Tonight’s class ended with one of my favorite projects… STAMPS!
A lot of my students have taken an interest in textures & stamping… go figure.
So tonight we made stamps that will be bisqued fired and then they can start using them!

So as I was running out to grab some dinner tonight, I ran into my friend
& fellow studio mate Katie Biderbost. She mentioned that she reads my blog frequently –
and was surprised that I update it so frequently. I told her that there’s nothing that bugs
me more than a blog that hasn’t been updated for months… or years!!! And then I realized…
I’ve never featured Katie as one of My Talented Friends… so here goes…

I’ve known Katie for many years… practically my entire pottery career!!!
Katie has been involved at Lillstreet Art Center for many years, both as a teacher
and studio member. She has come & gone, but her focus has always remained strong.
Her grad-school-hiatus took her down to Indiana… but she luckily returned to Lillstreet.
Katie now works in Lake Forest, Illinois running a clay program up there. Yet she returns
to Lillstreet for some quiet studio time away from her workplace!

Katie’s work has evolved over the years, and she has several mugs in my “mug collection.”
During the Lillstreet Holiday Opening, I treated myself to a set of Katie’s plates…
I’ve been coveting them for awhile and finally decided that they had to be mine.
Her current body of work is painstakingly decorated with slip to create an intricate
“woven” pattern that almost looks as though it were knit. The glaze is a beautiful teal
blue that is accentuated in the soda kiln to create and incredible depth & range of color.

Not only did I get the plates… I also got another mug for “the collection”!!!
Merry Christmas to me!!!

So our ceramic classes have started up again at Lillstreet Art Center.
Again this session, I am teaching wheelthrowing class for beginners & “advanced” beginners
on Tuesday nights.  Also, again this session, my class is full… with a waiting list!!!

uh oh… what am I going to do when “LOST” starts up on Tuesday nights?…
can you say TiVO?!!!

My class is filled with a great mix of energetic potters-to-be… some brand new to clay,
some brand new to Lillstreet, and some returning for “another tour of duty” in clay.
I have quite a few returning students which is always fun for me… continuing with them
from where we left off last session. We also have a few students “crossing over” and
joining my class from other previous classes. The new ones are in for an adventure…
it’s only Week #2, but they’re already having a great time getting dirty!!!

Next week, in addition to “throwing taller”… we’re also making STAMPS!!!

‘Tis the season to be shopping… and my studio is all decked out & ready to go!
With mugs & bowls, oil lamps & vases and oh so much more. Plus some fun, festive
holiday décor to set the mood – I’m ready for a fun night at the Lillstreet Holiday
Open House tonight!

Kick-off your holiday shopping season with some handmade artwork by local artisans.
The Lillstreet Studio Artists will be around throughout the month of December to
meet & greet people as they visit the studios. The group of artists in my studio area
will be open every weekend leading up to Christmas – so stop by soon!

The Lillstreet Art Center Holiday Open House is coming quickly…
and it’s the perfect time to spruce up the joint a bit. ‘Tis the season.
In fact, the Opening Reception is this Friday night from 6:00pm-10:00pm!!!
And I’ve completed my self-imposed remodeling just in time!

I decided to “take one for the team” and tackle the common area hallway.
We’ve had a bit of artist turnover in the studios, the bios were out-of-date,
and the place was looking a little beat up. Not so inviting… so it’s time for a change.
A couple coats of fresh paint. Some updated artists biographies & signage.
Voila’… whole new look to kick off the holiday shopping season!

A couple masks to greet our holiday shoppers. Always  friendly. Always perky…
with shifty glass eyeballs to bring a smile to the kid inside everyone!

As well as some tiled wall pieces in hallway in different sizes, colors & styles!

Another beautiful morning… another beautiful sunrise…
only made better because I was on my bike…

Again, I’m referring to the afternoon class of this week as “Part Two…”
and as my final camp for the summer – we had to go out with a bang!!

So Brian, my favorite camp assistant, and I decided to take on a rather large project…
no small projects here… we’re stepping it up and the kids are excited too!
We gave them the choice of normal clay projects… or one large collaborative piece
that would be on display at Lillstreet Art Center for years to come! They quickly chose
the collaborative piece. So we started production… of a terra cotta, textured totem pole!

