Mark your calendars… a quick pop-up Holiday Party at Lillstreet Art Center! Just two hours of festive fun next Friday night from 6:00-8:00pm. I’ll be in my studio with plenty of MUGS for everyone on your holiday gift list.

But if you’re looking for the full assortment, more pottery choices, snacks, decorations & sale discounts… remember my second HOLIDAY HOME SHOW is the following Saturday & Sunday at my condo!!!

While spending many of our Summer Camp lunches up on the Lillstreet Rooftop… it’s been fun watching the beekeeper take care of the rooftop bee hives. He’s been great & very informative with the kids. And some of the freshest homegrown honey is available at the Lillstreet Front Desk! YUMMY!!!

All in all… a wonderful finish to our Spring session of pottery classes! With a huge celebration of Martin’s BIG WIN on The Great American Baking Show. I had a great group of students who not only make great pottery, but were also more than willing to play along with my silly “reality TV” games! Congratulations again to Martin… our very favorite Top Baker!!!

And a quick peek at the “behind-the-scenes” of the photo shoot…
with Christine art directing the shoot!!!

After a broken water main situation in a building near Lillstreet, the water has been turned off completely! So no classes tonight!!! Hopefully back to normal in the morning for Summer Camp!

And here I “rushed” through throwing a bunch of bowls!!!

The trumpet vine flowers are finally blooming…
and climbing the bricked corner of Lillstreet Art Center!

Last night was EMPTY BOWLS at Lillstreet Art Center. Huge thanks to everyone who participated… whether by donating your handmade bowls, or by coming to Lillstreet to buy them! All proceeds from the evening went to Common Pantry to help combat hunger & food insecurity in Chicago. Thanks again!

Yesterday, towards the end of my morning Summer Camp… my kids were invited by the Lillstreet Beekeeper to see how he processes the honey directly from the hives! Yes… Lillstreet Art Center has honey bees living on the rooftop! And yes, they harvest the honey and sell it in the Lillstreet Gallery. They kids loved their informative visit… and I LOVED the little taste-test of the freshest honey EVER!!! Straight from the hive! What a great experience for all of us.

Just a quick reminder… tomorrow night at Lillstreet Art Center is EMPTY BOWLS… our first one since the pandemic!!! A wonderful event to help a great “food pantry” cause. Basically, the potters at Lillstreet have been donating a bunch of handmade bowls… literally hundreds!!!… and they will all be available tomorrow night for a small donation to “Common Pantry.” A small donation and you get a great bowl… and to sweeten the deal?… the bowls will be filled with artisanal ice cream from JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS!!!

So here’s a quick peek at just a few of the bowls I’ve donated to the party… stamped, spiraled, glazed… even including everyone’s favorite “bubble glazed” bowl!!! Swing by for some bowls & ice cream!!!

Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled textures & patterns created by “bulging” out the side walls of a straight-sided cylinder. To make it even more fun, we also played with colored slips, texture tools & sodium silicate for that fun crackled effect. Always fun to see my students trying the “tricks” after my demo!

Early morning forsythia fun at Lillstreet… Spring is here & it’s time to start glazing!!!