How many of these twenty potters can you name just based on their work?!
So here’s the deal… I’ll show you the close-up, you tell me the potter who made it!

Potter #1 -  ____________________

Potter #2 -  ____________________

Potter #3 –   ____________________

Potter #4 –   ____________________

Potter #5 -  ____________________

Potter #6 –   ____________________

Potter #7 –   ____________________

Potter #8 –   ____________________

Potter #9 –   ____________________

Potter #10 –   ____________________

Potter #11 –   ____________________

Potter #12 –   ____________________

Potter #13 –   ____________________

Potter #14 –   ____________________

Potter #15 –   ____________________

Potter #16 –   ____________________

Potter #17 –   ____________________

Potter #18 –   ____________________

Potter #19 –   ____________________

Potter #20 –   ____________________

You know… after looking at twenty of the fantastic potters showing up north
in the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour, it seems like something’s missing?!
There’s a lot of glazing… a lot of carving… a lot of atmospheric firing… but…

Don’t you think they need some obsessively stamped pots up there?! I’m just sayin’…

I had a wonderful time up in Minnesota this weekend surrounded by thousands
of incredible pots… and the talented artists who made them! So much fun touring
the St. Croix River Valley area with old friends & making new ones…
and buying a few beautiful pots along the way!!!

Sundays are always slower, quieter and more relaxed on the Tour. Most of the
“real” shoppers & collectors come early on Friday. By the time Sunday rolls around,
there are a LOT fewer pots, and the artists are slowing down. It’s been a long weekend
for them too. Lucky for us, we had plenty of time to talk with Matt Metz, Suze Lindsay,
Kent McLaughlin and Bob Briscoe. After a couple hours, it was time to say our goodbyes
and move on to our last stop.

Back at Guillermo’s location, we stopped by to chat with Delores Fortuna & Roberta
Polfus. It was a lot quieter there too… so they had some time to sit and talk with us.
While we were sitting chatting, Clary Illian stopped by to join our conversation.
Nice to talk to a ceramic “legend”… but all too soon it was time to get back on the road
for the long drive home.

All in all, another successful Pottery Tour. So much fun to be surrounded by so much
fine ceramic work. And have access to so many talented potters so you can chat and
get to know them. It’s also encouraging to see so many people coming out for the Tour
to encourage & support the arts. And to buy some pots!!!

So, mark your calendars for next year’s St. Croix RIver Valley Pottery Tour.
It’s always the Friday, Saturday & Sunday of Mother’s Day Weekend.
Luckily, my Mom understands and we celebrate a week early so I can go to the Tour!

Our first stop was down in Minneapolis. Amy needed to buy her
“year’s supply” of clay… and I needed some new clues that I really don’t “need.”
After packing up the car, we went over to the Northern Clay Center. We looked
through the gallery which is full of beautiful pots. Some of them actually from the
potters who are on the Tour. While looking in the gallery, Emily Murphy stopped by
for a visit and lunch. So great to get caught up with her… and some great Thai food!

While wandering through the studio spaces at Northern Clay, we ran across pots
by Kip O’Krongly. Remember back to “the tumbler that got away” blog post?!
Click HERE for a reminder recap. Anyway… she makes these really great terra cotta
pieces with imagery of farm equipment, wind turbines and bicycles!!! Yes, bikes!!!
Without question, I needed them. Last year I was hoping to get bike tumblers…
but this year she had bike plates!!! So I go two. Plus, she’s adorable to boot!!!

Then it was back to the Tour. We stopped by a few of the Tour Studios, as well as
a side trip to see The Rogue Potters. They’re not “officially” part of the Tour, but they
have set up their signs on the road and filled a house with pots. They’ve been there
for a couple years, right off Route 95. It’s a collective of ceramic artists all making
beautiful pots that are quite affordable! Including my new plate…

Then it was back to Richard Vincent’s place for more… more pots, more chatting
with the potters. Then back to Will Swanson’s place for more. It’s always amazing
to see how the quantity of pots has decreased so drastically by the end of Day Two.
Many of the shelves were empty, or even taken down in some cases. Shop early!!!

