One of the special exhibits at Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum last weekend was this great display of Korean woodworking. Such craftsmanship on these vintage chests. And fun to see them with my talented metalsmith friend Sarah Chapman who had an extra appreciation for the work & effort that went into making these amazing pieces!!!

You know how I love rusty metal, weathered wood & vintage contraptions. So this morning was a BONUS when I came upon this vintage piano on the beach… weathered & worn. I can only picture days gone by with someone playing gentle piano music as the waves slowly roll in. But now it seems to be too far gone for playing… but you can still appreciate the life this piano has seen.

During the previous class session, my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class saw some amazing ceramic baskets in the Lillstreet Cafe’ Gallery by studio member Jennifer FitzGerald. We had a quick discussion of clay baskets & some basic construction techniques. Then this session, one of my students asked for a class “challenge”… so I suggested we all make our own versions of the baskets they were so enamored by the session before. While I channeled my inner “Mudweaver” while making this basket… my students realized it was a a LOT harder than they thought. While still inspired, none of them finished their baskets by the end of the session!

Be sure to check-out more of Jennifer’s beautiful work & give her a “Follow” on Instagram – @mudweaver_ceramics

Looks like Darlys Ewoldt is working hard on her “4×4” collaboration projects too! Darlys is known more for large-scale metal sculptures with beautiful colors & patinas. So it will be interesting to see her size-down her work to fit inside the shadowboxes. I love seeing these collaboration projects all coming together for our “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” pop-up show!!!

Check out more of Darlys’ sculptural work… www.darlysewoldt.com/

Inside the “care-package” were shadowbox picture frames for our upcoming “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” pop-up show in a little over a week! These beautiful frames were HANDMADE by one of our four artists… Meghann Sottile! Such beautiful design & craftsmanship… with some crazy-cool corner joinery going on! So now each of the four artists needs to put something equally cool inside… worthy of these beautiful frames… that goes along with our thematic collaboration project. “4×4″… four artists, four frames each… sixteen in the collaboration!

Coming soon to Space 900 Gallery in Evanston – 816 Dempster, Evanston, Illinois
Friday, February 28. Saturday, March 1. Sunday, March 2

Yes, I have once again hidden some handmade ceramic fortune cookies to kick-off the New Year. Spreading good will & good fortune around for people to find. The following photos are the “clues” that you can use to find the twenty-four fortune cookies scattered around Illinois Beach State Park. I’m not going to make it easy… but the search is on! Go outside & play in nature… and find “your fortune” at the same time!

While the HAMILTON stage is pretty amazing, what with the set, lighting & rotating stage… but the theater itself is pretty SPECTACULAR too!!! I’m always amazed by the architectural grandeur of the classic Chicago theater palaces. Last night we were in the Nederlander Theater which gets me every time!!! Crazy cool architecture & craftsmanship like they just don’t make any more!

So I just got an email from Jacob… friend & former pottery student… who was published in the New York Times yesterday!!! Who knew that my little “pottery games” would inspire such wordplay in the Times?!!!

From Jacob…
“I’ve been writing crosswords as a hobby and just had one of my puzzles published
in the New York Times! Better yet, I was able to include a clue based one of your
challenge class challenges (see the highlighted clue in the snippet below.)
TULIPIERES just went mainstream! Just thought I’d share
as I thought you’d get a kick out of it.”

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SPOLIER ALERT !!!

Don’t go any further if you don’t want to see the answers!!!

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Just a little bling & sparkle for a Saturday afternoon! I told my friend Pam that I may have just found her sparkly new Christmas present… but I would need a few people to go in on it with me! HA!!! I mean, she does love her bling!!!

I’m not really a “fancy car guy”… but, this is a 1983 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur… covered with a MILLION Swarovski crystals! Each crystal set by hand by five full-time setters over a period of six months! To see this sparkly masterpiece in person, it is currently on display at Navy Pier’s LIGHT UP THE LAKE. A fun & sparkly holiday event inside Festival Hall complete with millions of lights, ice skating, food, drink & plenty of Instagram moments!

Yesterday, one of my Summer Campers was so focused on finishing her wheelthrowing project, that she brought it upstairs to the rooftop to finish it during our lunch break. So while the other kids entertained themselves & played games… a lot of colored slip painting was happening to make her new ramen bowl more “authentic” with a branch of cherry blossoms painted on the side.