So I taught my new Intermediate Wheelthrowing class yesterday in the new wheelthrowing room at Lillstreet Art Center. I was stupified by the amount of natural light coming in through the windows!!! My studio has no window access so it was all new to me. It was kind of amazing… huge windows along the wall above the wheels… then I realized that I typically teach night classes… and that might be part of it too?!

Tonight kicks-off my return to teaching at Lillstreet Art Center!!!
They’ve re-opened and I’m so excited to see people back at the wheel, getting messy & sloppy, having fun in the clay!!! It’s been far too long… and it’s going to be great to have the Lillstreet Community coming back together again… even if it is with new rules, guidelines and a LOT of social-distancing. Yep, that’s going to be a new challenge for all of us!

Looks like the new Wheelthrowing Classroom is all ready to go… which is great because Lillstreet Art Center officially re-opens tomorrow with a lot of improvements & remodeling done for better social distancing to keep all of the students & teachers safe… and we’re all VERY eager to get back to making muddy messes on the wheels!!!

Well, not quite as much fun as teaching face-to-face, but it did feel good to “teach” again as I just finished teaching my first “official” ceramics workshop on ZOOM for Lillstreet Art Center! It was a one-hour workshop on making clay stamps… from my studio. A little jittery at times as I tilted by laptop screen up & down for demos… but I’m sure these ZOOM classes will get smoother if we need to keep doing them for much longer!

Little bit of good news though… if anyone is interested to find out how I make my own clay stamps, I will be teaching a one-hour “Making Clay Stamps” workshop a week from tomorrow as Lillstreet Art Center will be going “virtual” for some workshops & classes. So if you want to make some stamps with me, or learn a whole new “craft” while under quarantine, check-out the online classes being offered at Lillstreet!

Click here for the link to my “Making Clay Stamps” Workshop.

It’s so hard to believe that it has already been four full weeks since we were last together celebrating the “finale” of our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class. So much has changed since then. In our lives. In the world. It is just weird to see the Lillstreet classrooms so empty, so quiet. No wheels turning. No pots being made. No kilns firing. We are all looking forward to happier & healthier days when we can all return to play in the clay together.

Until then, I hope everyone is staying safe, staying well & staying creative!

It’s so WEIRD walking through the first floor classrooms when there is absolutely no one there! Just a quiet reminder of the fun we’ve had there… and the hope that we can get back to it soon enough. I miss my students!!!

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!

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to CHRISTINE!!!

The big winner of our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class. Christine never failed to impress with her colorful creativity, her refined throwing & finishing skills and her great enthusiasm. She embraced every challenge along the way. Well done Christine!!! You definitely deserved the big trophy!

Also congrats to Tracy who came in second, and Dana who came in third. They all did a wonderful job – continuing to impress me every time they brought their finished pieces to the next critique & judging!

You are all AMAZING!!!

Because every good competition needs a good trophy… I also made a golden & glittery ceramic trophy for the big winner of Season Three of our own LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!!! Of course it needed a few stamps as well…