Then it was almost 6:00pm… so our Tour Day Two had come to an end!

Then I drove further on towards Bob Briscoe’s studio – always the first stop in my
annual Pottery Tour. I got there a bit early so I squeezed in a few moments of shut-eye.
The tour “officially” starts at 10:00am, but who am I to play by the rules when others
were getting a head-start?! So I began my Tour fun about 9:45am!!!

Straight to the Matt Metz collection… of course, I needed to add to my Metz collection!
I quickly snatched up to adorable lidded jars. Then headed on to see more…

After setting down my new Matt Metz jars on the “hold” shelves, I was quickly greeted
by Suze Lindsay with a hug and a great discussion. It was still early in the morning and
the hoarding masses hadn’t arrived yet, so she was free to chat for awhile. My friend
Amy arrived and we continued our shopping. As we were admiring, shopping, resisting
and being inspired, Amy’s friend Debbie showed up to join our adventure. Before we left
Bob’s place, I did snatch up a new Suze Lindsay tumbler!

After a long visit at Bob Briscoe’s we finally moved on towards Connee Mayeron’s
studio which is not the closest one… but it is the studio with two of the artists that
Amy was anxious to see… and shop! There we found Jenny Mendes and the work
of Shoko Teruyama. Both make these insanely detailed & meticulous pieces with
incredible illustrations. While Amy & Debbie were fawning over their work, I was
quickly distracted by the s’mores at the campfire!

We then moved on just south to Guillermo Cuellar’s studio. Hundreds of pots scattered
all over the tables around his yard. Our friend Delores Fortuna shows her work here,
and her Tour assistant Roberta Polfus was there to play with us for awhile! While there,
the beautiful blue skies clouded over, the temperature dropped and the winds picked up…
it felt like a storm might be rolling in.

We made a quick stop off for a picnic lunch overlooking the river. Unfortunately, it was
getting chilly… and the picnic table only had one side?! So we didn’t linger too long…
and we had more studios to see!

Moving along the Tour, we went to Will Swanson’s place – which had expanded from last year.
More big tents in the backyard gave more room for more great pots. Tom Turner was one
of the “new” potters on the Tour. He’s been making pots for a long time, and has created
some wonderful crystalline glazes. I was lucky to snatch up a small tumbler to add to my
mug collection… okay, not quite a mug, but close enough!

We did a quick stop at the studio of Jeff Oestreich, and saw some pieces by Josh DeWeese.
I had taken a workshop with him years ago, and it was great to see a collection of his work.

Next we went to Linda Christianson’s studio. A beautiful, wooded area with plenty of
trillium blooming and a beautiful pile of wood next to the kiln shed. While there, we
also met Michael Hunt & Naomi Dalglish on the Tour. It’s a husband & wife working
together to create their pieces. Apparently, Naomi went to Earlham College with my potter
friend Emily Murphy. So I just “needed” to pick up a couple plates…

Moving on, we went to Richard Vincent’s studio for some more great pots… and some
quality time playing with & making fun of my potter friend Steven Hill. I’ve known
Steven for a few years during his time here in Illinois. He has since moved back to
Missouri… and still not made my set of dinnerware?! It’s only been a few years…
but I’m still waiting… and not letting him off the hook!

By this time… it was already past 6:00pm. So officially they were closed!
Begrudgingly, we finished up and headed back to the hotel.
Day One almost done.

Gotta get some sleep tonight – as tomorrow is going to be another busy day!

For more information on the tour, click here… Minnesota Pottery Tour.

So tonight was a beautiful opening reception for Martin Chadwick.  An amazingly
talented friend of mine who has work showing in Chicago for the next two months!
In the front lobby of The Belmont – located at 3170 North Sheridan at Belmont, Chicago.
If you have a chance to go, it’s on the southwest corner of Belmont & Sheridan. I went with
my friend Pam JH who knows Martin, but had never seen his work other than on his
website. It was fun to see the awe & amazement in her eyes as she saw them in person!

