As the start of school is right around the corner, my 6-year old niece Taylor
wanted to squeeze in another trip to the studio to play in some mud. So we made plans
and played with some clay after summer camp today. She stopped by Lillstreet
with her mom (my sister Jennifer) and her grandparents (my Mom & Dad). We set out
to make some quick leaf-relief-stencil plates. We went outside to find some “good” leaves
with nice outlines and strong veins. We pressed them into some stoneware slabs and
painted over them with colored slip. As always… she was VERY focused on her project!

And then, after letting the slip dry for a few minutes, we carefully peeled out the leaves
to reveal the leaf reliefs!

Next we took our slabs and draped them over a few handmade “frame” molds. After pressing
the slabs carefully into place, we trimmed off the excess edges & finished them off. They are
now set to dry… and after they’re fired, I will glaze the plates in the their “chosen” glaze color!

We headed down to Navy Pier to continue her fun day in Chicago!

Little did she know it, but I had also arranged for her to attend a surprise performance
of “Cirque Shanghai Extreme” on the Skyline Stage on Navy Pier. My friend Kim is the
Production Manager, and she graciously “hooked us up” for the show! And Taylor loved it…
she was mesmerized during the show. Especially when the acrobats came out over
the audience and performed just feet above her!

And then, oh but wait there’s more… after the show, Kim also took Taylor under her wing
and with a nod & a wave, Taylor got a complimentary stuffed panda. Which was then
autographed by a couple of the acrobats! And then… Kim also asked if we wanted to go
backstage to see some of the props, costumes and the large globe cage!!!  And after seeing
four motorcycles all driving around & flipping around inside the cage, it was very cool
to go inside… sans motorcycles!

But her evening wasn’t over yet… once she saw the huge Ferris Wheel on the Pier, it was somewhat inevitable that we would be going for a ride. So we were once again “hooked up” and hopped on the ride – slowly taking us up well above Navy Pier. With fantastic views of the city and lake all around us!

But the fun continued… as it was Wednesday night, which also means Fireworks!!!
Yep, every Wednesday & Saturday night we’re treated to fireworks over the lake!
And with that… her magical Claydate Playdate had come to an end…

I’m pretty confident she had a wonderful time.
Okay, except for the moment when she found out she was just an inch too short
for the flying swings ride!!! But that was “corrected” with a huge swirled lollipop
for the drive home!

Known to many of you as my wonderful “art fair assistants”…
My parents are vacationing this summer out in Montana and the incredible
Yellowstone National Park. While out there, they’ve been seeing a lot
of natural wonders… as well as these fantastic sculptures found somewhere
out on the road along “The Enchanted Highway.”

Be sure to note the scale of these impressive sculptures…
look at the REAL split-rail fence to the far right bottom corner of the deer sculpture!!!

The Diary of My Day.
From the very start of the morning, I knew we were in for some real “fun.”

8:00am – Driving back to Schaumburg in some of the thickest fog ever!
Knowing that it was also “Bike The Drive” and thousands of people would be riding
along Lake Shore Drive in the fog!!! Glad I’m not one of them… but still not the
weather I was hoping for! Very thick. Very heavy. Very foggy. And it only got
darker as I got closer to Schaumburg!

9:00am – Setting Up… Again.
Back in my booth putting things back together. With the rain at the end of yesterday,
we had packed down most of the larger pieces. Putting them back into their crates
and putting them on the ground… just in case “anything” terrible happened overnight.
Which luckily, it didn’t. So I spent the hour putting everything back in place…
questioning if it was even worth it with a weather forecast of impending doom.

10:00am – Let The Games Begin… bring on the customers!
The show opened and there are a few customers. Typically, the “crowds” are very slow
to get started on Sundays… what with brunch & church & all. But today, there were more
people than usual at the start. My guess is they were trying to get a little shopping done
before the storms! Shop fast…

11:00am – Clouds and Wind and Thunder… oh my!
And the fun started rolling in. The winds were picking up. The clouds were moving quick.
With an ever-entertaining symphony of thunder off in the distance. Fun, huh?! And with
everyone on the smart phones, the place was abuzz with everyone’s “radar” forecast!
And then the rain started… There were many reports of the “waves” of storms coming in.
That this one would pass, then there would be another… and another… and another…

11:30am – Raining.
With the skies opening up, it was definitely time for the tents to be closing up.
But the question is “for how long?” Will the storm pass over? Or not?
My Dad checked his phone for the radar. You know how “orange” is the color for
severe thunderstorms?… well, his phone showed the pin-point for where we were…
and the rest of the entire phone screen was ORANGE!!! All orange!!! All storm!!!

12:00pm – Thunderstorms.
All tents closed… so we started “packing down” some of the bigger & more expensive
pieces. Thinking “just in case” something bad happens, at least those pieces are safe.
But as we continued the process, it was evident the storm was not stopping. So neither
did we. My Mom and I were packing everything as my Dad went to get the van. And if you
looked around the fair, we weren’t the only one packing it. It was the start of a mass exodus.

