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!!

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

Homemade & handmade. Starting my morning with the best english muffins ever!!! Not only did she make the plate, but the multi-talented Cory McCrory is also a talented baker!!! And I LOVE being a beneficiary of her baking obsession. Burp!

By the end of the week, we had SEVEN full trays of chess pieces. All painted with underglaze… and hopefully all scored & slipped with poked air holes. Very impressive to see them all together like this… tray after tray after tray. A grand total of 382 CHESS PIECES!!! Not bad for a one-week camp… as I had a wonderful group of campers! It was a fitting end to another successful CHESS CAMP!!!

As Friday neared an end, it was a full-on press to get all of the CHESS CAMP pieces painted with underglazes. So much fun seeing their terra cotta pieces come to life in color. Even better when they get glazed & fired with clear glaze later! The kids had a great time painting… and they were thrilled with the results!

It was Friday of CHESS CAMP… and one of the campers was falling behind and did NOT have all of his pieces built yet. So it was all-hands-on-deck to help Henry… and it was so great to watch all of the other kids pitch in so eagerly! Assembly line, score, slip, score, slip… GO!!!

Last week at Summer Camp it was my favorite week… CHESS CAMP!!! And yes, my 9-10 year old campers made full chess sets out of clay! All handbuilt to their own imagination. Lots of parts, lots of pieces… and “hopefully” a LOT of scoring & slipping to hold it all together!

Summer Camp with a younger group : 8-10 year olds… wheelthrowing on Monday & Tuesday, trimming & handles on Wednesday, handbilding (sp) on Thursday… and then slip painting on Friday! This group was a lot of fun… especially on Thursday when we tackled textured mugs. They threw their own slabs by hand with no rolling pins or slab rollers! Then they pressed in a texture & constructed their own mugs all by themselves! Amazing work!

Fresh from the soda kiln… my little boxes! Done just in time for “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS”… our Pop-Up Exhibition & Sale that starts tomorrow in Evanston! If all goes well, all four of the 4×4 artists will be making “little boxes” in their own medium for a very special display. I made a few extra… as I only “really” need four. But always hedging my bets in the soda kiln. Four boxes by four artists.

Get it?…. 4×4.

You know how much I love a good theme… so here I am making some “little boxes” for our upcoming “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” show. Hopefully the other three artists are doing the same?

Am I right Sarah, Darlys & Robin???