Coming soon… a fun, new collaboration I’m doing with my favorite Cory McCrory!!!
We’re both making pieces & parts, and then we’re putting it all together.
Limited edition… unlimited fun & whimsy!!!

Details to come…

One of the best parts of art fairs is “trading” with your talented art fair friends. Lucky me came home with two new pieces by My Talented Friend” Cory McCrory!!! Love the colors, the textures, the whimsy… and you know I LOVE WHIMSY!!!

And speaking of colors, textures & whimsy…

Congratulations to my creatively-crazy-ceramic friend Cory McCrory who won “1st Place 3D Art” today at the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival. Her work is incredible, and so is she! Mark your calendar for August 30th & 31st when we will be playing together at “Art In The Garden.” Details to come…

My favorite metalsmith Sarah Chapman is downstairs in the Lillstreet Gallery for the opening of her Jewelry Trunk Show. Stop by tonight to see her and her incredible jewelry!!! She’s here tomorrow too – teaching a workshop, showing in the Gallery… and we have plans for hot fudge!!!

And if you can’t make it to see her in person, her jewelry will be here for awhile. And there are PLENTY of these signs everywhere with her picture on them. Ha!!!

Tonight we had a very special guest who joined us for class. My teaching assistant Susan brought a friend of hers who is visiting from Sweden. They met a few months back when they both attended a workshop at La Meridiana in Italy. It was so much fun to have her in class to share stories, pottery experiences… and she even brought a bowl all the way from Sweden for the bowl exchange!!!

Saga Johnsson hung out with us for the night sharing her path, meeting my students, touring my studio & Lillstreet Art Center. At one point (after cheesecake) she sat down at the wheel to throw a couple quick bowls. It’s always so much fun to watch other people throwing. It’s mesmerizing for me every time!

Later, Saga stepped aside and shared some more of her story with images from home, her studio and her body of work. She showed off her pottery she “sells” for a living, the pieces she plays with to express herself, her kids, her chickens, her workshop photos at La Meridiana, and so much more. Ahhh… the beauty of a tablet packed full of photos!!!

Here’s a quick excerpt from her Etsy site…

I live and work full-time as a ceramic artist/ studio potter in the beautiful countryside of Österlen, SkÃ¥ne in Sweden. I have a studio and a shop next to my house where I also run a small Bed & Breakfast. I started out doing art (painting, drawings and sculptures) 19 years ago… (time does fly by when your having fun! ) The last few (8) years my main focus has been mainly focused on ceramic. I love the way clay challenges me and always let me discover new and exciting things about my material and about my self.

And I loved that Saga was so willing to share. She instantly “fit in” and became part of my class for the night. She has such a great energy about her. I had a great time hanging with her. Maybe I need to plan a little vacation to Sweden?… I hear there’s a great Bed & Breakfast there???… with wheels!!!

Here’s a quick peek at Saga’s stunning work. She does a lot of work with hand-drawn illustrations she turns into decals and applies to her pots.

And here’s a little trick she shared with us…
Saga enjoys placing her decals so they are cropped off the edge forcing the user to “visualize” the rest of the image. Not one to “waste” the cropped off portion of the illustration decal… the other half goes on the other side of the cup!!! Brilliant!!!

For more of Saga Johnsson’s work, click here for her website.
Or click here to follow Saga Keramik on Facebook.

My parents have been keeping a secret from me.
So have my friends metalsmith Sarah Chapman & photographer Brad Pogatetz.
I’ve saw them both at the “One Of A Kind Show” and neither of them said anything.
I even asked my parents directly if they had bought anything at “One Of A Kind.”
I got a very non-committal & evasive answer… which should have been a clue!

When I got to my parents house late on Christmas Eve, I was ready to hit the bed. It had already been a long day, and a late night celebrating Christmas Eve with my parents & family friends. Not to mention the head cold I’ve been battling for a few days. I was done. Ready for bed. But my parents had another plan… and something they wanted me to see. Apparently, they had done “a little shopping” while they were at “One Of A Kind” and everyone was keeping the secret from me! Until now…

Yes, my parents have purchased an incredible photograph by Brad Pogatetz… one of “My Talented Friends.” There it is hanging… or “floating”… on their wall, in a white “art alcove” area on one of their walls. They even painted the surrounding wall in a beautiful brown color JUST for the photo!!!

We met Brad several years ago when he was my booth neighbor at “Art In The Barn.” I’ve loved his photography ever since. Two years ago, my parents surprised my with one of Brad’s photographs for a Christmas present. Imagine my surprise when I saw this huge, beautiful piece hanging in their house… a wonderful Christmas present for themselves!!!

Brad’s photographs are quite beautiful. The subject matter may be of deteriorating spaces and places long forgotten, but the composition and clarity if incredible. Every little detail is captured, drawing you right into the space. You can practically reach out and touch the paint peeling from the walls, scratch across the rusty metal, or splash in the stagnant pools of water. His printing process is brilliant, and many of the surfaces are gleaming & metallic. The rusty metal looks oh, so rusty. And you know I LOVE RUST!!! But one of the coolest things is how the photo seems to “move” as you look at it from side to side… as you can see from the photo below where I took it from an angle.

To see more photography by Brad Pogatetz, click here or the link in the right column.

And for the record… I call dibs!!!
Whenever my parents decide to “bequeath” anything – I GET THIS ONE!!!

Many of you may have seen my extensive Christmas ornament collection when you came to the “My Home For The Holidays” Home Shows over the years. And then after this year’s Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge, I now have even more! I’ve always loved handmade ornaments. I guess because I’ve always like to “make things” as a kid. So it’s only fitting that I continue to collect handmade ornaments. And it’s even more fun now that I have so many “Talented Friends” who make so many cool things!

