So I shipped off another box of mugs to Pam Kinsmith for her upcoming “Finding Forever Cup Exhibition.” Thanks to some of our Lillstreet potters for donating their work to the worthy cause. The deadline has been extended if you are a potter who would also like to donate to the cause. Check out the “Finding Forever” website for more information.

Adam August

Katie Biderbost

Lester Arguelles

Susan Messer McBride

Steve Acoba

Marian Castro-Palanyk

Lisa Harris

Cassandra Deiters – one of my students this session

Many years ago I did an art fair in Elmhurst for the holidays. During a slow moment in the show, I had a chance to wander around the show and see some of the other artists. I remember being taken by some wonderful baskets made by this cute little lady. A few years later, I find out that Guy Nicol, the art photographer across the hall from my studio, also photographs these wonderful baskets. Small world, huh?

So imagine my surprise when this session of classes I have a new teaching assistant Cynthia… and it turns out that she’s the daughter of the cute little basket weaver!!! Cynthia brought in some of her Mom’s work to class so we could all see them. And they’re still pretty fantastic. Not only are they incredibly beautiful… but they are also made from pine needles… yes, PINE NEEDLES!!! Crazy, huh? Apparently she uses raffia to “stitch” it all together and make some beautiful detailed patterns. And surprisingly, the baskets are very tight & sturdy… not a flimsy little basket one might expect?!

And my personal favorite, the cutest and smallest of the basket samples she brought in. It fit perfectly in my hand, the pattern mesmerizing. The perfect basket… now only if it could hold a hot fudge sundae?!!!

Unfortunately, Florence does not have a website to show off her work. So if you’re interested in finding out more information or purchasing a basket of your own, her’s her contact information…

And thanks to Cynthia for bringing in these beautiful baskets to class for my students to see.

Hey Fellow Potters – You still have a few days to donate a mug to “Finding Forever.” A fundraising event similar in style to “Empty Bowls” but this time to benefit the kids in the Foster Care System. I’ve already shipped a few of my own mugs to organizer & potter Pam Kinsmith. And another box leaving soon of mugs from other Lillstreet potters. So grab a mug, box it up and ship it to “Finding Forever.” Deadline : October 1st, 2014.

Click here for more information from the “Finding Forever” website.

C’mon now… this is just crazy!   CRAZY PERFECT!!!
Yep, she’s at it again…

For anyone who knows me fairly well,
you know that I have a strange fascination with roadkill.
Can’t get enough. Gotta stop. Must take a photo.

Having pedaled thousands of miles across the country & rural farmlands, you see a wide range. And not surprisingly, I now have quite the collection of photos of roadkill I’ve seen over the years. It’s the “Circle Of Life.” It’s nature’s way of reclaiming one of its own. It’s one bad decision in thinking they can out-race that car across the road. It’s the fascination of how thing change, evolve, decay and reveal a whole new system, a structure, a skeleton.

And now two of my favorites are colliding…
roadkill done with that wonderfully whimsical Cory McCrory flair!!!
Gotta love it… gotta have it. You know my birthday is coming up… hint, hint…

She’s started a whole collection of roadkill plates.
And here they are with underglaze colors waiting for the glaze firing.
They can ONLY get better!!! I can’t wait to see the final results!!! Love ’em Cory!!!

So here’s one… “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
To prove to the raccoon that it CAN be done!!!

The tiled collaboration pieces I made with my friend Cory McCrory had a really great reception during “Art In The Garden” last weekend. It was so much fun to see people enjoying our collaboration. Especially when they would take time to “figure them out”… and when they belted out a good belly laugh when they got it. But now that our “Garden” Party is over, we have a couple collaboration pieces available. They’re a VERY Limited Edition… don’t miss out on one of these last six pieces.

Bleeding Heart

Foxglove : SOLD 9.7.14

Poison Ivy

Spider Plant  : SOLD 9.8.14
And notice how the green tiles are “straight” vines at the top and curled patterns at the bottom much like the way a Spider Plant grows!

Spider Flower – aka Cleome.

Butterfly Bush  – complete with a magnifying glass to see the “tiny bits.”

