My Talented Friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor will be joining us tonight & tomorrow at THE COZY COTTAGE POP-UP. We’re going to be hanging out at Mary Foster’s place with a bunch of our work this weekend and would love to see you. Amy’s work is beautifully designed & well-crafted… with actual “hinges” in all the right places for extra movement & extra fun!!!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Next weekend is another POP-UP art fair… handmade pottery along with a couple of My Talented Friends! The “cozy cottage” is actually the home of my friend & painter Mary Foster. We’ll be joined by metalsmith Amy Taylor & Karen Wilson with her artisan candles & more! It will be a fun Friday night & all day Saturday next weekend… with fun surprise Gift Bags for the first twenty-four people!

While you’re at ART IN THE BARN today, be sure to stop by to see my friend Sandy’s beautiful botanicals captured with a wonderful patina! Fantastic pieces further down in the Lower Barn with “Of Nature Jewelry.”

Beautifully blown baubles & beads! Glass artist Donna Sauers has been making a lot of beautiful pieces in her torch… each one then turned into a one-of-a-kind wearable piece of art. Just one of My Talented Friends joining us this weekend at ART IN THE GARDEN.

As part of the Sculpture Show in Evanston this weekend, another one of “My Talented Friends” was showing off her sculptural work too. Darlys Ewoldt makes these amazing metal sculptures… hollow forms assembled & colored. I have no real concept of how she makes metal do this… but they are always crazy cool forms that draw you right into them! For more work by Darlys, click on her website at www.darlysewoldt.com

So much fun to spend time with one of “My Talented Friends” today… as metalsmith Sarah Chapman was part of a sculpture show this weekend in Evanston. I had the chance to swing by today to see Sarah with some of her newest work, sculptural pieces & beautiful jewelry. To see more of Sarah’s amazing metal work, click on www.chapmanmetals.com

And another big congratulations to “My Talented Friend”… and art fair booth neighbor… amazing metalsmith Amy Taylor who received an “Award Of Excellence” ribbon this weekend at the Glenview Summer Art Fair.

Not only will Amy be with us at ART IN THE GARDEN… she’s also the host… as we’ll all be setting up our grassroots art fair event once again in her backyard garden on September 11th & 12th. Mark your calendars!

And yes, Tom will be there too & up to his usual antics!!!

Huge congratulations to “My Talented Friend” Mary Foster who won BEST OF SHOW this weekend at the Glenview Summer Art Fair! Her paintings & woodcut prints are beautiful, colorful & whimsical. So excited to have her with us as part of ART IN THE GARDEN… my next art fair in early September! More details to come… and CONGRATS again Mary!

With the big launch of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR just two days away… I thought it might be nice to share the spotlight with a few of “My Talented Friends.” The tour will feature twenty-one talented potters each with a different approach & aesthetic. The tour is “virtual” this year with each artist selling their work online. In addition, there will be live demos & presentations on ZOOM… as well as some great giveaways! For more information… www.northernilpotterytour.com

And just in case you’ve missed it somehow, I will be launching my new ETSY SHOP this Friday morning at 8:00am… www.etsy.com/shop/FireWhenReadyPottery . There’s nothing posted there yet, but you can probably tag, follow or bookmark so you’re ready for the big kick-off Friday morning!!!

We had a wonderful day at the HINSDALE FINE ARTS FESTIVAL today. Incredible weather, nice shade, sweet breeze… and a great booth neighbor to play with! I’ve know Rhonda Gurgone for a couple years now from the art fair circuit… but we’ve never gotten quite this much time to hang out together. If you happen to swing by the fair tomorrow, be sure to pop in to say “Hi”, She makes great jewelry pieces out of vintage & historical buttons. You can tell that she loves what she does… and LOVES sharing the stories behind every button!!!!

Check her out at The Buttons Stop Here – @thebuttonsstophere