1:00pm – Packing Up and Flooding!
It was still pouring. And we’re drenched. My Dad was packing the van as we were packing
the crates in the tent.At one point, the winds picked up – gusts were blowing around. And
my Dad was stuck outside the tent holding the flaps in place to keep us dry! I know that my
tent is securely anchored into the ground, but it’s still scary when the entire structure starts
shaking, rattling, bouncing & moving. And my Dad, still holding it down. We were packing
as fast as possible as the rain was coming down in bucketfuls. It wasn’t until we started
taken the sides off the tent that we noticed the walkway just in front of my tent was flooded!
Just feet from where were still working… pack faster… flood waters rising!!!

1:45pm – Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Break.
Amazing what sort of therapeutic effects Mom’s cookies can have on you
during a torrential downpour! Luckily, we had enough to share with others too!

2:00pm – Still Packing. Still Dripping. Still Drenched.
Sounds like a fun way to spend your Sunday afternoon, huh?

3:00pm – Driving home.
Apparently, it’s not only Schaumburg that got rain! It looks like it rained everywhere!
There were sections of the drive where you had to plow right through the flooded streets!

4:00pm – Unpacking & Drying.
As if it weren’t enough fun to pack up in the rain, it’s always fun to unpack it all again!
The fun just keeps on coming! Especially this time as everything was wet. Including us.
Not soaking wet anymore, now just kind of cold & clammy! So we unpacked the van
at lightning speed as there was a break in the rain. Then I had to dry off all of my
wooden shelves so they wouldn’t warp or get funky. And now all of my tent pieces are
spread out and “drying” in my storage room! So glamorous, huh?!

5:00pm – Showered & Dry… finally.
Now wondering what I’m going to do for dinner… and I feel that I “deserve”
something really good for dinner! Ordered in, of course!

Let’s hope that everything dries in the next two weeks… Hinsdale Fine Art Fair!!!

We barely finished the tour, and immediately started driving home. It was early
evening and the sun was behind us. Dramatically lighting everything along the way.
The trees. The rock formations. The clouds. Picture perfect… until…

We were driving south on the expressway when all of a sudden… red lights!!!
Lines of red lights all the way to the horizon. Not a good sign. Never a good sign.
So we decided to get off the expressway and try taking a different route. Good idea?
It was beautiful. Nice scenery. And the traffic was moving. So we thought we were
doing well. Until we suddenly realized that we really didn’t know where we were.

At one point, we turned to get on a different “more-well-known” road…
and it turned into a ferry launch! Yes, we actually took a ferry to get home tonight!!!
However, we had to wait for a couple “round-trips” before we could get on the boat.

Okay, so the drive home took longer than expected. But we made the best of it
and I got to spend plenty of quality time with my parents. Including celebrating
Mother’s Day a week early – as I will be in Minnesota again next weekend for the
St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour.

Yesterday was the Spring Open House at Lillstreet Art Center.
As a resident studio artist, we’re kind of “expected” to be there. Which is fine by me
as it’s also a great chance to have people stop by, see me working and hopefully they’ll
become a customer or student down the road. So there I was, working on a few projects…
finishing up my lidded jar class demo piece, and the extra “lid” which is now a small
dipping bowl… and throwing small plates for the new berry bowls.

It’s a long day of greeting people…
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
Repeatedly. Over & over. Until, imagine my surprise, when my parents turn the corner
and I throw them the same stock response… and then realize it’s them! They had read
on the blog that it was the Open House and they decided to come down to visit and
surprise me… and they did! So they hung out, visited a few studios including metalsmith
Rebecca Zemans who they met a coiple years ago as my art fair booth neighbor in Hinsdale!

And then… when the day was over, we decided to go out for dinner. I think it might have been
their plan all along to go to Rose Angeli’s?! I think the “surprise studio visit” may have been a
good “means-to-an-end” for us all to get a great meal?! Which I’m totally fine with as you know
I LOVE Rose Angeli’s!!! And we did have an incredible meal… I had some Chicken Vesuvio
filled ravioli with parmesan cheese & lemon cream sauce concoction YUMMY!!! – and we
shared three desserts!!! Bread pudding with pools of hot caramel sauce, chocolate & peanut
butter ice cream, and a hot chocolate fondue pot! Plus some quality time to get caught up
on  a bunch of stuff. Including all of the craziness going on at Lillstreet these days!

So this Christmas my 5-year old niece Taylor had “hinted” to my parents
that she wanted a dollhouse for Christmas. And that my Dad should build one
for her like he had built one for her Mom when she was a kid. She’s been playing with
her Mom’s dollhouse for years, but now she wanted her own!