I met Martin several years ago when he started taking my pottery class with his wife Christi.
You could tell right away that he had more talents than he was showing on the wheel. After
getting to know him better, I found out that he was working as an architectural  model maker.
Then, I found out he was also an incredible painter – a hidden talent. So I posted it here on
my blog awhile back. But after tonight’s art showing, I knew I had to show him off again!
So welcome to Chadwick’s World… fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

The next pen & ink drawing was Pam’s favorite in the show…

His pen & ink drawings are incredible. Such detail, such depth, all done with a fine
tip ink pen. When you see the detail, it’s hard to image how fine that pen stylus must be?!
Crazy when you see the textures, the details and the shading! Closeups from above…

And then you switch to his paintings… just stunning!!!
This first one was in his living room when I first found out that he was a painter. It was
partially done, siting on an easel, with paints & palettes all around. So great to see it all
done now and hanging on a gallery wall. Love the colors. The details. The whimsy.
Seriously… you really need to see them in person to really get close!

This next one is his ode to America… as seen through his English eyes!
Combining “all things American” into his American homage.

Then we move on to Lewis Carroll’s house. A beautiful British home… possibly where he
wrote the classic “Alice In Wonderland.” And you can see why… we have Alice entering
through the gate, with chess piece topiaries, flamingoes on the sidewalk, and a brick wall
morphing into a rolling script of text. Below you see other Alice references… the Mad Hatter,
the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and so much more. The longer you stand there and
look at it, the more you’ll see. His paintings literally draw you into the crazy world he’s
creating on the canvas!

This one is his newest piece… and my personal favorite!!!
I love the simplicity. The balance. The colors. And somehow it took me right back
to third grade when we sat there in school watching the classic “The Red Balloon.”
A favorite short film by Albert Lamorisse about a small school boy who befriends
a red balloon and their touching adventures that follow. Very touching. Still a favorite.
And somehow this painting took me right back.

For more about Martin Chadwick… and a free ticket into Chadwick’s World….
click on his website in my LINKS section to the right.

Plus, click here for more about my favorite 3rd Grade movie - “The Red Balloon.”

After Brunch, we walked around the Resort and found that my painter-friend
Cheryl Holz has an exhibition of her work currently in the Bourbon Street Gallery.
It’s this great little section of Pheasant Run  that they’ve done up to look like this
little old cobblestone street. Sadly, the actual Gallery was closed as it is Easter!
But that didn’t stop me from peeking inside, snapping a few photos and finding
a few more beauties in the hallway! Even from a distance… beautiful!

Cheryl grew up in the country, collecting moss, bugs, leaves and to her mother’s chagrin,
snakes and salamanders. Her rural upbringing had a big influence on her aesthetic
sensibility, and most of her work today is an homage to nature’s strength, beauty and
diversity. She emulates natural aging processes by building up and wearing away paint
and plaster to hollow wooden panels. Anything from dragonfly wings to prairie grasses
are embedded at various points of the process. The symbolic implications of the methods
and materials are as important as the imagery.

I met Cheryl a few years back at Art In The Barn in Barrington…
pretty much right above me! I’m in the Lower Barn, and she’s in the Upper Barn.
But the first time I went up to see her work, I was immediately enamored.
The colors. The textures. The layers. The typography. Love it all.
Since then, we’ve done some “art fair trading” and I have one of her prints in my bedroom.
In case you can’t make it to Pheasant Run Resort… here’s a few more pictures…

And my favorite of the ones I could actually get close enough to really see…

Cheryl Holz : On exhibit now through May 2, 2012 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.
Closing Reception on Saturday, April 14th from 5:00pm-7:00pm.

Or, you can check out more of Cheryl’s work at www.CherylHolz.com

Enough of the photo session… gotta get back to the loading. All the way up to the top!
More pots. More ovals. More ikebana. More kiln space to be filled!!! Thanks Corinne!

Check out more of Corinne Peterson‘s finished works by clicking on her name!