So on Monday, all of the kids made their own cylinder segment for the totem.
Each of them threw their slabs (in impresssive 28″ long for the circumference of each
segment) and then pressed in their textures & patterns. Each slab was then turned
into a cylinder and attached to another slab base. Brian made a base and I made
the topper – to fulfill & finish off our class’ collaborative effort.

On Tuesday, our campers painted their sections with underglaze and clear glaze!
One step closer to our final “collaboration”…

I loaded our pieces into the kiln on Tuesday night… a little sooner than ideal.
As some of the pieces were still a little “damp”… we had a few kiln “issues.”
Especially Brian’s base that totally self-imploded!!! So who needs a base any way?!

Since the other pieces “survived” the firing, we still had plenty to work with.
But before then, we filled our week with other projects such as abstract painting
and some “tramp art” mosaics with bottle caps & glass beads!

When Friday rolled around, it was time to assemble the totem pole.
Our original plan was to assemble it outside in the garden corner of Lillstreet.
But with some of our “structural” flaws, the rainy day, the muddy ground…
and our desire to keep the totem pole intact longer than the first group of
ne’er-do-wells who decide to ruin it. So we anchored a central post in a large
flower pot filled with gravel and cement. Each cylinder was them placed over
the post and filled with gravel to “secure” it and keep it from shifting on the pole.
Piece by piece… segment by segment… the totem got taller & taller & taller.

By the end of the day, we had a complete totem pole – as well as a groovy cool
“billboard” banner that helped hype the event!!! And the kids were thrilled…

And I was thrilled that it all came together. Glad the the kids were please.
Glad that they were all excited to be leaving a little bit of their legacy behind at Lillstreet.
It was great to hear their giggles… and to see the look of awe as they totem grew taller!
And I was exicited that it all came together… and that the totem pole is still standing!!!

So this was my final week of Summer Camp with Lillstreet Art Center.
The kids are getting ready for school and summer has just flown by!!!
This week I was teaching Clay & Multimedia for both mornings & afternoons.
So for the sake of clarity… we’ll call the morning class Part One!

So this week, we started on Monday with textured slab plates & platters.
Each camper had to make their own slabs and then textures them before
draping them into a slump mold… also known as a readily-accessible Chinet plate!

On Tuesday, they all got the chance to put on colored underglazes and a coat
of clear glaze to make them shiny! The more they worked on them, the cooler they
became – with the details coming alive and popping off the plate’s surface!

Along the way, we also tackled book binding, friendship bracelets, painted murals
and a challenging two-sided wooden block puzzle. The puzzles took awhile
as they had to design both sides of the puzzle so the designs would work on both sides
as you flipped the planks! We also did one of my favorite projects… Tie-Dye Thursday!!!

Well another week down… and another week of Summer Camp completed!
This week, it was “Wild Things”… a week full of art projects all about animals.
And I had a great group of “animals” to play with all week long.

We started the week on Monday with introductions & ceramic animal masks. Despite a
rough start on Monday, and the first time I’ve ever had to send a kid home… issues… the
rest of the class finished up strong, shaping their masks and painting them with underglaze!
Tuesday took us to Lincoln Park Zoo for our camp field trip!

Keeping a group of “wild things” corralled, contained & entertained is quite a feat.
Luckily, I had Brian, my favorite summer camp assistant with me for the week.
Not that it stopped any of the kids from being themselves… mugging for the camera!

The rest of the week we were back at Lillstreet Art Center creating their animal sculptures.
With an armature of wire, wood, newspaper, wire hangers, styrofoam & masking tape,
the kids each created their own animals. Once the base shape was created, we covered the
armatures with a layer of plastered fabric, and then a second coat of plaster gauze.
Friday was spent painting the animals to bring them all to life!

And not to be outdone, two of my campers decided to go for the “actual size” animal…
with a life-sized proboscis monkey and ostrich standing nearly as tall as the artists!!!

This week at Lillstreet Summer Camp I’m teaching “Clay & Multimedia.”
Which basically just means that we do a clay project on Monday, and then
any kind of other art projects for the rest of the week. So we started this week
with ceramic birdhouses!!! Slabs, textures, basic handbuilding & underglazes!!!

And then followed with a weaving & sewing project – Woven-Top Pillows!
So the kids had to choose their fabrics, cut out their strips, weave them
together and then sew it all into a throw pillow!

Then… as if it could get any better… today was Tie-Dye Thursday!!!