Looks like my friend Cory McCrory has been “puffing & quilting” her paper clay getting ready for ART IN THE GARDEN. We’re just a couple weeks away from my next art fair in Glenview, Illinois. Details to come… but mark your calendars now for September 10th & 11th.

A quick apology for being so delayed in posting this one.
Kinda scary how fast the year is passing by. We’ve all been so busy!!!
Busy in our studios making art. Busy at the weekend art fairs… SUMMER CAMP!!!
And hopefully busy having more than a little fun playing this summer!

Here’s another batch of holiday ornaments made by me & four of My Talented Friends.
Remember, we’ve all signed-on for a Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan is for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year.
And now we’re over half way done! Whew… 2016 is just flying by!!!

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory has had an incredibly busy time this summer preparing for her son’s wedding…making vases & mini cups! Looks like that theme has continued with a few more mini cups to celebrate her Scandinavian heritage. A few tiny Glogg cups to hang on the tree... maybe after a few sips!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah’s ornament for July is a twisted take & fun with copper wire. For those who know Sarah’s jewelry line, this style of wrapped wire & twisted knots might be familiar. I’m thinking she might “need” to add these to her product line… maybe some large hoop earrings???

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta is makes wonderful little teapots everyday in her normal work. Beautifully carved & sculptural mini-pots. Normally not this small… possibly the smallest tea set ever. The cutest cup of tea for your Christmas tree!

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
For July, Amy has been working on her “Heavenly Desserts” collection. They’re adorably whimsical… but now I kinda want the real treats too?! Especially the OREO’s!!!

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
For July ornaments, I went with textured porcelain “icicles.” My plan is to fire them without glaze to keep them white… and then “maybe” paint one side of the spiral with a metallic silver paint, plus some ribbon to hang them from.

So there they are… July ornaments (a little bit late) of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Hopefully everyone’s schedule will settle down a bit in these last few days of summer. I know mine definitely will slow down a bit now that Summer Camp has finally come to an end.

Be sure to check out everyone’s websites. They’re all in the LINKS section in the far right column. And they all have fun Facebook pages too. Find your favorites & follow them everywhere!

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One of the fun parts of the art fair circuit is playing with your booth neighbors. I did a little trading with my neighbor to the south yesterday for this flirty little bird… and a fun colored rock!!! Check out Rhonda Shouf in Booth #33 to get your own whimsical cutie.

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We’ve been doing this Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge for six months now. It’s a little tough for the ceramic folks to show finished pieces in a timely basis. What with needing to glaze and fill a kiln and all. So we frequently just show the greenware versions of the ornaments and hope that people can “visualize” the finished outcome. Well, Roberta has been busy glazing & finishing some of her ornaments from previous months. No more “guessing”…. now you can see the real thing. And how incredible they all look!!!

To see more of Roberta’s ceramic work, click here for her website.

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Six months in. Six months to go!!!
And another batch of holiday ornaments made by me & four of My Talented Friends.
Remember, we’ve all signed-on for a Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan is for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year.
And now we’re half way done! Hard to believe 2016 is already half way over???
When did THAT happen?

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
After last month’s fish ornaments, it’s not too surprising that Cory stayed aquatic… err, amphibian… close enough… and went with some adorable frogs for June! And as usual, Cory supplied us with a piece-by-piece, part-by-part photo story. Sorry, no tadpoles to start with, but…

Legs…

Body parts…

Assemble line…

Sightless frogs…

And here they are…. Cory’s adorable amphibians for June!!!
Can’t wait to see them in color after she glazes & fires them!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
According to Sarah… “The June ornament is covered with snowflakes that were etched into the brass. Very glad that there are no actual snowflakes in sight right now!”

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta is for the birds! This month she created these beautiful “two turtle doves.” The holes on the top will be filled with a wire ring for hanging.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
For June, Amy went with a longer hanging ornament… complete with dangles, spangles and a faceted black onyx stone.

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
And for my June ornaments, I went with textured squiggles. These will be destined for my next soda kiln… but I’ve got to add some color to them first. They’ll get a couple layers of different colored flashing slips before they start to dry.

So there they are… June ornaments of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Be sure to check out their websites. They’re all in the LINKS section in the far right column. And they all have fun Facebook pages too. Find your favorites & follow them everywhere!

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These projects are pretty amazing. All done with layers & layers of colored paper. And to think that I did quilling when I was in 7th grade. Imagine what I might be doing now if I had just stuck with it?!

Click here to see Yulia Broskaya’s video.

