Let The Games Begin!
My parents and I got up early this morning to head out for the big pottery tour. Our first stop is always my favorite stop! It’s the furthest north and my favorite collection of pots & potters! So we always start at Bob Briscoe’s place, do a little shopping, a little chatting and a have a lot of fun before moving on to the other locations.

Picture thousands & thousands of wonderful pots made by some of the best potters all in one place. There are seven studio locations on the tour. Each of the host artists then invites other potters to share their space and their wares. In the end, there are fifty potters, quite a few white tents, and thousands & thousands of pots!!! All in one glorious pottery weekend!!!

For more information about the tour, click on St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour.

After a busy week in Dover and the studio, we’re finally off to Minneapolis!
This weekend is the Minnesota Pottery Tour and we made it up north after a long, rainy drive. The tour starts tomorrow, but first, my parents and I stopped by my cousin’s place tonight for dinner and some great fun with their kids. Always fun to play with them… and to hear all the stories from their recent “Make-A-Wish” Trip to Hawaii. Yes, unfortunately, their youngest Christopher has been battling with cancer. He’s made it through his chemotherapy rounds like a trooper and is now “in the clear” and feeling so much better. So it was great fun to see him smiling & laughing… and playing with Uncle Gary!!!

This weekend has been two VERY long, arduous days of sorting, compiling, logging, listing, adding, and all of the other not-so-fun tasks that go along with doing your taxes! I “think” I might be done… but still hoping to find that one last receipt or deduction. After all, I still have one more day, right? Why hurry when I’ll again be sending money to the government?!

And after this year’s go at it, I think I might finally need to admit that an Excel spreadsheet or two might help?! Or better yet, an accountant?… or at least a better calculator!!!

The flower pots we made for Taylor’s birthday party finally came out of the kiln.
And they all look adorable!!! The kids did a great job on them all. I’m sure if we had
had a little more time, we could have refined them a bit, added a little more glaze,
and made them a little more “perfect.” But it’s that same “lack of perfect” that makes
them SO cute!!! And such a great souvenir from Taylor’s eight birthday party!!!

Maybe I’m just the proud Uncle.
And she has been here before, so she does have some clay experience.
But I must admit that I think that Taylor’s is the nicest of the lot. I really liked her use
of stamps for texture & pattern. And when she decided to make it as a birthday gift for
her Mom (my sister) it was very touching. Especially when she misspelled “birthday”
by accidentally forgetting the “th.” It was adorable. But then her Dad couldn’t resist
and had to step in and fix it… “Dad, step away from the clay.”

Callie went with the full Spring motif. She stamped in words, textures & patterns…
and then glazed it accordingly. She even had trees, grass, sky… everything Spring!

Jody went more for the two-tone effect. Splitting his pot in half with yellow & white.
And then adding a splash of green inside and around the water drip tray.

Charlie started with a nice design. Using  three heart stamps around the pot, and then
putting his initials in each one of them. And then he found the blue glaze…

Twin brother Theo liked the blue glaze too apparently?!

Piper was the most focused on color! She couldn’t get enough of it. I think she did the
best job of painting her piece. I tried to get them all to put on two layers of glaze…
but as you can see, Piper actually did and got the most vibrant results!

Once the kids were done with their flower pots, I kinda felt like I needed to make one too!
So I decided to make s flower pot for Taylor’s birthday… especially since she decided to make
her flower pot as a birthday gift for her Mom (even though her Mom’s birthday isn’t until
December?) I figured she needed one to keep for herself. It was a fun birthday party…
and soon she’ll have a great memento from their day at the studio!!!

And of course I can’t give it to her empty, right?! So I planted it with a beauty kalanchoe
plant with bright pink flowers. What little 8-year old girl would like bright pink flowers?!
And I’m pretty sure it might be her very first houseplant too!

She’ll see her finished flower pot, everyone else’s pieces and get her own flowery gift
tomorrow! I hope she likes it!!! We’re doing the “family” birthday party tomorrow
and she’ll see it then. Shhh… don’t tell her… don’t spill the beans!!!

Yesterday was my niece Taylor’s eighth birthday. And she decided that she wanted to
celebrate with her kid’s birthday party at the studio. She’s been here before to play in the
clay, but this was the first time she brought some of her friends! So we started with some
introductions, a few simple rules, some guidelines, some clay and lots of messy fingers!
Even my parents were there to watch, hang out and pitch in. Although I have a fairly
strict rule that adults can’t help “too much.” Which proves harder for some than others…
especially Taylor’s dad Scott who couldn’t quite keep his fingers out of things!

Our project for the day was to make terra cotta flower pots for Spring. We talked about
how we were going to make them and how they should have a plan, a theme, a concept,
a design. Some decided to keep it simple and keep it Spring. Others went for Mother’s Day
gifts, or even birthday gifts! Once they had a plan, they each started with a rectangular
slab of clay that they had cut out. With some fun stamps and texture tools, they set out
to design their terra cotta flower pots!

Once they all had their slabs decorated, it was time for them to form the slabs into cylinders
to become the sides of their flower pots. A bit of scoring. A bit of slipping! And pressing!!!

