Well, ART IN THE GARDEN is just a couple days away, and it looks like my pal Cory McCrory has added some fun underglazes & stains to her whimsical flowers! All part of the collaboration project that we’re working on together!!! Oh, wait… are those chicken feet too???.. those aren’t for me!!!… so I’m guessing that Cory must be doing another collaboration with another artist for next weekend’s show in Glenview!

For more information, click on https://www.grassrootsartfair.com/

To celebrate the full moon, there was also another FULL MOON FIRE JAM along the lakefront just south of Foster Beach. It started out years ago as a small little event with a few fire twirlers, fire eaters & other spectacles. But it has grown to be a HUGE event with so many people showing up. Quite the crowd tonight… especially with the perfect evening weather!

So excited to see one of my Intermediate Wheelthrowing student’s pieces show-up on the SHOW-OFF SHELVES at Lillstreet. Kelly made this several weeks back… a wheelthrown donut with colorful frosting & sprinkles! Originally designed to be a “vase” with the big bite as the place that the flowers go! Beautifully done Kelly… now I think we need a full baker’s dozen of them!!!

On Wednesday, my Summer Campers switched their focus to their large scale sculptures. We discussed their ideas, the postures, the armatures & how they were going to tackle the project. We constructed most of the armatures out of boxes, wire, cardboard & dowel rods… and then covered the armatures with newspaper & masking tape. The goal was to get them as “identifiable” as possible at this point… so that the layers of plaster gauze to come would solidify everything & give them a surface to add more details & paint later.

One of the many cool things about Route 66 is the number of wacky & crazy things you’ll find along the way… the Wigwam Hotel, Cadillac Ranch, and many more further out west. But yesterday I found THIS little bit of wackiness right in Lexington, Illinois. A large elephant sculpture made out a bunch of random parts & pieces! Sadly, there was no description or explanation… just a fun photo-shoot with an elephant! Now that doesn’t happen every day…

BLOG POST UPDATE :
So here’s a LINK… my friend Tracy found this tidbit.
Apparently Lexington artist Kasey Wells hauled this crazy-looking scrap metal elephant around the USA in 2020 in a failed attempt to become President of the United States.

Who knew?!

Today was a beautiful day for an other bike ride along the lakefront. Perfect for exploring some of the more hidden areas… and I found LA RONDA PARAKATA. A very cool structure up on a hill overlooking the lake just south of 31st Street Harbor. Designed to honor the monarch butterflies, and built as a “gathering space” along the Burnham Wildlife Corridor. Always fun when you get off the beaten path to explore & enjoy some newly-discovered treasures.

Always fun to get my “latest installation” of artsy postcards from The Postcard Club … this batch featuring some pretty sweet illustrations & motivational messages. A little something guaranteed to brighten someone’s day!

Click here for more about The Postcard Club subscription program.

So… did you hear that they’re talking about adding a new town just east of Sandwich??? They’re talking about calling it Baloney. So if this all comes together, when you travel west on I-34, you would go through Plano-Baloney-Sandwich!!!

Remember, the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR begins tomorrow at 10:00am… and I’ll be at the Sandwich location! For full details, check-out the website… www.northernilpotterytour.com

The final “surprise” challenge for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class was to interpret five different words onto five different tiles. They each received the same words & a blank tile, and then had fifteen minutes to “represent” the word on each tile. The words were PAISLEY, NOSTALGIA, CHAOS, FESTIVE and JUXTAPOSITION. Always fun for me as the observer to watch each of them approach a challenge in different ways – both in interpreting the word and their handbuilding approach & techniques!

CHAOS –

NOSTALGIA –

FESTIVE –

JUXTAPOSITION –

PAISLEY –

On the final night of the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN, my students came in thinking they were pretty much done except for some critiques, judging & points… but they were WRONG!!! I surprised them with one last challenge… decorating tiles with only 15 minutes per tile.

And oh, but wait there’s more...
each of their five tiles had to each represent a different given word…
chosen by me!