Whatcha doin’ tomorrow?
Perhaps shopping for Christmas gifts?… why not stop by my Second Holiday Home Show?!!! Lots of pots in every room… plus my friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor will be showing off her treasures as well. Pottery & jewelry… that pretty much covers everyone on your list, right?!!

Still have a few people on your holiday gift list?…
Well, I’m hosting one last HOLIDAY HOME SHOW this Saturday from 10:00am-6:00pm. Lots of pottery in every room… replenished & restocked for round two!!! And even better?… my good friend & amazing metalsmith Amy Taylor will be joining me as my special Guest Artist with all of her amazing jewelry!!! Stop by this Saturday to finish up your holiday shopping… or just to say HELLO!!!

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I spent the day today down at The One Of A Kind Show helping my friend & uber-talented metalsmith Sarah Chapman in her booth. Beautiful work as always… plus an entire wall dedicated to brooches!!! Sarah did a challenge through 2019 of making one brooch a week!!! I’ll be playing with her again tomorrow at The Merchandise Mart… so be sure to stop by and say “Hello” in Booth #2118.

You’ve got about two weeks to finalize your Holiday Gift List…
as my final HOLIDAY HOME SHOW is on Saturday, December 14th from 10:00am-6:00pm. A fun day with my friend & amazing metalsmith Amy Taylor joining me as my Guest Artist. Lots of pottery & jewelry for everyone on your list… and something special for you too!

We’re just one day away from ART IN THE GARDEN!!!
Nine talented artists & friends getting together to host their own grassroots art fair in Glenview, Illinois. Be sure to stop by Saturday 9/7 or Sunday 9/8 from 10:00am-5:00pm to see all of the amazing work… including some spectacular collaboration projects that we’ve all been working on for weeks!!! It’s a great chance to meet the artists in a much more intimate art fair setting… it’s in Amy’s backyard garden!!!

Check out all of the details on www.grassrootsartfair.com

ART IN THE GARDEN
A wonderful grassroots art fair thrown together by a bunch of talented friends & artists. So much fun to have a smaller event that gives everyone time to chat, hang out and really get to see everything! Plus, several of the artists are working on collaboration projects with each other… an opportunity to work together and mix medias that don’t always get to play together! So much fun to see what everyone comes up with. We hope you can join us this weekend, September 7th & 8th from 10:00am-5:00pm in Glenview, Illinois.

Check us out at www.grassrootsartfair.com

Click here to see more of Martin’s amazing paintings!!!

Congrats to my friend, metalsmith & occasional co-teacher Pam Robinson for being honored tonight at the SNAG Conference here in Chicago with the 2019 Volunteer Recognition Award… for her endless hours volunteering to make these metals conferences happen so smoothly! Well done Pam – you deserve it!!!

For more about SNAG, and Pam’s big award… click here!

Direct from the SNAG website…

The Board of Directors is happy to announce the 2019 Volunteer Recognition Award recipient is Pam Robinson.

Pam Robinson is a Chicago-based jeweler and metalsmith who earned her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studied gemology and wax carving at The Gemological Institute of America, and has taken countless workshops across the country. She is perhaps best known to the SNAG community as a conference emcee but she has done far more than that for SNAG behind the scenes.

Pam attended her first SNAG conference in 2004 and has been committed to the organization ever since. She immediately felt a connection to SNAG because of the like-minded community and people who generously share their knowledge and friendship. Two short years later, she took on the critical role of being the Co-Chair for the Chicago conference in 2006.

Pam joined SNAG’s Board of Directors in 2012 and was the conference liaison until 2015. She was instrumental in organizing, planning and scheduling conferences in Chicago, Toronto, Minneapolis, and Boston.

She helped implement changes to the structure and schedules within the conferences and created policies and contracts to streamline these complex events. In addition, she managed the Education Dialogue, the Trunk Show, and tirelessly edited the conference brochures.

Pam has been the Trunk Show coordinator in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, communicating with all participants both pre-conference and onsite. This year, she is also the Conference Workshop Coordinator.

She recently joined the Women’s Jeweler’s Association (WJA) Board of Directors – Chicago chapter, and was a founding member of The Chicago Metals Art Guild (CMAG).

For over 26 years, Pam has taught classes at Lillstreet Art Center and is currently the Director of Education, and the Director of the Metalsmithing, Jewelry & Glass department. She has also taught metalsmithing workshops nationwide. Her work has been in numerous exhibitions, featured in print (both magazines and books) and on the bodies and hands of wonderful patrons.

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Had a great time yesterday hanging out with my talented metalsmith friend Sarah Chapman at the ONE OF A KIND SHOW. Her work is amazing… great designs, incredible craftsmanship, fun textures, beautiful stones… and great shadows too!!!

One of the best parts of NCECA for me is getting to see some of my pottery friends, former teachers, online contacts & more! Always great to run into someone you know when you’re out & about – away from your normal path. Including running into some of my Facebook & Instagram “fans” who it was fun to stop & chat with… odd to be recognized only by my online presence?!!!

So much fun having a chance to hang out and play with my pottery buddy Steven Hill. He’s an amazing potter… and apparently the superstar for SKUTT Kilns & Wheels. He was participating in their trade show booth – both as a demonstrating artist, as well as the judge for their wheelthrowing contest. Either way, we had a great time chatting and meeting some of his other pottery friends. And as always, it’s just great to watch other people throwing pots. I could watch that all day, every day. And when it’s someone as experienced as Steven… it never gets old. Thank You Steven!!!