Nothing like waiting for the last minute… err, day of the month.
That’s my Sarah. Waiting to the last minute to finish her ornament for the month. But once again, it was definitely worth the wait. Here’s Sarah Chapman‘s entry in our monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge. With just two hours left of September, she made it in “just” in time!!!

According to Sarah, “It’s a fringy bell for September!
Polished copper ribbons curled and held together with a wee bit of sterling silver.”

Meanwhile, back in my studio, I’ve been making a lot of gingerbread men for my September entry on the Holiday Ornament Challenge. They’re made out of terra cotta with some white underglaze & low-fire glazes. They’re pretty thin so I dried them on plastic grid so they would be less likely to warp.

And for the first time, my ornaments are actually DONE & FIRED before the end of the month!!! In fact, those of you who made it out to “Art In The Barn” have already seen them… and had a chance to purchase them already!!!

During the early hours of Sunday, while a lot of customers haven;t made it to the fair yet because they’re at church or brunch, I made the rounds really quickly to see some of “My Talented Friends” who were also showing in Barrington. When I stopped my metalsmith Amy Taylor‘s booth on The Deck, I was surprised to find that she had lost her voice! But still, she asked about my bracelet… the one that Taylor had made for me on her “rainbow loom.” Amy loved the simple “woven rubber band bracelet” and asked if Taylor would make her one.

With a quick phone call, I placed the order with Taylor and set the wheels in motion. Later that afternoon, Taylor and her mom (my sister) Jen came back to the fair to deliver Amy’s bracelet. We went over to The Deck to deliver the bracelet… which Amy loved and put on right away! We were excited to see that both Amy and I were wearing Double Taylors! A groovy woven bracelet by Taylor, and beautiful metal bracelets by Amy Taylor!

And here they are – Double Taylors!!!

Just a few days away… ART IN THE BARN.
My favorite art fair to kick-off the Fall season! With plenty of pottery headed out to Barrington, we will once again be setting up our double-booth in the Lower Barn E4 & E6 on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital. And just to clarify… a double-booth means at least twice as much pottery as my “in a tent” Summer art fairs!!!

Saturday, September 28th & Sunday, September 29th, 2013
10:00am-5:00pm each day
Located on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
on Route 22 about two miles west of Route 59. The really cool part is that this is also the original farm grounds for Quaker Oats. So all of the original barns, silos, corn cribs, machine sheds and everything else are still there… and for one weekend FILLED WITH ART!!!

Regardless of the weather, ART IN THE BARN is always fun.
My booth is inside the Lower Barn so we’re protected from the elements… yet open on one side for plenty of natural light.

And if you look closely… that’s my photographer friend Brad Pogatetz standing there under the big F. My booth just barely falls off the left side of the photo. There’s a LOT of pottery just to the left of that large photo on the easel. I think this photo was from the year that I met Brad and fell in LOVE with his incredible photos of rusty-crusty buildings & natural elements all combined in fantastic imagery! Check out the link to his website in the right side column of LINKS… or just click here!

Had a great time this morning hanging out at the Bucktown Arts Festival chatting with a lot of “My Talented Friends.” If you have time, they’re open again tomorrow with hundreds of artists all through the park. Stop by and say hi to metalsmith Sarah Chapman, potter Delores Fortuna, printmaker Judy Zeddies, yarn-mistress Susan Tecktiel, chain maille jeweler Melissa Banks, potter & sgraffito artist Glynnis Lessing, potter Isabel Mikel and so many more!

Awhile back, I did a blog post about one of my students who was interested in adding some text to her pottery. She started using pasta letters… simply squishing them into the moist clay before bisque firing. Click here to revisit the original post on “Tracey’s Letters.”

Well, a lot of people have been asking for a follow-up… and here are some of Tracey’s glazed pots with “pasta-text” on them. After bisque firing, Tracey fills in the letters with glaze and then wipes the top surface away… leaving the glaze only in the letter indentations. This letter technique has been working well for her, especially with the dark “Stoneware With Ochre” clay body that fires up to a dark, yummy chocolate brown.

Once again, the weather was beautiful. And my “backyard” view was stunning.
The Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival is always a fun weekend on the lakefront.

Sure, my booth was filled with a LOT of pottery. And it was so much fun to see so many supportive friends & customers passing through this weekend. I just love watching people pick up my pieces, caress them, fondle them, and eventually fall in love with them!

I was also lucky to meet another fun metalsmith this weekend… as she moved into the booth next to me! Carole Axium of Chicago was great fun to play with all weekend long. And her work is beautiful to boot. A weekend art fair is always so much more fun when you have good “booth neighbors” AND you admire their work.

Here’s a quick peek at some of her beautiful designs. Everything is easily functional, you can wear them everyday, and she OBVIOUSLY has a love of incredible stones! She has quite a collection of crazy “picture” stones with so many layers, colors and more!

But the funniest part of the weekend playing with Carole was on Sunday when her daughter Megan decided to “work” for the day to make some extra money. And I use the term “work” very loosely!!! I tried to get her to negotiate a deal & a contract with her Mom before she even started working. But as the day went on, it was apparent that she was eating more from the food vendors than she ever could be earning from “working”?!

Megan was adorable. And just as quirky & goofy as you would expect any pre-teen to be!!!

For more information on her website, click here for Carole Axium Designs.

I’m getting ready to head out to Dover, Delaware for the Firefly Music Festival.
I’m the Creative Director for the special events company hired to do all of the fun stuff around the festival – the thematic venues, the decor, the landscaping, the lighting, and so much more. So I found it somewhat ironic that I found this post today online. Perfect timing before my trip to Firefly. And so cool… I need to figure out how “re-create” this effect somehow for next year’s music festival. And maybe even get Yume Cyan to join us there?! Click here for more about the Firefly Music Festival.

Found online at www.thisiscolossal.com…
Photographer Yume Cyan has been shooting some magical long exposure photographs of fireflies in a forested area around Nagoya City, Japan. By keeping the camera’s shutter open at a low aperture Cyan captures every bioluminescent flash of each insect resulting in dotted light trails that criss-cross the frame.

Not only did I score a great teapot… but my friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor also made a special bracelet just for me!!! So much fun to play with her in Hinsdale today… but even better when she makes cool things for me!!! Made of oxidized sterling silver. Seven links. Each with a different pattern & style. And two of Amy’s “trademark” hinges! Such a wonderful surprise… from a wonderful friend!!!

You know I’ve said it for years… I LOVE HAVING TALENTED FRIENDS!
Seeing them & playing with them at the art fairs is a lot of fun. So this weekend is playing out to be extra fun with some many of “My Talented Friends” participating in the Hinsdale Fine Art Fair along with me. So imagine my surprise & excitement when I “walked away with” one of Cory McCrory‘s incredible teapots to add to my collection?! And the real kicker is that she recently told everyone on Facebook that she might be done making teapots for quite awhile. She’s kind of burnt out on them, and ready to focus on making some new fun pieces! So color me thrilled with my new whimsical masterpiece by Cory McCrory!!! She’s a sweetie… and so is my new teapot!!!

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival. I will be in Booth #101. But if I alone am not enough to drag you out to the ‘burbs, you’ll also see a bunch of “My Talented Friends.” Whimsical potter & sculptor Cory McCrory, hinged jeweler Amy Taylor, watercolorist Anne Gilna, precious painted pots by Nancy Gardner, stained glass windows by Richard Diens & crystalline glazed pottery from The Pottery Boys!!! And over a hundred more artists to boot. Plenty of art. Plenty of fun. Come on out this weekend!!!