This weekend is the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. A great chance for a fun roadtrip to see 40 potters at six different studio locations. I will be at Stop #5 in Sandwich… along with rest of these great potters!!! Special thanks to my pal Cory McCrory for hosting all of us at her place!!!

And we’re just a couple days away from the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! Make sure you’ve marked your calendar, rallied your pottery buddies & stocked-up on some roadtrip snacks!!! Make a full day of it visiting all six stops with 34 potters along the way! I will once again be at the Sandwich location… Stop #5. C’mon by…

For more information… www.northernilpotterytour.com

It’s almost here!!! The NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR is this coming weekend!!! I will once again be a Guest Potter at the Sandwich location… home studio of my buddy Cory McCrory. So mark your calendar… grab your pottery-loving friends, rent a party bus, do whatever you gotta do!!! There’s going to be a lot of beautiful pottery to see this weekend. ROAD TRIP!!!

For more information…. www.northernilpotterytour.com

Back to the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR…
and some of the beautiful pots that came home with me!!!

Like this sgraffito cup by Matthew Metz. I especially love the addition of the textured walls under the slip color & under the sgraffito carving. And yes, this is black clay with a colored slip dip… and the carved through to reveal the black line illustrations! Just amazing as always… and another beauty to add to my Matt Metz collection!

It was quite a weekend at the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR. Such beautiful weather to be outside enjoying the Tour, driving from pottery studio to studio. Chatting with the potters, admiring their work & making the tough choices of which pieces might come home with you as souvenirs!!! It was great to run into a few friends & Followers along the way… including catching up with my favorite pottery teacher at Lillstreet so many years ago!!! Not to be a name-dropper… but it was Steve Lee!!!

If you’ve never gone to this pottery tour, you really must add it to your bucket list. It’s hard to fathom how huge this is… with so many tents, so many talented potters… and an endless array of fantastic pottery!!! These photos just show a tiny bit of it… but hopefully you get the idea!

For more information – www.minnesotapotters.com

While on THE CLAY COLLECTIVE Pottery Tour last Sunday… I had a chance to chat with my pottery-buddy Kenyon Hansen… always fun, always informative. One of the Guest Artists at the Cambridge Pottery stop. And I just “may have” come home with a new set of plates!!! Allegedly…

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…