This past weekend I went down to the Peoria area to play with my very first “art fair friends.”
I met Gerry & Rosene several years ago when I did my first art fair… err, craft fair… in
Sandwich, Illinois. That first fair was quite the learning experience for me. I had no idea
what I was doing – and luckily, Gerry & Rosene were right across the aisle ready to help.
And we’ve been friends ever since. Since then, they’ve “retired” from crafting and are now
“full-time” gardeners. With the best front & back yards ever!!!

And a special, handmade totem pole doesn’t take anything away from the plants either!
It’s a stacked totem pole with soda fired flashing & textures that I made a few years back.
As well as a fun “Green Man” smirking back when you walk past the rusted gate!
Look familiar?… well, I made that for them too! Gerry always wanted one!!! Plus a lot
of fun accent pieces scattered about… going natural, weathering, rotting, whatever!

With layers & terraces all over, they’ve staggered their gardens all the way down to the creek.
Gerry & Rosene have taken such care & effort to plant the coolest plants for their colors,
textures & novelty. Which I love. But as you know, it’s been raining since I can remember!
So it was great to see their garden this time after a little sprinkle of rain. I loved how the colors
seemed more vibrant, and the water droplets glistened on the leaves!

And not only do they have great plants… but they also have an addiction to rust!
Maybe that’s why we get along so well? Rusty trinkets, wooden pulleys, bikes, letters
and a whole lot of other fun to be found all over the garden! Or in their guest room…
which had been “prepared” for my arrival!

Over the years, they’ve “propagated” a wonderful little business in their garden!
And every year they divide bunches of their plants to sell off at their annual plant sales.
After the sales, they can’t stand to put the unsold plants back in the ground… and therefore,
I totally “score” and benefit from their generosity! And thanks to my “green-thumbed friends,”
my condo gardens are thriving with some of the coolest plants ever! And now…
I have a car-full to plant if it ever stops raining?!

While I was at Terra Incognito today, I stopped off in back to visit with one
of the studio artists there. Roberta Polfus. And there she was, tucked away back
in her little corner of the world working away on her little treasures! It’s always so much
fun to see an artist at work in their normal surroundings. Generally everyone sees their
work at an art fair, in a store, or in a gallery somewhere. Never really taking time to think
about where the work is actually being produced. I love Roberta’s space… complete with
a lot of inspirational images, knick-knacks, postcards, tools and a lot of Tupperware!

If you’re lucky enough to run across Roberta at an art fair, take some time to admire
the fine details & glazing effects. There’s a lot of work going into these tiny treasures!
For more about Roberta Polfus and her work, click on her website here.

You know I love textures. And clay. And colors. And whimsy!
Put them all together and you’ve got wonderful work by Cory McCrory!
And today was quite the day for Cory as her gallery show opened at Terra Incognito
in Oak Park, Illinois. It was wonderful to see such a wide collection of her work all
in one place. She’s a wonderful artist… and it was great to play with her today as well.

I met Cory several years ago during the Hinsdale Art Fair. We had booths fairly close
to each other and have been friends ever since. Her sense of whimsy, attention to details,
use of colors & textures… and her never-ending creativity have amazed me for years!

Some of Cory’s newest work includes there incredible wall pieces – complete with twigs,
leaves and playful, life-sized blackbirds! But they’re not all feathered… there were also
love birds, and other fun things perched on branches! All of which are handmade
& sculpted with Cory’s special blend of paper clay. With that, she gets great such great
textures and flexibility while she’s constructing her pieces.

If you can make it out to Oak Park, Cory’s show will be running in the gallery at
Terra Incognito through June 16th, 2011. For more information, click on Terra Incognito.
And if you do, make sure you add a new piece of hers to your collection… I did.

