Two sides to two cups to add to my already overwhelming Matthew Metz collection! Especially loving Matt’s new spiral texture technique of carving textures “behind” all of the slip & sgraffito carving!

Cup #1 –

Cup #2 –

Driving the Pottery Tour… there’s another great “unofficial” spot along the way! Just north of the Taylor’s Falls area, a fun group of local potters have set themselves up with a bunch of sandwich board signs to draw the people in! THE ROGUE POTTERS are a fun bunch of potters… with one of the coolest wood-firing kilns around. I swear one strong breeze might take it down, even though Randal says he’s tightened it up a bit with some new steelwork. Still a great, well-used & well-loved kiln!

To see more about THE ROGUE POTTERS… http://www.roguepotters.com/

I’ve been looking forward to this all day… Celebrating NATIONAL PI(e) DAY!!! March 14th… also known as 3.14… also know as Pi. A yummy piece of cherry pie on a beautiful handmade porcelain plate made by my friend & teaching assistant Susan Slogoff. All hand-painted with black underglaze as the perfect contrast to the white porcelain!!!

It’s always exciting when the new poster arrives in the mail. Looks like we’re just about two months from the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR! A wonderful pottery event that I drive up to Minnesota for every year… to do the full pottery tour with my friend Sarah, chat with the artists & shop for more pottery! I would LOVE to someday be one of the invited potters… but until then, I’ll continue to shop!!! Dare to dream, right???

Okay… picture this! This is the amazing fused glass work by Robin Kittleson. Every polka dot is an individual cane of hand-pulled millefiori glass cut into small nuggets that are like a 1/4″ long. Some of the canes of glass have several layers of colors within them. Then they’re all stacked tightly together sidce-by-side, packing together different colors & making patterns. So many individual pieces of different diameters packed so tight that there are no gaps or spaces. There is no filler – just canes of glass. Once all filled & packed together, it is all slowly melted together in a kiln… and slumped over a mold to create the smooth platter shapes. Incredible process & beautiful results… and if you hold them up to the light so it shines through… BREATHTAKING!!!