This weekend was a wonderful party at a private residence in  north suburb of Chicago.
They wanted a spectacular Chinese New Year Party… and we made it happen!
One of the biggest things they wanted was an impressive entrance treatment in front
of their house so they guest would have to enter through it. So I drew a few sketches,
took it down to the shop and talked it over with our fabricating team. They made a few
minor suggestions… and then I did more specific renderings to scale, separating the layers.
As they started building my version of a Chinatown gate, I was picking colors and deciding
what Chinese symbol should be on each side. We ended up with “Friendship” as the guests
arrived, and “Prosperity” as they were leaving the party.

The Chinatown gate was installed during the day… and then theatrically lit for the evening’s
festivities. With the dramatic colors, it almost looked like it was part of the house.
The clients loved it… and the guests were thrilled and many used it as a photo-op before
entering the party! Always thrilling for me to see the ideas in my head become a reality!

Tonight, after a quick trip to Winter WonderFest at navy Pier, Amy and I spent the
evening wandering around the zoo taking in the lights & colors of “ZooLights.”
It was a perfect night… crisp & cool, but not freezing cold – and still no snow!

Sure anyone can wrap a tree with lights. And some were better than others.
I appreciate who they rapped the trunks & branches instead of trying to sting a “ball”
around the upper branches as though there were leaves still on the tree. And I really hate
when you can still see the string-line of the lights loosely draped throughout a tree.
I think highlighting the actual structure of the tree is so much more intriguing!

And then… as it there weren’t enough sparkle, color & fun…
I decided to take it one step further. Sure, the light-covered-canopy-tunnel was cool.
But with just a little movement of the camera and you can “paint” with color! And I did…

As part of my “glitter gig”… I had a great time tonight converting the Park West into a fantastic
circus atmosphere, complete with a huge “tented” canopy ceiling! The event was a corporate
holiday party… and a LOT of fun for me to design. With an elephant truss entrance, circus ring
buffets, a lion cage buffet, and a makeup mirror buffet that isn’t quite as glamorous as the rest.

Plus, what’s a circus without a ringmaster?! And that ringmaster needs to have his own trailer.
Which also became the photo-op for Santa… err, the Ringmaster. Complete with evergreen
swags decorated with popcorn & circus peanuts. Yeah, the stale orange marshmallows!!!

The circus was bright and flashy, yet as with all circuses, the veneer has slipped a bit.
If the guests looked closely, there were a lot of flaws in the veneer… like the makeup area
with a dead bouquet of flowers, smudged make-up mirrors, photos & clippings of clowns
from the past, reliquary candles and even a forgotten record player still skipping on an
old-fashioned LP album of “Send In The Clowns.” Oh yeah, did I mention the hairbrushes
& rollers with hair still in them?! Like I said, not everything at the circus is pretty!

But then we all know that the circus attracts an “eclectic” group of employee carnies!
Many of them evading the law and hiding out in the circus… or traveling under a few different
aliases and making their own passports. Poker chips, liquor bottles, spilled popcorn, lottery
tickets, stolen license plates and more!

Yes… that’s Cooky the Clown with AND without his makeup!

It’s all part of my ongoing “glitter gig”… and this is a prime example of why I’m wearing glitter
a lot more frequently than I should be. In fact, that’s why I call it my “glitter gig.” Well this “gig”
is to convert the cavernous Festival Hall on Navy Pier into a Winter WonderFest. Complete
with an indoor ice skating rink, carnival rides, entertainment and some of the best holiday
decorations anywhere in the city! It’s a great holiday activity for kids of all ages! And “my part”
of the fun is decorating the Santa’s Village & Reindeer Express. A quaint little holiday town
where a train drives kids around to see the Village. It’s my job to make sure it’s “magical”
for the kids every year! And a little more glitter makes the snow sparkle… like it’s almost real?!

And in the center of the Village is the 42-foot Christmas Tree that can be seen from all ends
of Festival Hall. Decorated with thousands of lights & ornaments, and hundreds of golden
presents for the toy soldiers to stand guard over.

If you need my home address, just send me a quick e-mail to
gary@firewhenreadypottery.com

So this entire structure is created out of flat sheets of pressure treated plywood.
Very detailed & intricate, the structure is a full two-story “gazebo” with fantastic
design elements. Layers upon layers of intricately cut sheets create this dramatic effect.
And a splash of theatrical lighting doesn’t hurt any either!

So we talked with David Best about this creation, but even more about his other pieces…
including his future plans for the next few years. And how he used to be a pretty “big name”
potter back in his day. Including several articles & photo spreads in Ceramics Monthly
magazine, I, of course, hinted a couple times that I would LOVE to be an assistant the next
time he’s creating one of these! He kind of laughed… but I was dead serious!!!

I’m sure you can see why, but I was just so smitten by this installation piece. So stunning.
Simply breathtaking. And not only was it this temple that took my breath away, but there
were also three hanging chandeliers. One of the chandeliers was in the central “dome” area
of the gazebo, the other two floating diagonally away from the temple.

Watch the video… “Bohemian Rhapsody” with The Muppets

Art In The Barn – September 24th & 25th in Barrington, Illinois
Art Detour – October 7th, 8th & 9th in Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin.

So now I’m making new items with that special Northwoods influence…
exclusively for the folks on the Art Detour… a teaser of things to come…