Okay, so she may have moved to Minneapolis… but, Sarah’s here in Chicago this weekend at The One-Of-A-Kind Show down at the Merchandise Mart. She makes wonderful jewelry with incredible craftsmanship. Beautiful gems, stones & shells encased in beautifully designed mountings. I must admit that I already have “quite the collection” of Sarah’s wonderful work. One of the many benefits of having Talented Friends. For more of Sarah’s work, click here for her website… or click on the link to her page in the right column of my blog.

She’s at The One-Of-A-Kind Show for one more day… today!
And I’ll be down there again this afternoon helping her in her booth.
If you would like to stop by, she’s in Booth #2118. If you need free tickets, click here.

And trust me, her work looks a whole LOT better without this weird yellow tint
my camera picks up from her display lighting!

And a showy “boat” pendant whose shadow is equally as cool…

C’mon down to The One-Of-A-Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart.
I’ll be here all day helping my friend Sarah Chapman in Booth #2118.

She makes incredible jewelry. Perfect holiday gifts for everyone on your list…
including me!!!      hint, hint…

Two weeks from today… a second Holiday Home Show at my place.
Mud & Metal : A Collaborative Holiday Show.

Make your list, check it twice, then mark your calendar for December 13th.
The perfect chance to finish off your holiday shopping… handmade pottery
AND wonderful jewelry by my friend Amy Taylor!!!

Thank you to Colossal.com…
In this fun series of photos titled Thanksgiving Special, San Francisco-based artist Hannah Rothstein imagines Thanksgiving dinners as plated by famous artists throughout history. Gravy, corn, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce, and even the plate itself is used as a medium for edible artworks in the style of Jackson Pollock, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh and more!

Vincent van Gogh

Piet Mondrian

Pablo Picasso

Jackson Pollock

Rene Magritte

Georges Seurat

Andy Warhol

You know I love color, texture, repetition & whimsy.
Needless to say, I’m really diggin’ the latest show in the Lillstreet Gallery Annex.
Upstairs on the second floor, there is this wonderful installation piece that I need to pass through everyday to get to my studio. It’s a collage made of advertising photos and pins!!! No glue. Just pins stuck in the wall. The artist, Stacia Yeapanis, is here at least twice a week through the rest of November to continue her installation. The show ends with a Closing Reeception on December 5th where everyone can help pull the pins!

From the Lillstreet promo flyers…
In her ongoing series of collage installations, Stacia Yeapanis creates large-scale abstractions by pinning repetitive images cut from magazines directly to the gallery wall. The images in advertisements and lifestyle articles are intended by their producers to create new desires and manipulate existing ones in consumers. By cutting, organizing and remixing the images, Yeapanis turns the act of consuming into one of creating.

I especially love how it “creeps” and grows throughout the weeks. What started as just a few snippets has “grown” into a beautiful work of art on the walls, in the corners and encroaching on every part of the gallery space.

At the end of the gallery show, Stacia will be pulling pins. The pieces will literally be “falling off the wall.” T-pins everywhere! And the wonderful shadows the T-pins created?… gone along with Stacia on December 5th!!!

Last night I went to a one-night, pop-up Gallery Show for my friend’s little boy AJ. He’s a seven year old budding artist who was trying to raise money to purchase the Lego set of his dreams. My friend, and AJ’s Mom, Kristen made a deal with him that if he could raise half the money, they would match the rest. So he worked hard along with a collaborating “slightly older” artist Zach B. to put on this show. It was a great experience for everyone. So much fun. So many pictures. So much support. And so many great lessons for AJ along the way.

As with every good gallery show, AJ had his Artist Statement front & center.

After scanning the artworks, I found that many of them had already been purchased. Luckily, the one that caught my eye right off the bat was still available. So this sweet one came home with me!!!

Plus, to make it even better… I suggested to AJ that he needs to come back to work in my clay studio soon. I made a “deal” with him that he needs to make me a clay version of this drawing!!! He seemed excited. Challenge on!!!

Today’s the day… FINDING FOREVER CUP EXHIBITION opens tonight.
And some of our cups are making a splash in the local newspaper out there.
Great publicity for a great concept with some great charity.

Good luck to my pottery friend Pam Kinsmith as her FINDING FOREVER CUP EXHIBITION opens this evening. Months of hard work & dedication all come together tonight for this wonderful fundraising event. If you’re in the Greenfield, Massachusetts area, be sure to stop by to purchase a cup and help a child in the Foster Care System at the same time. If you stop by early, you might even be able to snatch up one of the five mugs I’ve donated to the cause!