Over the years, I have frequently mentioned one of my “studio neighbors” at Lillstreet
Karen Patinkin. The two of us are frequently there – we used to play Jeopardy! over the walls
everyday at 3:30pm. Lately, we’ve been overlapping for about an hour… so as I’m coming in
she’s getting ready to leave. A metaphorical “high-five” and it’s the changing of the guard.
But tonight, she stayed a little bit later as she was working on a set of bowls for a commission.
For those that may not have seen her work, Karen makes these incredible porcelain pieces
that have a insane amount of elaborate  glaze decoration. Hours & hours of details.
Beautiful… even though these are still just a “work in progress.”
Imagine how pretty they are after the final glaze firing!

And the original “example” that she’s trying to replicate for her commission clients…

It’s good to know that I’m not the only insane one around the studio these days…

You know how I like beautiful landscape photography.
And pride myself on a few of my own sunrise biking photos.
But here’s another friend of mine who takes great pictures!
Although I’m still wondering where the color went?

Personally I prefer my nature shots to be vivid color as Mother Nature intended.
But my friend Julie Wight sees the world differently through her camera lens
and creates these stunning, and sometimes haunting, black & white photographs.
I’m entranced by the composition, the contrast, the geometry… basically all of it.

The majority of the work I have seen of Julie’s has been this kind of austere nature shot.
But recently, Julie kicked off her own photography blog to showcase more of her photography.
And this time, it’s not all landscapes. I can’t wait to see where her blogging journeys take her.
Be sure to check out her new blog adventures – http://juliewight.blogspot.com/

Beautiful shapes. Beautiful textures. Beautiful glazes.
Gracefully combined by Kate Biderbost… another Talented Friend of mine!

I’ve know Katie for several years now since our days at the “original” Lillstreet Art
Center. In fact, Katie was one of my instructors early on as I was just getting started
in soda firing. Over the years, Katie has gone away for grad school and now returned
to Lillstreet as a studio member. She continues to teach around Chicago and…
she continues to make great pots!!! In fact, I’ve started quite the collection for myself!
Including a nice collection of Katie’s mugs as they’ve grown & changed over the years!
Her latest style is this beautiful “knit-woven” texture she creates with layers of slip.
Check out her new website and you’ll see her actually working on the detailing!

So now she finally has a website to share with everyone!
After many years of pots… many years of school… many years of teaching…
Katie has finally ventured onto the World Wide Web!!!
Check her out on her new website!!!   www.KateBiderbost.com

And speaking of talented friends… here’s another one! Metalsmith Amy Taylor!
She makes great jewelry. She makes me laugh. She also made me this…

In the past, she’s made me two pendants using slices of vintage bowling ball instead
instead of a semi-precious stone! Anyone can use a stone… but a bowling ball, c’mon!
And this time, she’s outdone herself!

All of Amy’s jewelry is based on a creative use of a hinge! So all of her work pivots,
turns & twists. And as an eternal necklace fidgeter, this one is perfect of me!
Flip it, twist it, spin it. Either way you look at it – it’s groovy on both sides!
But what is it you may ask?… and don’t even guess a stone!

The “stone” center of the pendant is a piece of paint slag. Apparently, when they closed
the Ford automobile plant, someone was ingenious enough to chip some of the paint
off the floor. Picture years & years of auto paint, layers & layers… chipped off the floor!
When the chunks were cut down and smoothed into cabochons, the layers of paint
are revealed to show off these groovy patterns of colors. Different on both sides!
So a quick flip of the hinged pendant shows off both sides of the paint slag cabochon!
Brilliant… I told you so! Check out more groovy stuff at www.AmyTaylorJewelry.com

She also made a smaller necklace for my Mom, but she hasn’t seen it yet. Soon…
I’m sure she’s going to love it.

I’ve said it many times…  ” I love having talented friends.”
So much creativity. So much exuberance. So much talent. And always willing to share!
Martin Chadwick has been featured here before… but look what he’s been up to now!
A large scale pastel drawins on the city streets of Raleigh, North Carolina!