And being the great Grandparents… how can you let a Christmas “hint” like that go by?!
So they got her the “huge” dollhouse she pointed out in the catalog. It’s apparently
sized for Barbie dolls, which also makes it taller than Taylor herself!!! It was camouflaged
in an oversized Christmas present. No gift tag. No name. But I think she may have guessed.
We all made her wait all day… for the final gift unveiling!

So I made her four different sets of “dinner plates” and two oval platters!
Each set with a different texture, pattern & glaze color. She’s been to the studio several
times and loves playing in the clay. She loves to flip-over all of my pieces to make sure
my signature is there. So yes.. I made sure to sign each little plate!

She was excited as she opened her present… and then proceeded to put plates in every
room of the house… on the porch… on the bed… and luckily, even the dining room table!

Another Holiday Home Show has come and gone. Day Two is now complete.
Another long day chatting it up with friends & pottery-lovers! Yesterday was a bit more
focused on the “big-on-a-mission-shoppers” who were there for some serious shopping.
Today’s traffic was a bit slower, and the customers were a bit more chatty.
More friends stopping by for a quick visit and some festive holiday cheer!

Thank you so much to all of you who stopped by this weekend, and shared some holiday
cheer with us. Everyone was so supportive & encouraging. I couldn’t continue to do this
with such supportive friends & customers. And special thanks to my parents and my friend
Nancy who worked so diligently all weekend! I couldn’t do it without them either!

Feels good to be done with another year’s Holiday Home Show!
And luckily, I still have some great inventory for the rest of the holiday season.
Next up on my holiday schedule, the Lillstreet Holiday Open House
on Friday, December 3rd from 6:00am-10:00pm.

It’s been a busy two nights. Two nights of fun. Two night of music.
Two nights under the stars enjoying fine music, friends and food at Ravinia!
Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois is known for bringing a wide assortment
of music to the northern suburbs. Ravinia is a music venue with a large pavilion
and an even larger grassy meadow surrounding it with “lawn seats” for those of us
too cheap to pay for pavilion seats… plus the picnic is a BIG part of the experience!

So Friday night, after camp, I went up to Ravinia with my friend Nancy for a fun night
of retro fun. As a kid of the 70′s, I sang along and knew every word… as the concert was
a tribute to ABBA. Yes, it was a night with Fernando, Chiquitita and the Dancing Queen!
Okay, so it wasn’t the “real” ABBA – as they no longer perform and keep raking in
the royalty checks! Imagine how much they got from the musical & movie adaptation
of “Mamma Mia” – not to mention the resurgence of their own ABBA popularity.
Ravinia was packed – and SOLD OUT… including the lawn!

Then tonight, I returned for another night of music with my parents, aunt & cousin
for a night in the park with night of Broadway melodies. It was a night to celebrate
the 80th birthday of Broadway lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Famous for his wonderful
lyrics for many of the most popular modern musicals; including Gypsy, Sweeney Todd,
Sunday In The Park With George, Passions, and A Little Night Music. The orchestra was
great – with vocal performances by Broadway legends Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald,
Michael Cerveris and George Hearn. I was a bit disappointed that the show was kind of short.
And they skipped over a lot of Sondheim classics like West Side Story and Into The Woods.
Plus, I’m not a huge fan of Patti LuPone – I think she’s overrated, a little brassy and annoying.
Audra McDonald was incredible, as were both gentlemen. So, even though the show wasn’t
everything I had hoped for, the evening was still great fun. Enjoying the park, the gardens,
the sculptures, the food and the fun with my family. Another fun night under the stars!

So, all in all it was another wonderful night at Ravinia Festival. Plus, we got to see a lot of
“beautiful people” as tonight was also the Ravinia Women’s Club fundraising black-tie gala!
So there were a lot of heavy-hitters in their finery milling about – plus the huge, decked-out
gala tent out in the large meadow area. Tuxes, ball gowns, ladies who lunch and more!

For the schedule of upcoming shows, check out the Ravinia website…
www.Ravinia.org

1. Demo piece for my summer campers… slab-built, terra cotta flower boxes.
2. Birthday present for my Mom… the big day is today!!!
3. Plants for my parent’s deck table… as they don’t water plants too well?!

Seriously, I think I may have scored the best birthday gift ever for my Mom.
She keeps getting plants from my sister-in-law that promptly dry – frying in the sun.
Let’s just say my Mom is not known for her green thumb. She wants to have the plants,
but doesn’t always remember to water them. So… I’ve decided to go for the succulent
planting – hoping to resolve the issue. No need to water, huh?! Hope she likes it…

Shhh… but keep it to yourself…
Her birthday may be today… but she won’t be getting her present until Sunday
evening when we all get together for dinner.. and hopefully, a LOT of cake!!!

So at Easter with the family, my best art fair “employees”…
aka my Mom & Dad… suggested that I make more of the grooved tumblers
that they got as Christmas gifts! Apparently, they really like the grooved lines
and how they fit perfectly in your fingers while drinking from them.

Of course I listened… as any good son should…
and I made more grooved tumblers… by popular demand.