My friends Keith & Julie recently moved for central Illinois to Ohio… and it looks like they finally got around to unboxing some of their pottery collection! What better way to “feel at home” than with a freshly-baked pineapple upside-down cake, fresh-cut roses from the garden & the warmth of a candle… and some of my stamped pottery to pull it all together!

We had such a great time at ART IN THE GARDEN a couple weeks ago… and it looks like some of my biggest “fans” did too!!! HA!!! Allison has quite a collection of my work… so fun to have such loyal friends & customers! She’s always so supportive of her artist friends.

And this weekend is a perfect chance for me to meet more “friends” at ART IN THE BARN!!! C’mon by!

Sure, I coulda gotten some fresh vegetables… but instead I picked up a nice chunk of bleu cheese at the Farmer’s Market on my way home today! Looks like a great “appetizer”… yum, my favorite!!!

A nice “tour” through Suzi’s kitchen… showing off a nice stamped & glazed utensil crock with fine collection of wooden spoons! Her spoons, my vase… a perfect working collaboration!

Trapped air inside a piece WILL explode if there’s not an escape hole!

When I was assembling my ART IN THE GARDEN collaboration wall vases, I apparently neglected to add escape holes on the bottom half of this vase. And voila’… shattered during the firing – blew right off! Just proving the theory… as it happens to all of us at some point! Good thing I made a couple extras…

For all you “Purple Lovers” out there… there’s only ONE of these large stamped platters in purple for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend. No pre-sales, no calling dibs… we’re just going old-school with first-come, first-served. You might want to come early tomorrow if you really love purple?!!!

Two-thirds of the way through unloading… you get a second “reveal” when you take out the front two layers of shelves… and it reveals the third stack in the back. Again, excited that pots look well coated with soda, with some nice bright colors… and still no blasted grayness!!! Lots of fun new pots to share at my next couple art fairs!

When the kiln door is finally unbricked, it’s always nice to take a step back, take a deep breath & admire the work for a second. Appreciating that the firing was a success… that I got some good colors throughout the kiln, and NOT a ton of blasted grayness! Enough admiring… now it’s time to start unloading layer by layer, shelf by shelf, pot by pot…

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Randal, Fred and the rest of The Rogue Potters on getting a new sign… now looking so “legit” and official. Hard to believe it’s already twelve years since I met the “merry band of Rogue Potters” during the Minnesota Pottery Tour… not an official tour stop, but a great add-on with clever signage on the highway! A talented group of potters… so glad I’ve been able to be part of their journey! The sign looks great guys!!!

Looks like a beautiful breakfast in the making in Stevens Point. Flowers from the garden, a beautiful fruit salad and plenty of pottery to serve in style! Remember, homemade food always tastes better in handmade pottery!