By now you may have seen some of the totem poles my Summer Campers have made.
I’ve posted pictures here on the blog, and have received some great compliments.
Thank you all so much. But my latest excitement is seeing that my camp project has
inspired another teacher to do the same with her kids… way over on the “other side
of the Pond.” It’s pretty darn cool to see that my totem poles, and my little blog have
made it all the way to London AND inspired another group of kids to make their own
totem pole! Here’s an excerpt from the e-mail I received from Abby, the teacher.
________________________________________________________

Hello Gary,
We spoke a while back and you gave me a lot of good advice on how to go about
constructing a ceramic totem pole with my students in the UK. We finished the project
in July and I just back to the States a couple of weeks ago. 

Okay, so I’m not the best with math. Never have been.
Don’t really see the use for most of what they tried to teach us in school.
Trigonometry. Math with letters? Statistics. Analytics. etc…
But finally, there’s a pie chart I can understand… and REALLY relate to!!!

What’s missing is the part of the chart about the SECOND pie I’m also going to eat!!!
This pie chart might have come in handy on my recent biking vacation?!

You know how you keep writing notes to yourself during an art fair?!
Things you need to do… special commissions you need to do a quote for…
e-mails for new friends… projects… requests… reminders…

Well, when I was finally cleaning out my pockets, I also ran across the fortune
I found inside my fortune cookie at dinner Saturday night. Funny the things
you find when you finally empty out your pockets…

Each year, my “art fair assistants” and I… aka my parents… eat dinner at our favorite
Oriental restaurant in Hinsdale… Jade Dragon. They have great food at incredible
prices, as well as an amazing staff that makes you feel right at home!
And apparently… some of the best fortunes ever?!!!

Make some popcorn… set the DVR… cuddle up on the sofa…
for my big television debut on HGTV’s “Great Rooms With Meg.”
Airing this Saturday, June 16th at 8:00pm Central time.

Now sure, this isn’t my first television exposure… not to gloat, but I was on WGN’s
Bozo’s Circus when I was a little kid. And, not only was I on the show… I played the
game at the end when they would have a group of kids all playing the game. The challenge
was for me a my partner to stack cups & saucers on the flat end of a baseball bat. I held the
bat, and she stacked the cups & saucers… tallest stack a the end of the game wins!
Well, let me just say I was suddenly the proud owner of big prize…
a View-Master 3-D ‘Scooby-Doo’ Slide Projector!!!

But I digress…

Back to the real show… get ready to watch my “20-seconds of fame” this Saturday on HGTV.
I did a special project for them for a kitchen remodeling show they were doing. I made the
pieces and they came into my studio to do some filming of Meg and me. We did almost five
hours of filming… but I’m confident all of “my best work” will be left on the cutting room floor!
I’m sure they’ll craft all the pieces together to make a great show. I’m confident… or…
The editors thought it would be fun to see me all sweaty, flustered and rambling on like an
idiot on screen. It was seriously like 90-degrees in my studio. Trust me, it could go either way…

And let me just say… I still wish I had kept the ‘Scooby-Doo’ View-Master!!!

Thanks for playing… and for guessing the names of some of the potters
who share their talents during the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour!
In case you were wondering…

Here are the 20 potters who I thought had really cool patterns & textures!
And if you noticed, they’ve been in alphabetical order just to make it easier for you.

Potter #1 -  Mary Barringer, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

Potter #2 -  Bob Briscoe, Harris, Minnesota

Potter #3 -  Linda Christiansonm Lindstrom, Minnesota

Potter #4 -  Delores Fortuna, Galena, illinois

Potter #5 -  Steven Hill, Independence, Missouri

Potter #6 -  Michael Hunt & Naomi Dalglish, Bakersville, North Carolina

Potter #7 -  Karin Kraemer, Superior, Wisconsin

Potter #8 -  Simon Levin, Gresham, Wisconsin

Potter #9 -  Suze Lindsay, Bakersville, North Carolina

Potter #10 – George Lowe, Decorah, Iowa

Potter #11 -  Kent McLaughlin, Bakersville, North Carolina

Potter #12 -  Jenny Mendes, Chesterland, Ohio

Potter #13 -  Matthew Metz, Alfred Station, New York

Potter #14 -  Donna Polseno, Floyd, Virginia

Potter #15 – Ellen Shankin, Floyd, Virginia

Potter #16 -  Mark Shapiro, Worthington, Massachusetts

Potter #17 – Sam Taylor, Westhampton, Massachusetts

Potter #18 -  Shoko Teruyama, Marshall, North Carolina

Potter #19 – Tom Turner, Mars Hill, North Carolina

Potter #20 -  Richard Vincent, North Branch, Minnesota

So mark your calendar for next year’s tour… it’s always on Mother’s Day Weekend.
You’ll be glad you did. And you’ll see a LOT more incredible work by more than just
the twenty potters I featured here in my little game!

