My Christmas Tree is covered with handmade ornaments… and I’m always looking to add more! So I was excited to snag one of these limited-edition tiny dinosaur ornaments from Brett Kern’s online sale. He’s known for making larger dinosaur statues that look inflated. I haven’t started THAT collection yet… but I can see THIS collection starting already! Check out his “inflated” masterpieces – @brettkernart

Doin’ a little ZOOM’n with a couple of My Talented Friends… Sarah Chapman & Darlys Ewoldt… as we are already planning our “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” show for next Spring! We’ll introduce a new “fourth” maker to the show soon… but until then, you can mark your calendar now!!! February 28th-March 2nd in Evanston!

Looks like Cory McCrory is in the final stages here… with some clear glaze in all the right places! Yes, that mint green color is actually a low-fire CLEAR glaze! So it will make all of Cory’s underglaze colors a lot more vibrant. And it will make the terra cotta areas darker & shinier than the “raw” terra cotta areas. Can’t believe ART IN THE GARDEN is this weekend already… but it is good to know that these are already in the final kiln firing. So I think Cory has timed it perfect… although they might just be “a little warm” when they come out of the kiln just in time for this weekend’s art fair!

After the underglaze is wiped away, everything shows up so much better. All of the grooves, stamps, textures & Cory’s whimsical additions! These are looking so fun… can’t wait to show-off these collaboration pieces at ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend!!! – “Cory, you’re killin’ it!!!”

To help highlight my stamped textures & her handbuilt details, Cory does a wash of dark underglaze. It fills all of the stamps & seams… and then gets gently wiped off leaving the underglaze only in the recesses. And it really helps make the colors POP!!!

The newest addition to our little grassroots art fair, Kate Hoyer makes these amazing paintings with such strong colors & whimsy! It’s amazing to me how using such unconventional color combinations still makes the pet portraits look so realistic?!!!! Love these SO MUCH!!! And they’re even better if you see them in person… so come on out to Glenview this weekend!!!

We’re so excited to have Martin Chadwick joining us again after a lengthy hiatus. I first met Martin & his wife Christi when the took my Beginning Wheelthrowing class together. It has been so much fun to watch Martin evolve in his clay work… and I am forever AMAZED by his paintings! Such a wonderful, yet slightly disturbing world Martin creates in his paintings. Filled with intricate details, you’re going to want to see these masterpieces up close!!!

Tiny pieces making big pictures! That’s our Kristin Conneely… master mosaic maker! You can tell that Kristin loves what she does… and that joy is contagious when you look at her pieces. Mosaics are no longer just a two-dimensional art form… as Kristin has definitely bumped it up a notch!!!

Woodturner Ken Staggs is coming back for another year in Glenview. With a wide assortment of woods, Ken creates beautiful art pieces as well as functional wares for your kitchen & home.

Ceramic artist Kim Caisse brings an entire world of “creatures & characters” in their own world to the show! A little bit of clay, a little bit of mixed-media…and a lot of CREATIVITY!!!