And speaking of “laboring” on Labor Day… now that metalsmith Amy Taylor has finished her part of our collaboration with all of her sgraffito doodles on my porcelain pieces, I can now get them into a glaze kiln quickly so they’re done & out in time for next weekend’s ART IN THE GARDEN! This one of the best features of ART IN THE GARDEN… several of the artists work together on different one-of-a-kind collaborations that will only be available next weekend in Glenview. And they’re all limited editions, so you might need to get there early!!!

Looks like Cory McCrory is busy in the studio “laboring” this Labor Day… still making more parts & pieces for our ART IN THE GARDEN collaboration project. We’ll be debuting our one-of-a-kind limited edition pieces next weekend in Glenview!!

Here’s a quick glimpse of a little “sumthin-sumthin” going on in Amy Taylor’s world. Just a little scratching, a little doodling, a little sgraffito-ing! Yes, metalsmiths can play with clay too… especially when it comes to collaboration projects for ART IN THE GARDEN!!! More to come… and mark your calendars for September 7th & 8th!!!

Just a quick glimpse into Cory McCrory’s studio as she is working on our collaboration pieces for ART IN THE GARDEN. I see lots of parts & pieces in the making… can’t wait to see how she puts all of these little treasures together!!!

Don’t forget ART IN THE GARDEN is coming soon with lots of great collaboration projects amongst the artists! September 7th & 8th in Glenview. For more details… www.grassrootsartfair.com

Time for another collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN. A few porcelain pieces with some black underglazed rims… getting ready for metalsmith Amy Taylor to do some sgraffito “magic” on them! Can’t wait to see the cute critters she carves into them this year!

With summer over… so are the Summer Art Fairs! But always fun to look back to a fun art fair highlight! I loved the collaboration birdhouses I made with my pal Cory McCrory for ART IN THE GARDEN… and the excited shoppers who scored one of the ten colorful birdhouses! Such a fun collaboration project… and so fun seeing everyone with their whimsical new birdhouses!

Can’t wait to do another collaboration with Cory for next year…
for the 10th Anniversary of ART IN THE GARDEN!!!

And an extra special birdhouse… where she “just had to have” this birdhouse with the two bluebirds on top. And then she explained that she is a TWIN… and loved the two birds on top!!!

Another huge THANK YOU to all of our loyal customers who came out to our grassroots ART IN THE GARDEN last weekend. Especially those who got there and snatched up some of our one-of-a-kind collaboration projects! Like these black & white sgraffito platters… where I made the porcelain pieces & metalsmith Amy Taylor did the sgraffito doodles. I think they turned out great.. and they all disappeared very quickly!!! So thanks again for supporting your favorite artists!

What’s black & white… and red all over?
Thanks George for sharing your fresh tomatoes in one of our porcelain sgraffito collaboration pieces from ART IN THE GARDEN! The colorful tomatoes totally “pop” on the black & white dish!

A sincere THANK YOU to everyone who came out to ART IN THE GARDEN last weekend. It was our ninth year of doing that grassroots art fair… and our ninth year of doing collaboration projects with the other artists. But this year, I think my pal Cory Mccrory really blew it out of the water with these amazing birdhouses. I made the textured terra cotta houses… and then Cory collaborated & added her usual sense of whimsy & color on top of them! We only made TEN… and they went fast! Quite the collector’s item for those ten lucky customers!

And now we need to start thinking about how we’re going to top ourselves next year for the Tenth Anniversary of collaborations with Cory! Any suggestions???

This colorful collaboration came home with me from ART IN THE GARDEN. A perky flower made by Cory Mccrory surrounded by beautiful mosaics by Kristin Dann Conneely. I especially loved how the beauty of the day was reflected in the broken mirrors… blue skies, green leaves… beautiful day!!!