Today’s the day to celebrate SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY! Come out, shop & support the small businesses in your neighborhood. And if you’re near Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago… I will be in my studio selling mugs today until 6:00pm! It’s the perfect gift for a friend, a co-worker, family or even yourself!!!

Lillstreet Art Center – Second floor – 205 West, 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago

Busy this afternoon setting up for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW this weekend. The shelves are filling quickly… and I already have OVER A HUNDRED MUGS ready to go!!! They make the perfect holiday gift for your friends, co-workers or even yourself! Always food-safe, dishwasher-safe & microwave-safe! Surely there will be plenty of handmade mugs here to choose from!

As most of you know, I hate glazing! But oddly, I totally enjoy waxing bottoms!!! A zen-like process with one clean hand & one wax hand. Wax on, wax off. Now I just need to keep my motivation alive & start glazing all of these if I hope to have them ready for next weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! Wish me luck…

Handles attached & mugs are done for today! For now they’re under wraps for the night so they can “rest” and let the moisture levels even out before I open them up to dry fully. Then it’s into a bisque kiln… and then a glaze kiln… and then to my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW in less than two weeks! Giddy-up!

Giving them a little time to stiffen up a bit before I start attaching them to my stamped mug cylinders. At least this way the curve of the handle is 90% established before I even start attaching them!

Handles attached… mugs assembled!!! Now just a little cleaning-up, a little smoothing… and then some drying, firing, glazing & firing again! Coming along… but still a lot of steps in the process!

Prepping to make some mug handles… a little reminiscent of Stonehenge… err, Clay Henge???

Looks like Diane has finally moved into her new place… lots of boxes & lots of paper… and unwrapping her pottery collection first thing!!! Perfect timing for another Mugshot Monday!

In a pile of textures & colors, it’s always great to see one of my mugs “out in the wild” playing well with others! Thanks Ellen for surrounding my mug with such love & creativity!

After a very successful ART IN THE BARN, it’s time to get back at it in the studio making more pots for the Holidays!!! It might sound far away… but my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW is always the weekend before Thanksgiving! And it will be here before you know it… so mark your calendars!!!