One of the best parts of doing art fairs is making friends with your talented “neighbors.” Seeing what cool things they’re making and possibly doing a little shopping or “trading” along the way! In Schaumburg, I was again next to Claudia Winter of “Baubbly” who makes beautiful resin & metal jewelry. Whimsical, colorful & fun. Three of my favorite things!… even better when some of them are reversible!!!

This pendant is layers of clear resin with colored accents in between. With different lighting, or looking at it from an angle, you can see the colored dots “move” or “shift” around on the pendant.

And this pendant of colored resin sanded to a smooth matte surface. This little cutie is reversible – lime dots on one side, and perky orange on the other!

But here’s the best part of the story…
So we’re in the middle of Saturday when a cute high school girl comes into Claudia’s booth. They start talking and the girl is asking some great questions. Claudia is explaining her process very thoroughly. And clearly for the high schooler. After about 15 minutes of resin definitions, epoxy clarification, color placement and everything else you could ever want to know. That it’s resin. That it’s a two-part process. On and on. Very clear. Very concise. She couldn’t have been any clearer…

And then the girl asked… “So is it a stone?”

We both had a good laugh about it… No, it is NOT a stone… it’s RESIN!!!

Click here to see more whimsical fun by Claudia Winter.

One of my favorite booths today at the 57th Street Art Fair was that of Robin Kittleson. I met Robin a few years back when she was across the aisle from me at Art In The Barn in Barrington. Now generally I’m not a huge fan of fused glass. So frequently it’s very bright, kinda geometric and more than a little gaudy. And then there’s Robin’s amazing twist on fused glass. Her pieces are amazing!!! The colors. The designs. The intricacy. Amazing!!!

She may have just won me over… maybe fused glass CAN BE a lot cooler than I thought?

Click here to see a sneak peek into Robin’s process.
And then click here to see more of her work on her website – www.robinkittleson.com

After a fun weekend of hanging out with my friend & master metalsmith Sarah Chapman, I came home with a bunch of roses. I helped Sarah at the Spring One-Of-A-Kind Show in her booth. At the end, it’s the big tear-down and pack-up. Everything packs down pretty tightly. Everything in its place, and every place with it’s thing. The one thing that didn’t fit were her “booth flowers”… which I brought home and have been enjoying for a few days now. Beautiful roses that are still in surprisingly great shape?!!!

As always, we had a wonderful time at the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour.
I toured as usual with my friend & talented metalsmith Sarah Chapman. We both told ourselves we were going to “be good” this time. Good to our wallets. Good to out bank accounts. I would like to think that I did pretty well… maybe?… kinda?… sorta???

The first stop on our tour is Bob Briscoe’s place every year. It’s our favorite… great pots, wonderful artists and good friends. While there, that little itch in my wallet starts up… and I feel completely helpless and MUST add another Matt Metz piece to my collection. It was this sweet little flask that caught my attention. I picked it up right away… and when Sarah pointed out that I was caressing & fondling it… I knew it would be mine!!!

Our second stop was Connee Mayeron’s studio… AFTER a little detour around the construction road closure. Sarah has a slight “addiction/fascination” with the work of Shoko Teruyama. So another piece from her was on Sarah’s list. And let me just say… Sarah’s “fascination” is rubbing off on me too. We both got blue & white tumblers last year form Shoko. This year it was this sweet & colorful floral mug. Detailed carvings with colorful glazes.

At the tent next door… another “addiction” for Sarah… and me…  Jenny Mendes. So much detailed painting, line-work and imagery. Her color palette is always “slightly off”… but in such a cool way.

We then went to Guillermo’s. And then off to Will Swanson’s. It was there that Karin Kraemer’s colorful work brought a smile to my face again. I first saw her work there last year… but the carrots were NEW!!! Such a wonderful color palette. So fun, so cheery. And in Karin’s words “She really stands out against all of the brown pots.” I love her illustration style… and the little surprise she hid in the bottom of the mug!

I did really good in resisting the temptation on Friday…
but not so good when I came back to the Tour on Saturday flying solo. I didn’t have Sarah’s “voice of reason” and just couldn’t resist. I just HAD to have some of those carrots!!! Last year I got a rooster.

At the same location, I found another beautiful mug by Ryan Greenheck that “just had to go home” with me. So much for being on my best behavior?! My wallet never even had a chance… too many great pots. Far too much temptation.

So there they are… the newest pots in my pottery collection. I think I did pretty well adding some beautiful mugs to my Mug Collection. And another Matt Met to my Matt Metz Colleciton… a bit redundant, but you get it.

Until next year…