I met Martin & his wife Christi when they took my beginning pottery class at Lillstreet.
While Christi had a session’s head-start, Martin quick caught up and was quite proficient.
It wasn’t until later that I found out that he was an architectural model builder and an
incredible painter. They have since moved to Raleigh, North Carolina… where Martin
is becoming quote the local celebrity!… at least in the art circles! And look how he’s made
his mark on the city streets of Raleigh. Check out his work at www.ChadwicksWorld.com

Too bad it’s just chalk… and it’s got rain at some point, right?!
And pay no attention to the typo in his website address in the picture above…

Tonight was a special night for my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
class at Lillstreet Art Center. My friend Amy Higgason from the Northwoods was
passing through Chicago and stopped by for a fun evening of dinner, conversation…
and a wonderful demonstration of her fantastic decoration techniques for my class!

Amy was once a Lillstreet Studio Artist back at the original location. She has since
moved on to the Wisconsin Northwoods – and set herself up as Pigeon Road Pottery.
I was up there a couple weeks ago for her Fall Art Tour – and it was great to have her
stop by my class! What a great opportunity for them to see another great potter at work
and sharing all of her surface decoration “secrets.”

After some brief introductions, Amy started to work on a couple simple bowls
that I had thrown on Sunday. I made five different bowls for Amy and I to work on.
The demonstration for my students was to see Amy’s work & techniques… but also
to see how a little surface decoration can dramatically alter the look of a pot.
And how five very similar bowls can end up completely different with her techniques,
my techniques… or our combined efforts! Amy then proceeded to start carve, chat and
discuss her path as a ceramic artist. Amy and I have similar backgrounds – both as
graphic designers who have shunned the corporate life. She worked on decorating her
bowls as she answered questions and demonstrated different techniques… and laughed!

The evening went by very fast. By the end of the evening, Amy had carved three
different bowls… and I had stamped one bowl in my newer “puffy stamps” style… as well
as one bowl that we worked together on as a collaboration piece! During her time, I also
worked with my students on their own throwing, and demonstrated how to throw a plate.

By the end of the evening, we had completed five dramatically different bowls. All of which
were very much the same at the start of the evening. I have a few small finishing touches
to do on them tomorrow before they can all start drying. I think my students enjoyed
our “surprise” special guest artist. Plus, I think Karen Avery’s Intermediate Wheelthrowing
Class enjoyed it too… as they came in and joined the Amy party! And special thanks to one of
my former students Chuck (and his wife) who brought in a tray of the best homemade
chocolate chip cookies ever!!!… and they were still warm! – Chuck, you rock!!!

I know that one of my students, Pam, enjoyed the night with Amy. They met
just a couple weeks ago during the Northwoods Tour – and Pam has become one of
Amy’s greatest fans VERY quickly!!!… and has already started her own
Pigeon Road Pottery Collection!

This weekend is the Northwoods Art Tour up in Wisconsin. Just in time for Fall colors too!
And my friend Amy Higgason is participating in the tour again this summer. She’s a great
potter who used to work at Lillstreet Art Center with the rest of us. But then she decided
to “fly the coop” and move up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Since then, the has made
a nice home for herself, as well as a beautiful studio! And she’ll be showing off her studio
this weekend… Amy Higgason at Pigeon Road Pottery.

It’s going to be three days of fun… and a lot of art to boot! Each day from 10:00am-5:00pm.
Friday, October 1st  -  Saturday, October 2nd  -  Sunday, October 3rd.

Amy will be Studio #14 on the big tour. Also joining Amy will be potter Katlyn Koester
as her guest artist. Both of them make beautiful pots, whimsical decorative pieces and
so much more! Too much talent for just one stop on the Art Tour!!!

I will be traveling up to the Northwoods to help Amy for the weekend – and would love
to see you stop by. Amy makes this incredible work that is quite detailed & intricate.
A lot of textures and patterns. Some of it has sprigs & carving, while others are more
slip & sgraffito illustrations! Incredible work. Come check it out.
For more details… www.northwoodsarttour.com