Growing up as a kid, every Christmas we would get a new ornament for our collection from our Grandma Mills (my Mom’s mom). She was quite crafty and worked through the year making ornaments. Many of them are still cherished keepsakes.

And then my Mom took up the tradition and started making us a new handmade ornament every year. As you can see, my Mom works more in the sewing & needlepoint world with tiny little details and a lot of counted-cross-stitch. These have merged nicely into the collection, and grace my tree every season.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a lot of friends who also like to “make things.” So many “Talented Friends” who make cool things… including cool ornaments. And so I continue to expand my Christmas ornament collection. These are just a few from my ornament collection… there are SO many more… far too many to share every one!!!

Cory McCrory                                               Roberta Polfus

Terry Hogan (front?)                                   Terry Hogan (back?)

Cory McCrory                                               Emily Murphy

Roberta Polfus                                             Cory McCrory

Marian Castro-Palanyk                              Zack Medler

Anna Leong                                                  Roberta Polfus

Emily Murphy                                              Lisa Harris

Nancy Jana-Kent                                         Emily Murphy

Terry Hogan (front?)                                  Terry Hogan (back?)

Nancy Jana-Kent                                        Marian Castro-Palanyk

Emily Murphy                                              Amy Higgason

Cory McCrory                                               Rosene Snekhaus… my FIRST art fair friends!

Terry Hogan                                                 Nancy Jana-Kent

Amy Higgason                                             Danny Mansmith

Unknown… but I got it at the “One Of A Kind Show”… and I LOVE IT.
                                                             …and I love grape soda!!! Go figure.

Tonight I stopped in at the Ceramics Showcase in Evanston. So much fun hanging with a few of “My Talented Friends.” Cory McCrory, Roberta Polfus, Delores Fortuna, Amy Higgason & Mary Dye, Glad I got there when I did, as Delores was running really late and I got to “save the day” by helping her unload & get her space set-up! If you’re looking for some nice pottery this weekend, be sure to stop by Evanston and say “hi” to my friends!

Here’s a quick peek at what I came home with from the Evanston Ceramic Showcase…
wonderful goodies from my friends Cory Mccrory & Delores Fortuna.
I love having Talented Friends!!!

A wonderful tufted & textured goblet by Cory McCrory…

A whimsical, dotted mug by Cory McCrory…

A little party blackbird ornament by Cory McCrory…

And a beautiful dinner plate by Delores Fortuna.
It was actually a “thank you gift” from Delores for helping her out this evening. As she said, it was one of the worst days ever for her… lots of problems, conflicts & personal crises… capped off with a flat tire as she was driving in from Galena.

So there she was, arriving in Evanston “after” the show had already started! Luckily I was there – ready & willing to help. Trying to quickly get her shelving & pots into the room so she could get set up. It wasn’t until I was taking a couple extra plank shelves back out to her van that I ran into a little trouble.. err, well ran into a shelf… literally!!! The plank shelf that I was carrying out was apparently longer “taller” than the door frame I was trying to go through. The plank hit the door frame and stopped… unfortunately, I didn’t stop. Wham!!! I walked right into the plank. Ouch. But I was still trying to get Delores all set up, so I didn’t really think too much about it until I felt a little bit of swelling. It wasn’t until I got home and looked in the mirror that I noticed I might be getting a little shiner!!! Yep… took one for the team!!!

But I digress, back to pottery…
My new Delores plate is a great “partner” to this other Delores Fortuna plate
that I’ve loved using for years! Whoo-hoo… now I have TWO!!!

I stopped by the “One Of A Kind Show” last night to help my friend Sarah Chapman.
Her booth is packed full of beautiful pieces for the four-day art fair at the Merchandise Mart.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Four days of wonderful art.

This is just a sneak preview… be sure to stop by this weekend and see everything for yourself! You’ll be glad you did…

For several years it was so hard to find a good apron to keep the clay off my clothes while I was throwing. So my Mom and I sat down and designed a new apron that would do what I wanted it to do. First off, the lower section splits into two panels to cover each leg as you sit down at the wheel. There are patch pockets on the back of each hip to keep your phone safe & clean. The straps actually go over the shoulders, instead of around the neck, to avoid neck strain & fatigue. There are three different buttoned height adjustments, as well as three buttoned width adjustments. So the aprons are “one size fits all”… for the most part. My Mom started making them for me, and then we sold a few to my friends. Over the years, she has made quite a small little “business” for herself making these pottery aprons!

Here is my friend & potter Greg Schultz throwing a large pot on the wheel…
and keeping his clothing clean all at the same time!

So there are a few currently in the apron inventory. I have them for sale in my studio at Lillstreet, and they will be making an appearance at my Holiday Home Show next weekend.

APRON A – From the “Eclectic Collection”, a patchwork mix of earthtone patterns & textures.

APRON B – From the “Eclectic Collection”, a striped patchwork with assorted pattern accents.

APRON C – Navy blue with a small pattern of green, red & light blue across the apron.

APRON D – A blue “denim” background with some printed patterns in yellows, reds & greens.

APRON E – A cool mint green apron with whimsical butterflies flying across the apron.

APRON F – A clean, geometric stripe with red, oranges & yellows.
SOLD : to one of my former students & now Lillstreet Monitor Chuck!

APRON G – A mind-bending pattern of black & white.

APRON H – A retro-vibe with a musical flair!

APRON I – I’m seeing spots before my eyes… bright pops of color on a blue background.
SOLD : to my friend & potter Emily Murphy up in Minneapolis!