Mark your calendars for this weekend in Hinsdale… another weekend, another art fair! We’re in a beautiful park this time with plenty of trees, flowers & a fountain in the middle! I’m in the same spot as usual, so swing by and say “Hi.”

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with a bunch of new stamped & soda-fired mugs! There’s a whole new batch to prep, price & pack for next weekend at the HINSDALE FINE ART FAIR.

While the Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival was washed out today, at least my booth flowers still look good! And as things would have it, about an hour after I got home, the rain stopped & the sun came out with blue skies & fluffy white clouds!!!

Prepping, pricing & packing a new selection of stamped & soda-fired mugs in the basement. Fresh mugs for this weekend’s art fair in Hinsdale… hope to see you there!

Last week with my SURFACE DECORATION class, we discussed a lot of glazing techniques & tried to rectify some bad habits. Then I challenged them to “play” a bit more with their glazing… and to try some new techniques on the stamped cylinders I provided for them. I was hoping that they would be more free with their glazing if it wasn’t on one of their own “precious” pots. They all took good step-by-step notes… so now we’re just anxiously waiting for them to get fired in the cone 10 glaze kiln. Fingers crossed for some fun glaze results!!!

So they started as a class demo for my Intermediate Wheel class… throwing parts & pieces for making teapots. But then they “lived under plastic” for quite awhile… with a few spritz’s of water now & again. And lookey here… I just got around to finally assembling them!

With a gray & gloomy start to the day… instead of biking, here’s some “sunrise stamping” to kick-off my morning. One handmade clay stamp… pressed in over & over & over again. Racing a deadline to get these done… seems I work best under pressure?! HA!!!

Another flash of color with some pretty flowers in one of my stamped & soda-fired vases. Just “fulfilling the destiny” of any good vase on another Floral Friday!

I’m pretty sure it’s not pear season in Chicago… but I was still happy to find some on sale at the grocery store! Just waiting for them to ripen… hoping that it’s not all on the same day!!!

I hate when I come home and find broken flowers in my front garden… presumably from someone, or someone’s kids, or someone’s dog…. trouncing through the flowers I’m trying to grow out there. Luckily, I have plenty of mini vases to give them a little “extra life” after being broken off the plant.