So I’ve been quite busy in the studio, what with full-day Summer Camps & evenings in the studio! So I’m a bit behind on posting photos… especially of these water carafes for ART IN THE GARDEN. They’re coming along quite nicely… and even further along now… actually in the kiln… as these photos were from a week ago! … oops!!!

Just a couple more of my “hybrid mugs”… combined wheelthrown & handbuilt mugs… ready to go into the bisque kiln tonight. Loving the textures… and their “oversized-ness” as requested by a customer who bought a HUGE hybrid mug at the Hinsdale art fair and now wants another one!!! Perfect for another Mugshot Monday!!!

Just finishing up another batch of stamped oval vases quickly before the Chi Tri tomorrow. Hoping these dry while I’m outside sweating tomorrow so they can make it into my bisque kiln Monday, and my next soda kiln on Friday!!!

With this being the hottest weekend of the summer, I’m tagged & ready for another Chicago Triathlon tomorrow! It’s going to be a sweaty race… as I’m currently in the studio sweating & racing to finish a new batch of oval vases. We’ve had no air conditioning on the second floor of Lillstreet for over a week now!!! Not good during the heat wave hitting Chicago this week! Just trying to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate…

Fresh flowers in one of my stamped & soda-fired square vases. Looks like Rhonda’s latest visit to the Farmer’s Market has helped fulfill the destiny of this two-sided vase! Thanks for sharing Rhonda… and for brightening our day!

With ART IN THE GARDEN coming so quickly… many of the artists are working together to make some special collaboration pieces. Working with each other to create something fresh & exciting. I’ve got a few collaborations in the works… and these have got to move along in the process! Drying flat… and soon into a bisque kiln!

So when the latest glaze kiln was unloaded at Lillstreet, I had SO many people stop by to tell me that one of my stamped platters was on the glaze cart. When I went to look for it… all I saw was this one… which was NOT mine!

Turns out it is one of my students who has truly taken my demos to heart. They say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”… but we also discuss how to take a technique and alter it a bit to make it your own “new” style! She was the first one to admit that she is not a creative person, but can see something & she can make it. The rest of the class dubbed her as “The Replicator.”

After a little stamping & detailing with colored flashing slips…
these cutie-patooties are going into a kiln soon. Just trying to get them done quickly so they can move along in the process… as there’s a “very good chance” they might just be a part of a collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN!

Just finished stamping up another platter… with just one handmade stamp over & over again! Just in time for another Texture Tuesday!

My “back porch neighbors” are gone for a few days and left me in charge of watering their plants… and they left a little floral surprise on the back porch for me! The best part was their “assumption” that I might have a better vessel to put the flowers in… better than the Gatorade bottle they left them in! And I did… a little stamped & soda-fired vase to make the flowers look a little happier!