My friend Donna Sauers posted a very thoughtful post on her Facebook page yesterday about how important art friends are during these trying times. And I have to agree. Being sheltered-in-place alone at home can be very quiet & lonely… but it’s great to be surrounded by a lot of artwork made by your Talented Friends! And we’re all looking forward to the day art fairs may start again, so we can get out to show-off our wares, and finally play with our Talented Friends again face-to-face!

I’ve collected a lot of art… and well as “collected” a lot of Talented Friends over the past few years. It is so great to have talented friends to play with, chat with, collaborate with and to help support & promote each other! So here’s Donna’s original post sharing some of her “collection”… including art by me & my Talented Friend Cory McCrory! Cory makes amazingly whimsical paper clay pieces, and Donna makes beautiful glass beads, jewelry and some new welded-metal-mixed media pieces!!! Check them both out on Facebook… while you’re still sitting on the sofa waiting for that commercial to end!

I saw this on Banksy’s Instagram and just had to share! With all of us quarantined these days, what’s a famous “graffiti” street artist supposed to do?… except work at home!!!

His comment on Instagram…“My wife hates it when I work from home.”

Yesterday, my niece Taylor & sister Jen tackled a plain gray wall in their basement… with some painter’s tape and paint… and made this amazing mural on the wall of their new “office & art area.” Who knew that that chalk drawing was just the beginning! I love it… as these desperate times call for creative measures!

About a week or so ago… it’s all blurring together, right... my niece Taylor and her mom Jen (my sister) made a beautiful geometric chalk drawing on their driveway. Oh, how this quarantine time is making us all get a little more creative!

And the big questions was “how long will this last with rain coming tonight?”… and then we found out the next morning.

Answer is… better than expected!!!

Yesterday was another great Instagram Live with Steve Lee from the Archie Bray! He’s doing weekly “shows” every Friday… this time from his own shelter-in-place studio in his basement. It was great to see him doing some throwing demos again, this time on the treadle wheel he built for himself back in college! Crazy, right?! Be sure to tune in next week on the Archie Bray Instagram Feed for more with Steve Lee!

After Steve Lee, we were also treated to my pal Mike Stumbras on INSTAGRAM LIVE! Mikey took us on a wonderful “tour” of his ceramic journey through education, history, dead things and so much more! His work is amazing… so if you’re not following him on Instagram yet, you definitely should be!

This afternoon on INSTAGRAM LIVE, I got to watch one of my former teachers Steve Lee working in his studio at The Archie Bray in Montana. He did a few demos of how he trims pieces on a chuck, carves his designs and inlays his colored slips. We also got a sneak peek of their soda kiln being loaded.

This social distancing is new for all of us, but in some weird way we’re getting to “see more” of everyone on social media. Weird, right?!

If you follow Archie Bray on INSTAGRAM, it sounds like they’re going to try doing these LIVE events every Friday afternoon during the pandemic. Check it out for a little more ceramic inspiration… and great diversion from all of that self-isolating going on!!!

If you’re looking for a little clay inspiration tomorrow while you’re still social distancing… I think you might want to watch these two Instagram Live videos. The first one will be at 2:00pm CST with my former teacher Steven Lee who is now the head-honcho at The Archie Bray!

The second one will be my pal Mikey Stumbras starting at 4:00pm CST. I know we’re all looking for good things to fill our days & spark our creative spirits. Here are two good ones! I know I’ll be watching both of them too!

While all of us are hunkered down self-isolating…
I’m sure many of you have seen some of the press conferences going on with the Mayor, the Governor and Dr. Arwardy.

While I know it doesn’t help all that much… but it always makes me feel a little better knowing that Dr. Arwardy is working FOR US… in our best interests!

But little did you know… Dr. Arwady is actually one of my pottery students as well. She’s been taking my Tuesday night class for a few sessions now… but this last session she missed a LOT of classes, and we knew “something bad” was brewing. So she may be the official voice of Chicago Coronavirus right now… but she’ll always be just Allison to me… or maybe “Allison who LOVES the bubble glaze!!!”

Click here for a link to read a more about Allison’s story!

So yesterday was the first Instagram Live video tour of the Archie Bray ceramic facility in Montana. I’ve never been there… so it was a great chance to watch a little tour. And the best part… it was hosted by Steven Lee who was one of my former instructors at Lillstreet. I would consider him the best teacher that I had along the way… great potter, great teacher, great mentor!

Sadly, this Instagram Live event is done… but he did say they will be doing this regularly as part of their “new normal” at The Bray. So follow them on Instagram… I think the next LIVE event is this Friday!!! Such a wonderful way for Steve to get out there to share with all of us in the clay community during these trying times! Thank you Steve… again, a wonderful mentor!

Remember, the picture below was the announcement post for yesterday… but if you Follow on Instagram, you’ll see the posting for the next Instagram Live!