With my soda kiln firing scheduled for next weekend, I’m in the final throws of studio production. Making enough to fill the kiln… and replenishing my inventory for the upcoming art fair season! Just another batch of wall pocket vases stamped, slipped & drying!

Time to mark your calendars… we’re just nine weeks away from the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! I will be playing with my pottery friend Cory McCrory at her studio location in Sandwich, Illinois… along with fellow ceramicists Linda Kiepke, Nancy Gardner, Kenyon Hansen & Lindsay Heiden. Put us on your calendar for a fun weekend road trip for some pottery fun!!!

Always a great day when THIS arrives in my mailbox!!!

After two years of pandemic virtual tours, it’s so exciting to see that the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour will once again be going live & in-person this Spring. So much fun to see so much beautiful pottery over the course of a weekend… driving from studio location to studio location… chatting with over 60 talented potters… picking up a few pieces for my own collection along the way… and forever daydreaming that I might one day be invited to be part of the “Pottery Tour” instead of just a patron! Dare to dream, right…

Another great “national” holiday today…
NATIONAL CHERRY PIE DAY!!!

And it would be just be downright wrong for me not to celebrate on such a wonderful day, right?!

And when you make a bunch of flower pots, you also need to make a bunch of water drip trays to go with them!

Making a quick batch of flower pots… while looking forward to my “Plants & Pottery Pop-Up” down near Peoria over the third weekend of May! If I play my cards right, I’ll be headed down with a bunch of pottery, as well as some plants to fill them!!!

We’re celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with a lot of mugs!!!…
also known as an ETSY Shop Update!

My ETSY site will be updated at 6:00pm CST tonight!
There will be only thirty mugs in the shop… so grab ’em quick!!!
Scroll through for a little preview before my ETSY site goes live in just five hours!!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FireWhenReadyPottery

Who knew that retro Valentine Cards had so much pottery in them?! Lots of teapots, bowls & cups to brighten your day with some really bad puns!!! You know I like a good “Dad Joke” as much as the next… but seriously?!

I needed to make a pie and didn’t have any apples in the house. So I decided to go with a retro flashback recipe thanks to the folks at Ritz Crackers! It’s a great recipe for an “apple” pie that uses no apples, no applesauce, no apple juice… nothing apple related. And yet somehow it’s YUMMY and tastes just like an apple pie?! Looks like it tasted pretty good… not much left!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!Last night my students took on “The Pottery Olympics” as part of the LILLSTREET THROWDOWN! I mean, the Winter Olympics are starting in Beijing, so we kinda “had to” get the games started at Lillstreet too! Luckily, my students were up for the challenge… and eager to put up with my silly games!