Came home from ART IN THE BARN with this beautiful porcelain tile from My Talented Friend Mike Skiersch. He hand carves the master tile and then makes a mold to produce these tiles. The glaze is one of studio recipes that looks incredible on his tiles. I love the color & the pooling. The crackling looks great on his tiles… not quite so good on my functional work.

To see more of Mike’s tile work, click here for his website.

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So what do you get when a group of artistic friends get together in a garden?!
You get a wonderful grassroots affair… ART IN THE GARDEN.

For the third year, we had a wonderful time in the backyard garden of my friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor. Seven talented friends all banded together to throw a little art soiree’. A more intimate art fair where you really get a chance to visit and chat with the artists. The weekend started out with a little bit of misty rain on Saturday… but by noon it had cleared up and the rest of the weekend was PERFECT!!!

We had a wonderful time. Thanks to everyone who stopped by The Garden. We loved seeing everyone. Taking time to chat with everyone. And making some new friends & customers. It was a merry band of artists hanging out and playing together for the weekend. Thanks to Amy, and her husband Tom, for inviting us and hosting everyone in her backyard. And not only did she host everyone.. she also created some wonderful award ribbons fro everyone… ‘cuz everyone was a winner!

So in case you missed it… here’s a quick recap of some of the artists and their works!!!

Cory McCrory : Whimsical ceramic pieces made with paper clay. Cory has a wonderful sense of humor, an upbeat color palette and a wonderful appreciation for textures & patterns.

Deb Anderson : Beautiful impressionist paintings of nature, flowers, trees and more. Wonderful images that look so realistic from a distance, but then “break-up” into individual brish strokes when you get closer. Just wonderful.

Jill Wallace : Spunky colors… so close to tie-dye that you know I just loved them!!! She actually does a special ice-dyeing technique to create these special colors & patterns on her silk scarves & wraps.

Martin Chadwick : Incredible surrealistic montage paintings that feature a LOT of imagery information to tell a story. Intricate details and spot-on visual references. Not only are his paintings incredible… his sculptural ceramic work is pretty impressive as well.

Donna Sauers : Beautiful handmade glass bead jewelry with sterling silver accents & chains.  Baubles & bangles with collections of beads.

Retta Hentschel : Stained glass windows, lamps and lawn ornaments with collections of vintage glass interspersed with traditional glass. The textures & faceting of the vintage glass make for very special windows.

And our “garden” host Amy Taylor : Whose work speaks for itself! Wonderful designs and impeccable craftsmanship… each with a nifty hinge. Yep, everything swivels, bends, closes ot somehow pivots on a hinge!!! A lot of semi-precious stones, gems, glass and other inclusions make Amy’s work quite special. I already have quite the collection of Amy’s amazing pieces!

Also, the collaboration pieces that Amy and I did together had their “Big Reveal”!!! These innovative necklaces incorporate textured ceramic disks that I made. And then the sterling silver “cafe” pendants that Amy made to hold them. They have a great hinge & clasp combinatin so you can open & close the pendant to trade out the discs. Each necklace comes with a collection of discs in different colors & textures.

And who’s coming home with the round one in the center… little old ME!!!

I also received my ribbon award form Amy… not surprising it had OREO’s, huh?!!!

And a special award for Amy’s husband Tom… who got the garden all ready for our invasion. Tom was always there to help each of us in the garden. Setting up, tearing down, figuring out where everything goes and so much more!

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Huge congratulations to one of my favorite teachers ever!!! Steven Young Lee and his new gallery show at the Renwick Gallery in Washington DC. Amazing pots. Fantastic artist. Incredible teacher. Thank you Steven for sharing your art, knowledge & passion with the rest of us!

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Looks like something special in the works?! This is the kind of “magic” that happens when artist friends get together and collaborate. Come to ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend to see the final results. Amy Taylor is amazing!!! And let me just add two more enticing tidbits… “Limited Edition” and even better… “interchangeable.”

So we started with some textured clay “cabachons” or disc inserts.

Then Amy made some great metal “cases” to hold the discs. Practically everything Amy makes has a hinge on it somewhere, so it was no surprise that these do too!!!

A little cleaning up… and then polishing…

Insert the ceramic disk… and voila’… PERFECTION!!!
She’s amazing… and this one may just have to be mibe?!

And again… interchangeable ceramic disks in the hinged sterling case…
but VERY Limited Quantities this weekend only at ART IN THE GARDEN!!!

We’re all frantically getting ready for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend. And it looks like my friend Cory McCrory might be bringing some hot pots fresh out of the kiln!!! Click on the Link for more information about ART IN THE GARDEN in Glenview. Two days of art & fun this weekend!

Looks like my friend & wonderful painter, sculptor (and former student) Martin Chadwick has been busy getting ready for next weekend… in addition to moving to Colorado!!! Busy guy. Just a quick glimpse of some of Martin’s artworks that will be at ART IN THE GARDEN. September 10th & 11th at 1205 Hutchings Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025. Be sure to stop by and wish Martin & wife Christi a grand Bon Voyage!!!

Hard to believe that it’s already September…
and that ART IN THE GARDEN is just one week away!!!
A great grassroots art fair with a merry band of talented friends. Stop by next weekend…
September 10th & 11th at 1205 Hutchings Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

Looks like my friend & wonderful metalsmith Amy Taylor has been busy getting ready for next weekend. Her workbench is getting full of wonderful things that will be at ART IN THE GARDEN. A fun, little art fair with a handful of talented friends!!! September 10th & 11th at 1205 Hutchings Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

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Hanging out with my friend & brilliant metalsmith Sarah Chapman at the Bucktown Arts Fest. Diggin’ her new bracelets… which I lovingly dubbed “a bangle with a dangle.” Stop by today until 7:00pm… or again tomorrow from 11:00am-7:00pm!!! Booth 178 on Lyndale.

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We’ve been doing this Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge for six months now. It’s a little tough for the ceramic folks to show finished pieces in a timely basis. What with needing to glaze and fill a kiln and all. So we frequently just show the greenware versions of the ornaments and hope that people can “visualize” the finished outcome. Well, Roberta has been busy glazing & finishing some of her ornaments from previous months. No more “guessing”…. now you can see the real thing. And how incredible they all look!!!

To see more of Roberta’s ceramic work, click here for her website.

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