Start your “tour” at the Sandwich stop for the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR… just one month away!!! We’ll have plenty of pottery & fun for everyone… including a wide range of textures & patterns!!! Which we’re celebrating today for another TEXTURE TUESDAY!!!

Saturday, June 11th & Sunday, June 12th

So I “may” have done a bit of shopping up at the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour… like this great sgraffito jar made by Matthew Metz. Just one more for my already overflowing collection of his work!!!

You can follow Matthew’s work on Instagram… @metzpottery

So many pots, so many techniques, so many talented potters! Over the course of the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour, we saw so many amazing pieces of pottery. But I will say that my favorite pieces were the exquisite pots by Becky Lloyd. I have followed her for years on Instagram, and her work was even more AMAZING in person!!! Such intricate details & sgraffito carvings. The shapes. The forms. The patterns. The CRAFTSMANSHIP!!! Be sure to follow her on Instagram – @beckylloydyogamama

This weekend was the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour! So great to go up for the tour – finally back in-person after two years of “virtualness” due to the pandemic. So much wonderful pottery everywhere, as well as time to chat with the potters. Time to touch the pottery, bask in the creativity, and to take some inspiration & ideas back home… as well as a “few” purchases along the way! We had amazing weather with beautiful blue skies and wonderful Spring temps in the 70’s!!! Huge THANKS to all of the studio hosts, the organizers and all of the potters who participate in this wonderful event… it’s a HUGE undertaking and they make it look so smooth & seamless! Kudos to you all!!!

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY by featuring a bunch of great mugs!!! All made by the six artists who will be featured at the Sandwich stop of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. Be sure to stop by to see beautiful pottery by our host Cory McCrory, as well as Nancy Gardner, Linda Kiepke, Kenyon Hansen, Lindsey Heiden, and ME!!! We’re just six weeks away… still enough time to make some more mugs!!!

Saturday, June 11th & Sunday, June 12th
@northernilpotterytour

Spent the day with My Talented Friend & master metalsmith Sarah Chapman today down at the ONE OF A KIND SHOW. So much fun to surround yourself with such talent & beautiful jewelry! I love having talented friends!!!

Check out more of her work online at www.chapmanmetals.com …
or follow her on Instagram : @chapmanmetals

HAPPY EASTER… and enjoying this hidden bunny amongst the coleus garden! Just a reminder that I will be doing a PLANTS & POTTERY POP-UP SALE in the Peoria area on Friday, May 13th & Saturday, May 14th. Plenty of homegrown coleus, hostas, annuals & houseplants… along with lots of pottery!!! More details to come!

Time to mark your calendars… we’re just nine weeks away from the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! I will be playing with my pottery friend Cory McCrory at her studio location in Sandwich, Illinois… along with fellow ceramicists Linda Kiepke, Nancy Gardner, Kenyon Hansen & Lindsay Heiden. Put us on your calendar for a fun weekend road trip for some pottery fun!!!

With a little extra time last night, we got to see the beautiful “Four Seasons” mosaic by Marc Chagall down in the Chase Tower Plaza in Chicago. Beautiful mosaic murals portraying life in Chicago through thousands of little tiles.

According to the Chicago Cultural Affairs website… “Composed of thousands of inlaid chips in over 250 colors, Marc Chagall’s mosaic artwork The Four Seasons portrays six scenes of Chicago. It features a vocabulary of images informed by the artist’s Russian-Jewish heritage and found in his Surrealist paintings such as birds, fish, flowers, suns and pairs of lovers. Chagall maintained, “the seasons represent human life, both physical and spiritual, at its different ages.” The design for this mosaic was created in Chagall’s studio in France, transferred onto full-scale panels and installed in Chicago with the help of a skilled mosaicist.

Chagall continued to modify his design after its arrival in Chicago, bringing up-to-date the areas containing the city’s skyline (last seen by the artist 30 years before installation) and adding pieces of native Chicago brick.”

Another wonderful season of the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!!!
I know I had a wonderful time teaching this class again, and I’m pretty darn sure they all had a great time too! So much fun to push them out of their comfort zones, to encourage them to try new projects & to watch them succeed week after week! We all had so much fun… I thought they all deserved prize ribbons to commemorate our time together!!! Well played team!!!

Too bad Will had to miss out on the final festivities… but he still got a ribbon too!!!