Here’s the info about the West End Art Festival in LaGrange this weekend. Cory will be there with the last six of our collaboration pieces. They’ve been going fast… don’t miss out. And say hello to Cory for me while you’re there…

If you’re interested in a collaboration piece, but can’t make it out to LaGrange this weekend, you can also send Cory a message on her Facebook page. Click here to connect… and “save” one for yourself!!!

“Can we talk?”…

Another comedian gone too soon.
Another sad day with the passing of comedy legend Joan Rivers.

She was one of my favorite comedians. Always telling it like it is.
I’m pretty sure I wore out my cassette tape of “What Becomes A Semi-Legend Most.”

From her early days of stand-up, to hosting “The Tonight Show”, to one of my favorite guilty-pleasures “Fashion Police.” With a sharp tongue, a quick wit and an infectious laugh, she could always make me smile. Whether making fun of a celebrity, politicians or herself, Joan could always make it real – and would always say what your were already thinking!!!

•  “I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I’d look like without plastic surgery.”

•  “I hate housework. You make the beds, you do the dishes, and six months later, you have to start all over again.”

• “I was born in 1962 … and the room next to me was 1963.”

•  “I have no sex appeal. If my husband didn’t toss and turn, we’d never have had the kid.”

•  “I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die, they will donate my body to Tupperware.”

•  “A study says owning a dog makes you 10 years younger. My first thought was to rescue two more, but I don’t want to go through menopause again.”

•  “Half of all marriages end in divorce – and then there are the really unhappy ones.”

•  “My breasts are so low, now I can have a mammogram and a pedicure at the same time.”

•  “Don’t tell your kids you had an easy birth or they won’t respect you. For years I used to wake up my daughter and say, ‘Melissa, you ripped me to shreds. Now go back to sleep.”

•  “I was dating a transvestite, and my mother said, “Marry him, you’ll double your wardrobe.'”

•  “At my funeral, I want Meryl Streep crying in five different accents.”

We will miss her dearly…
and no matter what people say, she looked pretty darn good for eighty-one!!!
She should. She paid enough for it.

For those who need a little more Joan…
check out the documentary about her life & comedy “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.”
It’s a wonderful look into her world, her dedication to her craft and so much more.

I wore my new necklace by Carole Axium today to RAVE reviews!
She was one of the featured artists at “Art In The Garden”… and as always, I love having talented friends. Especially when they want to “trade” their wares for mine. I think I might have gotten the better end of that deal with this little treasure…

Another beautiful day in the Garden. The day started out a little warmer than Saturday, with a little less breeze. Expectations were that it might be a little hot & sticky, but luckily it turned out to be another incredible day. And again today, guests were welcomed into Amy Taylor’s backyard for the inaugural “Art In The Garden : A Grassroots Art Fair.”

And really, what art fair doesn’t “need” a groovy neon sign??? Thank you Cory…

And what Garden Party wouldn’t benefit from a refreshing batch of lemon water?!

The “Art In The Garden” Gang were all ready to tackle the day on Sunday… and were greeted with wonderful ribbons awards that Amy had created for us.

My ribbon was the “Sunshine Award”… enough said… And the rest of them were each uniquely appropriate for each artist. A very thoughtful & garden themed “thank you” for each of us from our host & incredible metalsmith Amy Taylor!!!

Cory McCrory – “Garden Hoe Award”

Carole Axium – “Blossom Award”

John Caruso – “Beefsteak Tomato Award”

Even Amy’s husband Tom received an award… “Weed Wacker Award”

It was fun to see even more people stopping by the Garden throughout the day on Sunday.  Day Two was a little bit slower, but Sundays typically are at every art fair. It gave each of us a little more time to hang out & chat with the customers… and do a little shopping & trading with our fellow artists.

It was also a lot of fun to see more of the collaboration pieces I did with Cory go off to good homes. Each of them so excited to have a whimsical piece of art for their homes!

Even our host Amy now has a Cory/Gary collaboration piece for her home… which has a striking resemblance to “Poison Ivy.” Coincidence?…

Plus, Cory and I each had to have one as a souvenir of our collaboration project. Cory and her husband chose “Queen Anne’s Lace”-y Panties… and I knew all along that I wanted “Foxglove” with the soda-fired tiles.

Day Two also gave us a chance to re-stock the shelves for the new customers.

Keeping with the garden theme, I had to bring a collection of ceramic flower pots. And some beautiful orange “props” to help demonstrate how pretty the flower pots would be with flowers in them!