The cylinders then needed a bottom to keep things in! So we made round bottoms which
needed to be scored, slipped & attached to the bottom. Luckily, we had a few extra hands
at the ready. It was easier for the kids to score the bottom with Taylor’s grandpa helping out!

We then talked about how every good flower pot needs a water drip tray to catch the water!
So they started with another slab circle and attached a coil around to contain the water.

As always… the kids have mixed reactions to getting dirty. Some love every minute of it.
Some were tentative and try to stay clean. While some start hesitant and end up loving it!!!

After their pieces were assembled, we moved on to painting with underglazes.
Of course I always hope that they will take their time and paint with attention-to-detail.
Unfortunately, with time running out and pizza on the way… it’s a quick paint job!!!

And how fun it is to watch kids having fun… and more fun.. and even more fun…
Just to see the excitement & hear the giggles.

All too soon they were done and it was time to go. They look all cute & clean… but trust me,
they definitely have a wonderfully mischievous side in there somewhere. Especially after
a dinner of pizza, punch and chocolate cupcakes!

The birthday party was done. And I think everyone had a fun time playing in the mud.
So they all climbed back into the limo to take them back to the suburbs! Sure, they were a little
dirtier than when they came… but in the end, I think Taylor had a wonderful birthday party!!!

And special thanks to my studio neighbor Karen Patinkin for “unwittingly” letting us use
the work table in her space for the party. We tried our best to clean it all up afterwards.
To get our terra cotta out of her pristine porcelain world. Thanks again Karen!

Let me just say this right up front… NO, I DID NOT DO THE “POLAR PLUNGE.”
I may get up for freezing cold, sunrise morning bike rides, but let’s not get crazy.

So this morning, when I made it down to North Avenue Beach, they were busy setting up
for today’s “Polar Plunge” for charity. There were tents all around, each one with a generator
running heating units inside. Just waiting for the “plungers” to come down for the big dive!

But with so much ice & glaciers along the lakefront, they needed to literally dig away huge
patches of snow & ice – just to get to the water! Without them… the “plungers” would be
climbing over huge piles of snow & ice just to make the big plunge for charity.

I’m sure they all had a great time diving into the freezing cold water. While I was glad to be
headed back home on my bike and home safe & warm before they ever go there. I’m pretty
sure that the “hole” they carved out will be frozen over & sealed back up by tomorrow!

Tonight was the “Empty Bowls Project” at Lillstreet Art Center.
There were tables & tables filled with bowls. And a lot of people eager to
snatch them up, fill ‘em with soup and donate to the cause. Thank you everyone!

It’s always fun to see people walking around with one of my bowls in their hands…
without them even knowing that it is one of MY bowls.

Okay, so I may not be religious, but I do enjoy a little religious humor now & again!
I couldn’t resist…

Apparently today Crain’s Chicago Business listed Lillstreet’s “Empty Bowls” event
as one of the “Top 10 Things To Do This Weekend in Chicago.” And some of my
stamped & soda-fired bowls were used as the “poster child” for their posting as well!!!
Lucky me… yet even luckier if they would have mentioned my name!!! Oh, so close…

Click here for Crain’s Chicago Business “Top Ten” List for this weekend!

And for those of you who don’t feel like clicking on the link above,
here’s a picture of the bowls that made a “surprise guest appearance” today!!!
Not quite famous (yet)… but I’ll take any publicity I can get.

The Empty Bowls Project is a nationwide effort by potters to end hunger. Lillstreet Art Center
is proud to host this 6th annual event to benefit First Slice, a local hunger-fighting
organization. Just a quick FYI… First Slice is also a great place to get a snack, a sandwich
or a piece of pie… or two! And they’re conveniently located in the Lillstreet Gallery...
a little too convenient to my studio if you know what I mean!

Join the festivities and share a modest meal of soup and bread, served in a handmade bowl
donated by a ceramic artist that you may take home as a reminder of all the other bowls
you will have helped to fill. So not only to you get dinner – you get a bowl!!! And you feel
great doing a good deed at the same time!

Bowls are $25 each, and there is no limit to the number of bowls you may purchase.
Sales begin at 5:00pm on a first-come, first-served basis. FYI – several of the donated
bowls will be mine! There will also be a silent auction of artist-crafted items…
and I’ll have a donated piece in the Silent Auction as well. Anything for a good cause!

The Empty Bowls Project – at Lillstreet Art Center
4401 North Ravenswood (at Montrose), Chicago, Illinois 60640
Just a few steps east of the Montrose stop on the Brown Line.

And by the way… did I mention that the stack of bowls that have become the
“poster child” for Lillstreet’s Empty Bowls Project are actually mine as well?! Go figure…

I made the bowls several years ago when we were still at the old Lill Street location.
Emily Murphy and I went to a workshop with Australian soda-firing guru Gail Nichols
at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. I was kind of “new” to the soda process and
still learning a lot. She showed off some of her bowls that she threw and fired on their sides.
I was intrigued enough that when I got back to the studio, I made my own version of the
inspirational “Gail Nichols Bowls.”  All bowls are similar, but each have a different soda
flashing effect. Some more subtle. Some more dramatic. Some blasted with soda.
And not a single stamp to bee seen anywhere… like I said, it was several years ago!

And if you stop by my place, or come to my Holiday Home Show,
you can see this full stack of bowls still on top of my kitchen cabinets!