Okay… so my next art fair is just over a week way. And I of course, once again,
am trying to crank out some last minute pieces. Now I don’t have time for both high-fire
bisque and glaze firings… so I’m going with a once-fired terra cotta approach! Not that I
need more work after last week’s glaze firing. But I tend to always put this sort of last-minute
pressure on myself for some reason?! Not sure why???… and not quite sure what these
little cylinders will turn into. I have a festive holiday plan… three different shapes,
three different ideas! So we’ll see what happens…

After a weekend away at my parent’s house celebrating my Dad’s birthday with a lot
of gardening & work around the house… then birthday dinner & cake… and then a
wonderful day pedaling in Wisconsin for the Harmon Hundred… it was back to the
studio tonight to finally unload the kiln now that it is quite cool. And I was quite
pleased with the results – including a new selection of stamped & glazed bowls!

Something new in the works… they started as my own “need” to make some kiln fillers!
I hate nothing more than empty spaces in a kiln. And since I’m working to fill another
glaze kiln in another week (shared with Karen Patinkin), I had some spare time and
decided to make some little things and I call them… “kiln fillers”! We’ll see what becomes
of them… and if they work as I think they might… more to come!

This afternoon after camp, my 5-year old niece Taylor stopped by the studio
to play in the clay along with my sister Jen (her mom), and my parents. It was
a special afternoon as she was working in clay, creating her own plates before she
heads off for her big adventure into starting Kindergarten! Taylor has been learning
to cook in the kitchen and loves to have people over so she can make lunch. So I
decided that she needs her own set of plates & bowls to serve her food on. We all worked
hard to make an 8-piece set of textured terra cotta plates & bowls. I made the slabs,
she did the textures, my mom helped slump them into the molds and my dad trimmed
off the extra clay. They all worked on the smoothing & painting… all with Taylor’s
design guidance and insistence!!!

And I’m sure you’ve already noticed… how adorable my niece & sister look in their
vibrant tie-dye shirts! You know how I loves me tie-dye!!!

After the plates were finished & painted, we had another quick tour of Lillstreet,
chatted with a few of my previous students (thanks Patrick), and looked at the kilns
and my studio. Then we headed off for dinner at Superdawg. Followed by a not-so-quick
18-holes of miniature golf. Considering it was only her second time golfing, she did
extremely well – and remained relatively focused & alert during the game!

So we started our Saturday in Minneapolis with a trip to Continental Clay.
The same clay manufacturer that I typically order my clay from. I’ve never been
to their warehouse & store before, so it was kind of exciting. Plus, it was nice to
have a coupon and a big car to bring back hundreds of pounds of clay! I got more
stoneware, B-clay and soda clay. Something for everything and every firing.
Some for my next soda kiln, some for cone 10 reduction, some for who knows what?!
While there, I also got a very quick tour of the warehouse and their clay mixing area.
There’s a LOT of clay there… I made a dent in their inventory – and my car was now
dragging a few inches lower than it was before!

So today after camp, I stuck around and worked in the studio.
At first I was planning on going for another bike ride between camp
& my evening adult class, but it was far too hot & humid outside…
and my studio has air conditioning! So made the easy decision to stay
in the cool air and finish up a dozen mugs that were waiting for handles!

So the cylinders are not quite so bottomless anymore!
Thanks to a couple free hours between summer camp & my adult wheel class.
Now they’re “ovaled”… as well as stamped and slab bottoms attached.
The bottoms still need to be smoothed out & finished, but they’re one step closer!

Back in the studio and making bottomless cylinders.
Don’t panic… it’s just Step One.

When in doubt, go back to basics and make more mugs!
Good thing I love making mugs, huh?
Trust me, they’ll look more like mugs once I stamp, trim & add handles!

Tonight I unloaded my latest bisque kiln… with a few pieces of terra cotta
thrown in for good measure. The bottom layer was filled with the wall pocket vases
that I made last week. I tried to fit them all in… but ran out of room. One of them
had to squeeze in sideways. And another two had to go to the top shelves!

Also in the kiln, were three new birdhouses just in time for the Evanston Lakeshore Art Fair.
I just need to find the perfect twig to stick into the hole for the perfect perch for our fine
feathered friends as they decide to move into their new residence!

After unloading the kiln, I spent the rest of the evening glazing the wall pockets…
lining them with temoku glaze, inlaying glaze in the stamps, spraying a bit of glaze
for some color accents, and wadding each of them… getting them ready for a soda kiln!