Also, the weathered wooden fence in the backyard was the perfect place to show off some of my ceramic masks and tiled “ClayQuilts. Sadly, the masks don’t get to travel to art fairs very often as they are tough to hang on flappy tent sides. This fence worked out perfect… and these two masks are now SOLD and “playing” in someone else’s backyards!!!

The other artists were set-up and ready to go as well. Metalsmiths Amy Taylor & Carole Axium, as well as ceramic artist Cory McCrory and photographer John Caruso.

Cory McCrory had her share of gorgeous too… you now I’m a fan and already have quite the collection at home! I love her colors, textures & whimsy!!!

Including two “fresh out of the kiln” platters…

All in all, another wonderful weekend thanks to all of our friends, family and wonderful customers who stopped by to make the first “Art In The Garden” a hug success! So much fun for everyone… and a great art fair experience for each of the artists thanks to Amy & Tom’s wonderful hospitality! We’re hoping for a SECOND “Art In The Garden” next year… mark your calendars…

So we’ve been “teasing” you for a long time now… and we’ve been working on these since mid-June. And now the big weekend is finally here and Cory & I are ready to show off our Collaboration Project.

I approached my friend Cory McCrory back in June during the Hinsdale Fine Art Fair. We were both scheduled to be part of Amy Taylor’s Grassroots Art Fair. And with my marketing background, I knew that we needed a “hook” of some sort. So we devised a plan… if we work together on a Limited Edition set of Collaboration pieces, we’ll have something fun to blog & post, as well as something really fun to show-off at “Art In The Garden.”

By now you may have figured it out… visual puns of some popular garden plants.
Each of Cory’s tiles are handbuilt with paperclay to represent the plant name. All of them whimsical, some with a twisting play on words… and others just a little bit racy. My part of the collaboration was to make textured tiles for the surrounding space. Pretty much the field tiles of green are surrounding the art tile in the center… kinda like “Art In The Garden” of green tiles!!!

So here’s the BIG REVEAL!!! You’ve waited long enough…
and now they’re all ready for their Big Debut this weekend.

“Art In The Garden : A Grassroots Art Fair”
Saturday, August 30th & Sunday, August 31st – 10:00am-5:00pm.

1205 Hutchings Avenue,  Glenview,  IL 60025
One block west of Waukegan Road between Lake Street & Glenview Road.
More specifically between Grove Street (at a light) and McLean Court.

So here they are… wait no longer…
And remember, they will be at “Art In The Garden” while quantities last.
First come, first served. And when they’re gone, they’re gone!!!

1. Black-Eyed Susan … she was the one that started it all.
What started out as just a play on words for my favorite flowers… changed and now this!

2. Foxglove

3. Bleeding Heart

4. Hens & Chicks

5. Spider Plant

6. Butterfly Bush

7. Queen Anne’s Lace

8. Poison Ivy

9. Dinosaur Food

10. Black-Eyed Susan

11. Spider Flower

12. Butterfly Bush

13. Poison Ivy

14. Queen Anne’s Lace … actually, it’s more like Queen Anne’s Lacey Panties!!!

15. Bleeding Heart

But wait… that’s only fifteen?!!!… I thought there were originally sixteen?!!!

Okay, so here’s the deal…
Remember back a couple weeks when I was kind of “gloating” that I had made almost DOUBLE the number of tiles I needed to finish my part? Well, I was wrong. I never said I was good at math.

Somehow I had determined that I needed about 450 tiles for my part of the collaboration with Cory. Not sure how. But when I was glazing & loading the kiln I was “sure” that I had made almost twice as many as I needed.

Good thing.

Turns out I needed 768 tiles to go along with the 16 center tiles that Cory had made.
With 48 tiles per board, that makes a total of 768 tiles.
Now remember back to my previous post… I had made & glazed 724 tiles.
Which I thought was MORE than enough. WRONG!!! Again… NOT good with math!!!

So I had to get a little creative with one of them… as I had just enough of the green glazed tiles to do 15 collaboration pieces! So one of them now has a collection of soda-fired tiles instead. And I kinda love how it brings out the color of the Fox and his gloves!!! Who knows… I might “need” to keep this one for myself?!

16. Foxglove