Another beautiful morning in the Lower Barn! My double booth is all set & restocked for Day Two of ART IN THE BARN… so be sure to stop for some pottery, chit-chat & art fair fun! We’re here until 5:00pm!

Fresh out of the soda kiln… and packing them up for this weekend’s ART IN THE BARN! I have a double booth again this year… so it’s twice the shelves & twice the pottery!!! I can’t wait to send some of these hybrid mugs off to new homes this weekend in Barrington!

Well, here’s the “Big Reveal” of my soda kiln firing from this past weekend. It’s always a labor of love… not just making all of the work, but also all of the loading, bricking the door, firing, putting in the soda mixture, unbricking the door, unloading the pots, packing it all up, scraping the kiln shelves, kiln washing the shelves, mopping the floor, and so many other “not-so-glamorous” tasks that are all part of the process. Most people think we “just make pots.” Well, there’s a LOT more to it than that!!!

But I’m pleased… my firing came out GREAT.
Nice bright colors… not too much gray “dolphin-skin” build-up! I need to prep & price everything now… getting it ready for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend… as well as ART IN THE BARN two weeks later!!! Can’t wait to send them off to their new “forever homes.”

It took awhile, but I finished loading the soda kiln last night. Lots of pots made it in… and quite a few pumpkins!!! Firing today & unloading Monday night… just in time for ART IN THE GARDEN next weekend! Fresh new soda-fired pots coming soon!!!

As usual, I added some masking tape “seat belts” to my studio rolling cart… so that all of my glazed & waded pots would make it safely down to the kiln room via the rickety freight elevator… with none of them jumpin’ off along the way!

Overall, Martin’s SURPRISE PARTY was so much fun!!! And I was so glad that Sarah & Nirali could join us for the festivities… and to treat them with some of my handmade pottery! It was so much fun having our own “Reality TV Celebrities” in our class for the night!!! You can tell that the three of them have a very special friendship after the show. So cute… so adorable… all three of them!!!

Knowing that the winner of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW would win a glass cake plate “trophy”… I thought I would make a ceramic “trophy” cake plate for Martin just in case he didn’t win! BUT HE DID WIN!!! I thought tit would still be a great gift… so now he has TWO “trophies” to choose from next time he’s serving a homemade cake!!!… or bringing one to our pottery class???

Celebrating another holiday… because it’s NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY! And here’s a yummy one… chocolate cheesecake, brownies & caramel sauce. What’s not to like?!

Celebrate the cheesecake!!!

Day Two of the GLENVIEW SUMMER ART FAIR and the shelves are restocked for another great day. C’mon out to Booth 24 to say “Hi”… we’re on the corner of Lake & Waukegan until 5:00pm!!!

Okay, so I’ve been a little busy with unloading my soda kiln, scraping shelves, kiln washing the shelves, teaching & Summer Camping!!! So here are a few “delayed” shots from Monday night’s unloading. I’m pretty pleased with all of the bright pops of color throughout! So glad that soda-firing does not have to be all gray & brown all the time!