A beautiful blue-sky bike ride north into Evanston… which just happened to take me past this amazing house on the corner or Lake & Hinman! Terra cotta craftsmanship like you’ve never seen before. Exquisite design & craftsmanship… they don’t make ’em like they used to!

Base coat of underglaze colors… already looking better!
Gotta add more color… say it three times!!! … Underglaze. Underglaze. Underglaze.

Well, here we have some “naked” Ghouls from earlier this week…
just waiting for some colors to make the character come to life… out of The Netherworld!!!

After the initial doodle… I make a quick little maquette. It helps me determine process, tools, stamps & what sequence I need to use them in !!! Not quite right here, but I made them a bit more detailed on the actual Ghoul cups!

Apparently this year’s new Ghoul started with an idea, a doodle & a bottle cap!!!

So while I’ve been so busy making, glazing & firing my recent soda kiln… I’ve also been working on THIS for awhile!!! Another project… some holiday fun with muddy terra cotta! I know it’s just the beginning making forty cylinders. All of which will transform in this year’s newest addition to The Ghouls Collection! One more “ghoul” to add to the collection of Halloween themed collectibles!

More to come…

Looks like Cory McCrory is in the final stages here… with some clear glaze in all the right places! Yes, that mint green color is actually a low-fire CLEAR glaze! So it will make all of Cory’s underglaze colors a lot more vibrant. And it will make the terra cotta areas darker & shinier than the “raw” terra cotta areas. Can’t believe ART IN THE GARDEN is this weekend already… but it is good to know that these are already in the final kiln firing. So I think Cory has timed it perfect… although they might just be “a little warm” when they come out of the kiln just in time for this weekend’s art fair!

After the underglaze is wiped away, everything shows up so much better. All of the grooves, stamps, textures & Cory’s whimsical additions! These are looking so fun… can’t wait to show-off these collaboration pieces at ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend!!! – “Cory, you’re killin’ it!!!”

To help highlight my stamped textures & her handbuilt details, Cory does a wash of dark underglaze. It fills all of the stamps & seams… and then gets gently wiped off leaving the underglaze only in the recesses. And it really helps make the colors POP!!!

While all of our collaboration pieces are safely in the final glaze kiln firing…. I’m just sharing a few more production photos from Cory McCrory’s studio! More underglaze painting to make all of the parts & pieces even more fun!!! Just hoping these all look great when they come out of the kiln for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend!