Register for my wheelthrowing class quickly and save some money!!!

Yep, I will once again be teaching my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing next session at Lillstreet Art Center. My class is on Tuesday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm. It’s pretty much for “beginners” of all levels. Whether you’ve thrown on a wheel before or not… whether you’ve ever touched clay before or not… or just like to play in the mud!

Registration is already open – and my class is filling up fast! Don’t miss out!!!
Click here for online registration.

Tonight was the opening reception for “Sense Of Scale” at Lillstreet Art Center.
Celebrating the work of four inspired metalsmiths – and the beautiful work they make in metal.
Whether it’s sculptural pieces or wearable art, they are all wonderful beauties!

Of course, my favorite metalsmith Sarah Chapman was one of the celebrated artists!
Always making beautiful pieces, it was great to see her work on a larger scale – creating a textured metal constellation piece with beautiful insets of stitched stones & pearls. Additionally, the smaller glass cases had many of her jewelry pieces on display. For more of Sarah Chapman‘s beautiful work, click here for her website.

Sure, the installation grouping is wonderful. But the real beauty is in the details.
Textures. Colors. Architectural designs.

The second metalsmith was Darlys Ewoldt. I’ve seen here around Lillstreet, especially during Summer Camp working with the kids. I must admit that I was unaware of her larger, sculptural works. Her large sculptures were amazing. Great swirling movement and beautiful patina colors. For more of Darlys Ewoldt‘s work, click here for her website.

Sculptural crocheted wire pieces by Heejin Hwang were hanging from the wall & ceiling. Heejin was an Artist In Residence last year at Lillstreet, and is now teaching classes. I love the “hollow” volume of each, and even more, the “shaggy” layers of metal pieces at the top. For more information on Heejin Hwang‘s work, click here for her website.

One of my “crazy” favorites is the sculptural works of Stacey Lee Webber. She was also a Lillstreet Artist-In-Residence a few years back. Everyone was quickly enamored with her quirky style and use of everyday metal objects to create her unique works of art. Coins. Screws. Pennies. In fact… she once constructed a full-size ladder out of copper pennies!!! But I digress… for more of Stacey Lee Webber‘s work, click here for her website.

Like this wonderful bouquet made of screws… whether bundled together…
or flattened out to become the petals of the flowers!

Chain link necklaces made of copper pennies… or gold-plated screws!

Or a large installation piece dripping with chains made of coins… AFTER the faces have been cut out of each coin. YES – ACTUAL REAL COINS!!! So the chain of coins is draped on the left… and the Presidential coin heads on the right!!!

All in all, a wonderful show opening tonight at Lillstreet. It was great to see some of our favorite metalsmiths show off their larger “sculptural” style… along with their smaller jewelry pieces. Be sure to stop by Lillstreet to see this fantastic metal show.

“Sense Of Scale: Metal Sculpture and Wearable Art” through March 2, 2014.

Tonight my class tackled pulling handles & adding them to their basic cylinders
from Week One. So now it’s only Week Two and they’ve already made MUGS!!!
I think they’re off to a great start!!!

Tonight was the first night of my new session of pottery classes.
My Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing Class has some new students. Some just “new to me.” And several fun “repeat offenders.” Either way, I hope they had a great time. And if I didn’t win them over with my teaching & witty banter… I sure hope the Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn sealed the deal.

So I just checked in and found out that my Tuesday night
Beginning Wheelthrowing Class at Lillstreet Art Center is already FULL!!!
All 18 wheels will be filled with fun people ready to play in the mud with me!
Whoo-hoo!!!

The Winter Session of classes begin at Lillstreet Art Center the second weekend of January.
And if you’re looking for a great Christmas gift… to give as a gift, or for yourself… you can
you can already sign-up for my Tuesday night class of Beginning Wheelthrowing!

Well technically it’s Beginning & “Advanced Beginning” which means return beginners are more than welcome. As well as brand new newbies, or people who may have played with clay a lifetime ago! Either way, the 10-week class will take your through the full process and give you lots of time to make your own treasures. Part of your class includes open studio access seven days a week!!!

Click here to register online, or stop by Lillstreet, or call to register over the phone.
But hurry up… my classes fill up fast!!!

It’s amazing how fast 10-weeks flies by!
Tonight was the final class for my Beginning Wheel students. They were busy finishing up their pots, snacking at our potluck, chatting, laughing & hanging out. Basically solving all the problems of the world. And good thing we had plenty of sweets to keep everyone happy… especially me!!! I’ve trained them so well…

We finished our class with a “bowl” exchange game.
At some point we expanded the definition of “bowl” to any “vessel” they’ve made. Guess some students didn’t quite finish a bowl?! Anyway, after our “exchanging-trading-stealing” game, I came home with a great mug by one of my repeat students Nadine!!!

Tonight before class I had a wonderful visit with a fellow potter from South Carolina. Stephanie follows my blog and decided to put a visit to my studio on her itinerary while here in Chicago for her husband’s business trip. It was great to meet them both, talk pottery and give them a tour of Lillstreet Art Center. I hope they enjoyed their visit as much as I did… and Stephanie is taking a mug home as a souvenir!

As I was leaving the studio tonight, I decided to exit through the classrooms to chat with friends and to see if I had any class demos that had come out of the kiln.

Well… I hate when this happens…

Apparently one of them did in fact come out of the kiln. It’s what happened next that I would love an explanation for. My slip demo plate was sitting on the bisqued cart just like this. In two pieces!!! It obviously got broken during the unload, or by a careless student. I understand accidents happen. But they could have at least left a note!

On the good side… at least we can see how even my throwing & trimming were… I guess we’ll chalk this one up to “another” demo. One that I didn’t plan on sharing.

The 2013 Student Member Show opened today in the Lillstreet Gallery.
And while I’m not part of the show, it’s great fun for me to see so many
of my previous students & friends in the show. A lot of great pottery, sculpture,
jewelry & paintings by a lot of great artists. The show only runs for a week…
so hurry in today!