The Winter session of clay classes at Lillstreet Art Center begin next week!
Just when the holidays are over… and everyone is looking for something fun to do!!!

My wheelthrowing class for beginners & advanced-beginners starts one week from tonight!
Don’t worry if you’ve never touched clay… or did, but it was back in high school…
We start each session with introductions to find out where we all stand and determine the
10-week syllabus based on who’s in the class. We always cover the basics, from centering
to cylinders, onto bowls and other forms… but I do take requests!

Tuesday evenings beginning January 11th from 7:00pm-10:00pm.
Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60640 – (773) 769-4226

I just found out tonight that there are only three spaces left. Sign up soon – don’t be left out!
Call or stop by Lillstreet Art Center – or register for class online: www.lillstreet.com

Tonight is the Lillstreet Holiday Open House Party from 6:00-10:00pm
to kick-off the holiday shopping season. The studios are all decked out and
stocked up for the eager shoppers! Including mine…

The group of artists who share the spaces in Studio 205 West at Lillstreet Art Center
will be open for holiday shopping every weekend through Christmas! So stop by for our
scheduled hours, or throughout the week if one of the artists happens to be around working.
Saturdays 10:00am-6:00pm and Sundays 10:00am-5:00pm.
Even if I’m not in the studio, any of the other studio artists can help you with your transaction.

Tonight was a special night for my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
class at Lillstreet Art Center. My friend Amy Higgason from the Northwoods was
passing through Chicago and stopped by for a fun evening of dinner, conversation…
and a wonderful demonstration of her fantastic decoration techniques for my class!

Amy was once a Lillstreet Studio Artist back at the original location. She has since
moved on to the Wisconsin Northwoods – and set herself up as Pigeon Road Pottery.
I was up there a couple weeks ago for her Fall Art Tour – and it was great to have her
stop by my class! What a great opportunity for them to see another great potter at work
and sharing all of her surface decoration “secrets.”

After some brief introductions, Amy started to work on a couple simple bowls
that I had thrown on Sunday. I made five different bowls for Amy and I to work on.
The demonstration for my students was to see Amy’s work & techniques… but also
to see how a little surface decoration can dramatically alter the look of a pot.
And how five very similar bowls can end up completely different with her techniques,
my techniques… or our combined efforts! Amy then proceeded to start carve, chat and
discuss her path as a ceramic artist. Amy and I have similar backgrounds – both as
graphic designers who have shunned the corporate life. She worked on decorating her
bowls as she answered questions and demonstrated different techniques… and laughed!

The evening went by very fast. By the end of the evening, Amy had carved three
different bowls… and I had stamped one bowl in my newer “puffy stamps” style… as well
as one bowl that we worked together on as a collaboration piece! During her time, I also
worked with my students on their own throwing, and demonstrated how to throw a plate.

By the end of the evening, we had completed five dramatically different bowls. All of which
were very much the same at the start of the evening. I have a few small finishing touches
to do on them tomorrow before they can all start drying. I think my students enjoyed
our “surprise” special guest artist. Plus, I think Karen Avery’s Intermediate Wheelthrowing
Class enjoyed it too… as they came in and joined the Amy party! And special thanks to one of
my former students Chuck (and his wife) who brought in a tray of the best homemade
chocolate chip cookies ever!!!… and they were still warm! – Chuck, you rock!!!

I know that one of my students, Pam, enjoyed the night with Amy. They met
just a couple weeks ago during the Northwoods Tour – and Pam has become one of
Amy’s greatest fans VERY quickly!!!… and has already started her own
Pigeon Road Pottery Collection!

Big surprise for my Tuesday night Wheelthrowing class… shh, don’t tell anyone…
but my good friend & fantastic potter Amy Higgason will be stopping by
for a “surprise” visit this coming Tuesday to show off some of her incredible
surface decoration techniques. We may even get the chance to do some tag-team
demos to show off why her work has been referred to as “more feathery” and my
work as “more footprinty.” She’ll be passing through Chicago on Tuesday, and I
persuaded her to stick around for an evening with my beginners!

If you want to see more of Amy’s work, scroll back a few posts to see more about
my trip up to the Wisconsin Northwoods. Amy is THAT incredible potter!!!
My class is so lucky to see her demo… and they don’t even know it yet!

Tonight’s class demo is always one of my favorites – basic bowls on purpose!
Not a cylinder gone bad… and oops, there it is… voila’… a bowl?!!!
Instead, a bowl made intentionally from the start, with a plan, on purpose.

So I started with a quick demo of how to make the basic bowl.
And then continued to show the class how you can simply & quickly alter the rims
of the bowls to make them a little less basic… and a little more style, a little more fun!
Some simple twisting, torquing, slipping, stamping, swirling, etc. A little time
drying, then I can do a little stamping… and look, we have a bunch of new bowls!!!

