And not to be out-done… Melanie had a pretty adorable final piece in her Matryoshka set as well. This teeny-tiny little cat jar was just PRECIOUS!!! Also worth the wait… finally glazed after several months of waiting & sheltering-at-home!

So, after several month of pandemic, quarantines & sheltering-in-place… many of my students from last Winter’s LILLSTREET THROWDOWN have returned to Lillstreet to finish up the projects they were making during my challenges & contest class. One of the best challenges in class was for the students to build a set of Matryoshka Dolls… with a minimum of five pieces that all nestled in on each other. Most of them got their pieces made… but no one had a chance to glaze them as COVID-19 set-in just at the end of class. No time to finish. No time to glaze. Our final THROWDOWN class happened just days before the lockdown!

But now we’re back at Lillstreet… and students have returned to pick-up where they left off. There’s been a lot of glazing going on. Including Christine who won the Matryoshka Challenge… as well as the overall trophy!

Here’s a look at her Matryoshka set that recently came out of the glaze kiln!

Her set was based on the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class itself, and some of the bigger challenges along the way! BRILLIANT!!!

Her largest jar was an homage to… well, err… little embarrassing… ME!!!
It’s not everyday you get memorialized in underglaze!!! Complete with my tie-dyed t-shirt & black gym shorts!!

The other exterior sides of the largest jar hosted shelves of pots and the names of everyone in class! Again, honoring the class, the fun , and everyone who took part in Season Three of THE GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN!

Oh… but then it opens up…

And then the second layer was based on the challenge when they all had to make Flower Bricks. Self-enclosed vases with a bunch of holes on the top for the flower stems to go through!

Inside the Flower Brick was a set of Matching Mugs… another one of our weekly class challenges. They were told to incorporate four different patterns & designs on the mugs… stripes, polka dots, paisley and plaid!

Inside the matching mugs, is a set of matching bowls. Another one of our class challenges! Smaller than the actual bowls made for the challenge… but they had to fit inside, right?!

And oh, but wait there’s more…
Inside the stacked bowls was a miniature ceramic OREO cookie!!!

YES!!!… Christine actually made a clay OREO cookie!!!
Okay, so “maybe” I have a bit of an OREO addiction going on.
Perhaps we ate far too many of them during class?!
But good to see that they’re getting honored in Christine’s set!!!

And there it is!!! Well worth the wait!!!
Even though the pandemic is still carrying on… it does feel great to be back at Lillstreet teaching & working. So good to see students back in classes, and campers back at Summer Camp. Happy that we are all making the best of the situation… with more than enough social-distancing, sanitizing, procedures and structural changes within Lillstreet.

Happy to see Christine’s finished set of Matryoshka nesting dolls!
A BRILLIANT concept!!! Thank you Christine for sharing your talents!

After the mug “trading-exchanging-stealing” game at my final Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… I came away with these two beauties! One faceted, twisted & textured mug by Christi, and a carved texture & shino swirl mug by Stephanie! Both wonderful additions to my ever-overflowing Mug Collection!

As part of the final class of my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class at Lillstreet, I had challenged them to bring two matching mugs for a fun “trading-exchanging-stealing” game! I made my mugs for the game… although I couldn’t make it to the final class as I was at ART IN THE GARDEN.

My substitute teacher Chelsea covered the class, and they all decided to trade the mugs – but to mix up the pairs so people would get two different mugs by two different people! Looks like Stephanie got one of mine!!!

Perfect for TEXTURE TUESDAY!
It’s always fun to see student work on the carts at Lillstreet where your “influence” can be seen! Darcy took my online stamp-making workshop a couple months ago… and has clearly been giving her new stamps a little workout! These look GREAT Darcy!!! Keep it up… but be careful, it’s a VERY slippery slope!!!

Another entry in the “post-pandemic-shutdown” glazing of Lillstreet Throwdown projects… Christine finally got her colorful bowls back with some mixed results! For many of her projects in my Throwdown class, Christine was experimenting with some colorful underglazes, and slips made with Mason Stains. A bold move without testing the results first. Well, we finally have some of her pieces back to compare before & after firing.

Some of the colors worked well, some of them not-so-much. Orange looks like the big winner… turquoise good… green fired darker than expected but still nice… as well as the purple which actually turned out to be more of a deep blue?! Pretty, but blue. And the yellow?… GONE!

Here’s her set of four matching bowls… with colorful flowers!

And her set of matching dessert bowls…

And her tie-dyed bowls with swirled slip… again, orange is the WINNER!

Today in my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class we tackled throwing taller… vase, bottle, whatever. It was all about getting the clay to move up off the bottom, getting it out of the bottom corners and move it up the sides to make taller pieces.

After a demo with a few quick tips & tricks, they were well on their way. I gave them a challenge of at least 9-inches tall with two pounds of clay. Everyone who tried it made it… and some were just a bit giddy!

A couple weeks ago his gallery show closed… but I just ran across these photos and thought I should share. Gabriel Mo was one of the Resident Artists in the Metals Department at Lillstreet Art Center. Unfortunately, the term of his Residency was great affected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Coming to Lillstreet with such hope & promise, but then finding it all changed as the world changed so quickly for everyone.

At the end of his Lillstreet Residency, there was a small Gallery Showing of his work in the Lillstreet Annex Gallery on the second floor. I passed through the show many times as I was on my way to my studio. Alsways enamored by the architectural style, the crisp lines, the contrast of metals… and the fact that they’re all “kinetic” pieces that move, swing, swivel, open, close, etc. A simple touch in the right places made all the difference… and it was great to see the sketches with the pieces as well.

But for me… it was ALL ABOUT THE SHADOWS!!!
Sure, his metalwork was amazing, but I was intrigued by the shadows!

Sadly his show has alrady been taken down from the Lillstreet Gallery Annex. Although you can click here to see more on Gabriel’s website.

And a huge THANKS to Pam Robinson for coordinating this show and creating a moment of beauty during the Corona pandemic. While everything was shut down, people sheltered-at-home, and Chicago opening back up so slowly… Pam found a way to work through the safety issues to create this socially-distant Gallery Opening to celebrate Gabriel’s work, and his time at Lillstreet. Surely NOT what he expected his Artist-in-Residence time to be like!

So our baby blocks finally came out of the kiln…
and I got together last night with Molly & Jacob to drop them off!

Remember, we made these ceramic blocks last session pre-Covid during our Lillstreet Throwdown class. Newly pregnant at the time, but now they’re one month away from their due date! They loved their baby blocks… so ADORABLE… and I loved the Lickety Split frozen custard we went out for afterwards too!

Here’s a flashback mug for MUGSHOT MONDAY! Molly’s sister has had this mug for years… apparently loving it… and they just figured it out that it’s one of mine. Molly coordinates all of the Summer Camps at Lillstreet… and this was a little bit of “small worlds colliding” when this came together.

And then Molly bought a new mug for herself too…
not to be one-upped by her sister!!!