Always the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 21st & Sunday, November 22nd – 10:00am-6:00pm

Still trying to finish things up… cleaning, sorting, pricing, staining, gluing, building shelves, and carrying all of my pottery up three flights of stairs. All for this weekend’s Holiday Home Show with pottery in every room of my condo AND the back porch too! If you’re in the Chicago area this weekend, feel free to stop by to kick-off your holiday shopping! Or just to say “Hi” and to enjoy the apple cider & comfort of my couch?!

This large platter came out of the soda kiln beautifully. And PERFECTLY FLAT !!!
I’m so happy that the Kiln Gods watched over it and all went well.

And a quick reminder of what it looked like glazes, but not fired yet…

The second platter has a little bit of warping to it… but then again, it was a LOT thinner from the start. Need to remember that lesson next time. “Don’t throw too thin on soda-fired platters if you want them to stay flat.”

Here are some “better” photos of the new teapots. I say “better” because the background is just the spray booth outside the kiln room. Ha!

Anyway, two photos per teapot, one of each side. Some pretty dramatic variations thanks to the soda-firing process & colored flashing slips!

TEAPOT #1

TEAPOT #2

TEAPOT #3

TEAPOT #4

TEAPOT #5

I unloaded my soda kiln earlier this week but have been too busy to post photos. Too busy making the “new Ghoul.” Until now. So here’s a quick peek inside my fired kiln as I was unloading last Monday night… with a lot of the pots that will be coming with me to ART IN THE BARN this weekend in Barrington!

Here’s the front stack. Always a little heavier soda build-up. A little too gray for my liking… personal preference… but that means the pots “inside” will be nice!

And the back stack. A lot brighter colors. Not so much gray.
And some pretty sweet new teapots if I do say so myself…

So what would happen if two of my favorite things came together???
Pottery AND Reality TV.

Well, it looks like it’s about to happen over “on the other side of the pond.”
Seems like there’s a new Reality TV show brewing with potters as contestants.
Not sure of the details, or if we can see i there in the States, but… I’m in !!!

Click here for the preview commercial on YouTube!

Last night was the last night of the Summer session of my Tuesday night Beginning Wheel pottery class. It’s been a great ten-weeks of fun for the students. Each of them has made great advancements in their throwing. So we celebrated with a very sweet potluck, and a fun “Plate Exchange Game.” Everyone had to bring in a plate they had made during class to trade & exchange with someone else. Everyone brought in a plate and left with a different one.

By the end of the shenanigans, Catherine had my amber celadon stamped plate, and I ended up with this sweetie from my student Diane. She has been a “pottery sponge” every step of the way this session. Whether it has been tackling every demo, or finding as many new techniques as possible on YouTube, Diane has been cranking out some fun pieces all session long. This plate was thrown with Stoneware With Ochre for the dark chocolatey finish. She used a simple dragonscale tool for the pattern on the rim. After bisque firing, she inlaid temoku glaze in the pattern and gently wiped off the top surface – effectively leaving the temoku only in the deeper stamped recesses. She waxed the entire rim and then dipped the plate in an apple green celadon glaze for the center food surface. I love the pattern, and the shiny metallic-ness of the rim. It was so much fun having Diane in class… and watching her pottery adventure “unfold” every week. Nicely done Diane… can’t wait to have you back again next year during your teacher’s summer break!

So even took great glazing notes in her “adorable” handcrafted journal…
I would have expected nothing less!

One of my students was thrilled to find her pot on the Student Show-Off Shelves.
It was an experiment of glazing with bubbles! Thanks to Dave & Will for introducing this new technique… which has now become “all the rage.”

Congrats Katie!!! Your bowl looks fantastic!

FYI… Full blog post to come… hold your horses…

So you might remember that for the last session of my Beginning Wheel class I challenged them to each make a dinnerware placesetting. Many of them pulled through with the challenge… some did not?! However, I must admit that I was a little surprised when Angela brought in her dinnerware set TONIGHT during class!!! She may not have met the deadline, but she persevered and showed up with a beautiful handmade set. Well-crafted with a beautiful glaze combination. Congrats Angela… it”s a beautiful set. Well worth the wait.

Lots of pots ready to go to a new home. Maybe yours?
Stop by the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival. 11:00am-6:00pm today & tomorrow.
We’re in Booth #32 with a beautiful “backyard” view of the Lake!!!