By now you know that I love a lot of patterns & textures!
And since I’ve already told stories of how incredible the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour
is in previous posts, I decided this year to show off the “Potters of the Minnesota Tour”
by their patterns & textures! There are forty-nine potters on the Tour, but I’ve narrowed
it down to just twenty. All of them would just be overwhelming… as is the Tour!
So here’s the game…

How many of these twenty potters can you name just based on their work?!
So here’s the deal… I’ll show you the close-up, you tell me the potter who made it!

Potter #1 -  ____________________

Potter #2 -  ____________________

Potter #3 –   ____________________

Potter #4 –   ____________________

Potter #5 -  ____________________

Potter #6 –   ____________________

Potter #7 –   ____________________

Potter #8 –   ____________________

Potter #9 –   ____________________

Potter #10 –   ____________________

Potter #11 –   ____________________

Potter #12 –   ____________________

Potter #13 –   ____________________

Potter #14 –   ____________________

Potter #15 –   ____________________

Potter #16 –   ____________________

Potter #17 –   ____________________

Potter #18 –   ____________________

Potter #19 –   ____________________

Potter #20 –   ____________________

You know… after looking at twenty of the fantastic potters showing up north
in the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour, it seems like something’s missing?!
There’s a lot of glazing… a lot of carving… a lot of atmospheric firing… but…

Don’t you think they need some obsessively stamped pots up there?! I’m just sayin’…

I had a wonderful time up in Minnesota this weekend surrounded by thousands
of incredible pots… and the talented artists who made them! So much fun touring
the St. Croix River Valley area with old friends & making new ones…
and buying a few beautiful pots along the way!!!

Always excited to start my day off with waffles & peanut butter… again!
Plus a nice discussion with potter George Lowe, his wife, and then some potter
friends from Lillstreet. After a lot of “pottery-talk”, it was time to get going.
First up… back to Bob Briscoe’s studio.

Sundays are always slower, quieter and more relaxed on the Tour. Most of the
“real” shoppers & collectors come early on Friday. By the time Sunday rolls around,
there are a LOT fewer pots, and the artists are slowing down. It’s been a long weekend
for them too. Lucky for us, we had plenty of time to talk with Matt Metz, Suze Lindsay,
Kent McLaughlin and Bob Briscoe. After a couple hours, it was time to say our goodbyes
and move on to our last stop.

Back at Guillermo’s location, we stopped by to chat with Delores Fortuna & Roberta
Polfus. It was a lot quieter there too… so they had some time to sit and talk with us.
While we were sitting chatting, Clary Illian stopped by to join our conversation.
Nice to talk to a ceramic “legend”… but all too soon it was time to get back on the road
for the long drive home.

All in all, another successful Pottery Tour. So much fun to be surrounded by so much
fine ceramic work. And have access to so many talented potters so you can chat and
get to know them. It’s also encouraging to see so many people coming out for the Tour
to encourage & support the arts. And to buy some pots!!!

So, mark your calendars for next year’s St. Croix RIver Valley Pottery Tour.
It’s always the Friday, Saturday & Sunday of Mother’s Day Weekend.
Luckily, my Mom understands and we celebrate a week early so I can go to the Tour!

Today we got up early for breakfast in the hotel…
Belgian waffles with peanut butter & syrup!!!

Our first stop was down in Minneapolis. Amy needed to buy her
“year’s supply” of clay… and I needed some new clues that I really don’t “need.”
After packing up the car, we went over to the Northern Clay Center. We looked
through the gallery which is full of beautiful pots. Some of them actually from the
potters who are on the Tour. While looking in the gallery, Emily Murphy stopped by
for a visit and lunch. So great to get caught up with her… and some great Thai food!

While wandering through the studio spaces at Northern Clay, we ran across pots
by Kip O’Krongly. Remember back to “the tumbler that got away” blog post?!
Click HERE for a reminder recap. Anyway… she makes these really great terra cotta
pieces with imagery of farm equipment, wind turbines and bicycles!!! Yes, bikes!!!
Without question, I needed them. Last year I was hoping to get bike tumblers…
but this year she had bike plates!!! So I go two. Plus, she’s adorable to boot!!!

Then it was back to the Tour. We stopped by a few of the Tour Studios, as well as
a side trip to see The Rogue Potters. They’re not “officially” part of the Tour, but they
have set up their signs on the road and filled a house with pots. They’ve been there
for a couple years, right off Route 95. It’s a collective of ceramic artists all making
beautiful pots that are quite affordable! Including my new plate…

Then it was back to Richard Vincent’s place for more… more pots, more chatting
with the potters. Then back to Will Swanson’s place for more. It’s always amazing
to see how the quantity of pots has decreased so drastically by the end of Day Two.
Many of the shelves were empty, or even taken down in some cases. Shop early!!!

Then it was almost 6:00pm… so our Tour Day Two had come to an end!