For more information, as well as images of all the donated cups,
click here for their website.

So many talented artists in one place! So much artwork from around the world.
Always a wonderful evening of art in Chicago. Especially fun when it’s the VIP Opening Night Party! Sure, the art is great… but the snacks & dessert spread are even more yummy!

One of the best parts of SOFA is checking in with some of “My Talented Friends” who are exhibiting there. Like Steve Lee who was one of my former teachers at Lillstreet several years ago. Now he’s a “big wig” in the clay community running the Archie Bray in Montana. All the while making these wonderfully beautiful & intricate porcelain vases with intricate decoration… and then smashed, exploded & otherwise “altered.”

Another firmer Lillstreet artist is glass artist Amy LeMaire. She taught me glass bead making back in the day. My friend Pam Robinson & I decided to take a class with Amy before she moved, but the Beginning glass class was already full. So we just “jumped” up to the Intermediate class as though we thought we knew what we were doing. Sure, Amy was teaching us MUCH more basic things, but look how incredible her glass work is now. Incredible wearable jewelry handmade in glass.

Always a favorite at SOFA… Steffen Dam once again had these incredible glass sculptures. I’ve admired them for years… I think it might have something to do with my fascination with roadkill?!

I was also drawn to these colored porcelain wall sculptures. Layers of colored clay meticulously assembled, and then carved on the inside. Notice how thin & translucent it is on the inside. Unfortunately, I don’t recall who made these… my bad.

Jason Robert Griego had some of my favorite sculptures. These bronze pieces had such wonderful expressions and colored patinas. Might be my obsession with all things rusty that drew me to these?…

And I especially loved this one… the curvy, gestural stance. Somehow reminded me of something you might see at Cirque du Soleil.

Okay, I’ll admit it right now… I don’t understand glass blowing. Sure, I know the basics. I’ve seen it done live. And yet somehow it’s still “magical” to me. How do you take something molten, liquid, flaming hot, glowing orange, hanging on the end of a tube… and somehow turn it into these wonderfully “perfect” geometric shapes? How does that happen?! Surprisingly, I was explaining my fascination to my friend Elena as we were overheard by the artist Nancy Callan. She asked if I wanted an explanation… I said “no” – I didn’t want to ruin my magical fascination!

And speaking of glass… Amber Cowan makes these wonderfully detailed floral pieces. Love the idea, and couldn’t resist thinking that these could also be made out of clay… with great textures, patterns, stamps, etc… I’m just sayin’….

I’ve seen these beauties before, and am still AMAZED by them. For anyone who has fired clay, you know that it tends to “slump” a bit when fired in the kiln. And you may also know how difficult it is to throw porcelain. And how fragile it is when you’re working with it. All of that thrown together makes these pieces incredible!!! Thank you Jennifer McCurdy.

Yasuko Sakurai also works with porcelain… also beautiful… but in this case, I must admit that I was more intrigued by the shadow that it was throwing on the pedestal.

Nuala O’Donovan from Ireland makes these beautiful sculpture pieces. I love how it is both solid, and hollow at the same time. Catching the light as well as having dark voids inside at the same time.

We’ve all seen this type of glass sculpture before… but I was intrigued by these ones by Niyoko Ikuta and the repetitive patterns that draw you right inside of the piece.

This lenticular portrait was oddly mesmerizing as well. It kind of moved as you walked past… but upon closer inspection, you could see that it was made out of corks, bottle caps, light bulbs and other collected oddities! Sorry… artist unknown…

Lastly, one of the most endearing glass sculptures were made by Emily Brock. These miniature “rooms” are all made of glass… every single, teeny-tiny little detail… ALL GLASS. Amazing details.

So that’s it for my quick “trip” through SOFA Chicago for this year. There are FAR too many beautiful things to see. You can’t stop and take pictures of everything. Guess I’ll need to go again next year to share more…

SOFA Chicago is open all weekend : Friday, Saturday & Sunday on Navy Pier.
For more information, click here.

My friend Kristen has a couple wonderful kids… and a wonderful idea!
Her son AJ is adorable… AND asking for a HUGE set of Legos for Christmas.
But he’s old enough to learn the truth and work hard to get the “set of his dreams.”

So Kristen made him a deal. And set him on his path of fundraising and art.
If you have a chance to stop by to support my friend AJ… and be a patron of his blossoming art career… please mark your calendar for this coming Friday evening.

Beat Kitchen : 2100 West Belmont, Chicago.
Friday, November 7th – 6:00pm-Midnight.

Here’s a little more background from my friend Kristen…