Last Sunday, we had perfect weather for a little roadtrip… and a day full of fantastic pottery shopping with my friend Kristen. We drove up to the THE CLAY COLLECTIVE Pottery Tour in southeastern Wisconsin. As with any pottery tour, it’s always so much fun to see a ton of beautiful pots, meet the artists, chat it up, buy some pots & see the different studio & kiln locations. These pictures are from Mark Skudlarek’s studio… with one of the largest kilns I’ve ever seen!!! Three chambers for wood firing. The first chamber is for straight wood fired work, the middle chamber is for glazed pieces & the third chamber for a salt/soda firing. All connected, all firing at the same time!!! Crazy cool. And that was just one of several fun pottery stops!!!

Time to mark your calendars for the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. I will once again be one of the Guest Artists at the Sandwich location… home of My Talented Friend Cory McCrory. Last week was the Sandwich stop’s “Feature Week” on Instagram… and here are my feature photos! It’s going to be a great weekend with pottery at several stops along The Tour. Check the dates Saturday, June 7th & Sunday, June 8th… not that far away!!!

For more information… www.northernilpotterytour.com

Yesterday I had a great visit with a pottery hobbyist from Lawrence, Kansas who follows me on Facebook… and my blog! Marsi and her partner David were in Chicago for the first time… and I was towards the top of their “must see” list. We had a great visit & tour of Lillsteet. We shared stories, anecdotes & pottery encouragement… and then she shared these sweet little pots with me! Inspired by my stamping techniques she has seen online. Always fun to meet some of your social media “friends” in person! Thanks for making the trip Marsi… hope you had fun too!

Hard to believe that the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR is just one month away! So exciting… can’t wait to drive up to see a LOT of amazing potters & pottery! And if I can get my taxes done this weekend, I’ll see how much is leftover to have fun “adding to my collection” up north in Minnesota!!! Can’t wait…

So I gifted my friend Sarah a ceramic birdhouse recently. She loved it & can’t wait to hang it in her yard. But our friend Pam with the groovy glasses seemed a bit perplexed. She looked at, analyzed it… and still seemed a bit confused. And then she asked “how you re-fill it with bird seed… and clean the old seed out??? A quick explanation… it was that moment she “learned” the difference between birdFEEDER & birdHOUSE!!!

Finally got around to finishing up some class demo projects today. They’ve been under plastic for quite some time.., and I’ve had to spray them several times to keep them workable. But finally done & drying. Finally.

So apparently there was a little pottery “mishap”
on Christmas Day… I’ll let Allison tell the story…

“Tragic end to Mamma Molloy’s mug before she even opened it. We hosted at our home for Christmas and my brother Ryan and his wife Sarah and Reed came over for a meal and presents with our Mamma who lives down around the corner from us. We were all enjoying Reed, our nephew, being a 14 month old after our meal, stomping around and being curious when he grabbed the bag Mamma’s mug was in (padded mind you), Ryan lifted him up, and then he dropped the bag and I heard CLUNK. And was like, “Oh no. What was that? Was that the bag?” And sure enough, she opened the bag first and it was IT WAS HALF A MUG.

Sarah felt so bad and was apologetic and I felt bad but then thought what would Gary say, “It’s just clay.” She said at least she didn’t have time to get attached. I did investigate it after they left and your centering is VERY good sir. Perfect walls. Quite thin, so it’s light, and apparently very breakable.

Sad for the Christmas chaos this year!! As Sarah says, it’s a very “interactive and fun” time with him but the hands grab EVERYTHING.”

A couple happy pottery peeps… celebrating yesterday with some new pottery! Excited about their red “ornaments” holiday mug… but I think even more excited about the stamped aubergine vase that they got as a gift from Dad! Thanks for sharing your holiday Allison & Michael.

Yes… I had “two side dishes” for our family Christmas meal. So my second offering was a casserole dish full of baked beans… my step-Grandma Rose’s recipe! Yum… and I’m glad there were a few leftovers for my lunch today!!!

Holiday preparations are in the works.
I know what I’m making for tomorrow’s Christmas feast… I’m on “two side dishes.”

The real question is what will they be served in???