Tonight was the first night of my Beginning Wheelthrowing Class for the Fall Session
at Lillstreet Art Center. It’s always fun to find out who my new students are going to be.
And once again, we have a full class of eighteen students… to fill the room’s 18 wheels!
The class is designed for brand new beginners, as well as “advanced beginners”… or
“repeat beginners” as I like to call them. As it turns out, I have a lot of “repeat beginners”
this time – but many are returning after 10-15 years of not touching clay!

So we started with introductions & discussions about their clay experience and expectations
of this class. I found out that quite a few of them “did a little throwing” back in high school
or college. But now they’re lawyers, nurses, authors, and other corporate muckity-mucks
ready to come back and get dirty in the clay!

So it looks like this session will be a lot of “beginning” demo’s in an attempt at getting
everyone “back up to speed” so we can tackle a few tougher projects. During our group
discussion, people asked to learn how to make plates, larger bowls, taller vases, lidded jars
and the “challenge” for this session?… Hannukah menorahs!!! While I’m still thinking
that we need to work on wedging, centering, cylinders, the basics.  Wish me luck. Oy vey…

We’re just a few days away from the start of the new Fall Session at Lillstreet.
I will once again be teaching a Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class
on Tuesday nights from 7:00-10:00pm starting on Tuesday, September 14th.

So whether you’ve never touched clay or at least know the basics, you’re more than
ready to join my class for 10-weeks of fun & open studio time. You’ll learn the
basics of wedging, centering & throwing, as well as refinements like trimming,
surface decoration and glazing. And just in time for the holiday gift giving season!
But sign up soon – only thee spaces left in my class!

Plus, you know I’m always up for a challenge… and there’s been discussion amongst
some of my returning students that they want to see me make a Menorah?!
If they do request it… I guess I’ll need to start figuring it out in my head, huh?!

Well, we’re in the final stretch. Tomorrow is the last day of Chess Camp.
And fittingly, today the kids had some big deadlines to meet… and they did.
Our mission for today was for the kids to finish constructing all of their
chess pieces. They’ll be drying overnight so we can “finish them off” tomorrow!

The other part of “the big deadline” was that they each had to paint their thematic
chess boards. They too are drying overnight and tomorrow we’ll give them a little
shine with a protective coat of Mod Podge… and I love that memorable smell.

Tomorrow we will finish off another wonderful week of camp by painting
all of their pieces with colorful underglaze to really bring their pieces to life!
This has been a great week with a bunch of really great kids!

Just so you know, registration is now open for the Fall Session of classes
at Lillstreet Art Center. I will once again be teaching my adult Beginning &
Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class on Tuesday nights from 7:00-10:00pm.
The 10-week session of classes begins on Tuesday, September 14th.
And since this is the Fall Session I can almost guarantee that my class will
once again fill up very quickly. As Fall sets in, people are looking for something
to do… and a fun way to make some holiday presents for their loved ones!

Stop by to register, call Lillstreet Art Center or register online.
www.lillstreet.com

And for you “Dilberts” in the world… or those of you married to a “Dilbert”…
I can guarantee that in the 10-weeks, you’ll make some nice mugs, bowls & more…
and not a single spoon whittled in class! Guaranteed…

Another week back at Summer Camp… and it’s a very special camp!
So exciting that we have a completely full class, plus kids on the waiting list to get in!

It’s my annual collaboration camp where we combine clay & metal in one week.
I co-teach with metalsmith Pam Robinson – I oversee the clay, she does the metal…
and then on Friday we both get to enjoy the Feast Finale. So it’s three times the fun!
Fire... as the clay will be fired in the kiln.
Forge… as the metal will be made into silverware.
Feast... as in a great potluck lunch on Friday!

So the way this week’s camp works, on Monday & Tuesday the kids make thematic
dinnerware sets out of terra cotta. The goal is for each kid to make a plate, bowl and cup,
as well as ceramic handles for their silverware. Then on Wednesday & Thursday,
we shift to the metals room where the kids now make their own metal knives, forks & spoons.
On Friday, we will combine their silverware in their ceramic handles. And then we get
to Feast. And celebrate our fun week with a potluck lunch using the dinnerware sets
they’ve each made this week.

And oh, but wait there’s more… as an extra special bonus, we’ve challenged the kids
with one more task! Fun for them… and extra fun for Pam and I. Tomorrow we’re hosting the
2nd Annual Camp Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake-Off. Any of the kids who want to participate
will be bringing in homemade chocolate cookies. Everyone in class will taste the cookies
and vote on their favorite. And yes, I will be supplying the milk!