The kids were busy working in clay making their thematic dinnerware placesetting for FIRE, FORGE & FEAST Summer Camp. Lots of fun, lots of terra cotta, lots of dirty hands!!! It’s gonna be a busy week!!!

And one “special plate”… also in the works…

So for now they can dry… for tomorrow we will glaze them with Teacher’s Choice colors.
A quick single-fire so they can be done by Friday morning. We need a fast turn-around.

Another good lesson for my campers… if they let their terra cotta dry too fast so that it’s no longer usable, we’re NOT going to toss it in the reclaim bucket. The easy-out. Instead, we’re drying it out and then they need to pulverize it so we can quickly turn it into terra cotta slip for them to use! Tough work… but it’s all part of the process.

It’s been a long week and it’s only Thursday!!!
My Summer Campers have been working so hard making their chess sets. Each one has a theme and they’ve been building all of their pieces out of terra cotta clay. Some of them have been struggling, while others have been cruising right through. I just hope everyone has been scoring & slipping really well. Guess we’ll find out when their pieces start to dry, huh???

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It’s a “shame” they’re not having any fun in Summer Camp this week!!! Ha.

Today my Summer Campers switched to terra cotta. They threw a bunch of pots, let them set-up a bit and then did some more stamping! Go figure.

With just two days until the Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival,
it’s my very last chance to get these birdhouses fired in time!

So with a quick coat of clear glaze on the roof tops, they’re headed into a single-fire terra cotta cone 04 kiln. Fingers crossed that they fire okay… and that they’re not still too hot to bring to the fair on Saturday!

With just a few days left, I’ve decided to crank out a few terra cotta pieces for the Schaumburg art fair. My soda & cone 10 kilns are done, but I can still squeeze in one last cone 04 electric kiln filled with once-fired terra cotta pieces. People have been asking about the birdhouses I made a couple years ago… so why not make some more?! They’re textured terra cotta. The sides will be stained with black underglaze to help accentuate the textures, and the rooftops will be colored with bright underglazes and then glazed clear. Just hoping that they dry quickly… they’ve got to get into the kiln tomorrow!!!

Fresh from the kiln… the latest addition to “The Ghouls Collection”
will be making her grand appearance at ART IN THE BARN tomorrow & Sunday
from 10:00am-5:00pm in Barrington.

She’s going to look great with the other festive Ghouls in the collection…
Pumpkin, Skull, Frankenstein, Mummy, Vampire, Black Cat and now The Witch!!!
It’s a Limited Edition collectible… don’t miss out or she may just put a curse on you!!!

The hats are made, but still need to be painted, glazed & fired
before their “Ghoulish” debut this Saturday at ART IN THE BARN…
and that’s just the half of it.

Wish I could “cast a spell” to get them done faster…
yeah, them AND the other half I’m still making too!!!

Oh yeah, and did I mention that’s it’s a “Limited Edition” of forty?!
That means I still have a LOT of painting & glazing to do!!!

Look what just came out of the kiln!!!
The kids left camp with a layer of colored underglazes on their pieces. One of the Kid’s Monitors did a winderful job of glazing the pieces carefully for them. Tracey actually dipped them upside down in a bucket of clear glaze that had been thinned down. Brilliant!!! And now that the kid’s sets are done & complete, I thought I should share some quick phtoos before they go home!!! Check… and Check Mate.

Hockey : Two Teams… complete with the MVP Trophy and the Stanley Cup as King & Queen.

Cats vs. Dogs… the age old rivalry between canines & felines!
With bones as pawns for the Dogs,,, and mice as the pawns for the Cats.

A “Normal” Chess Set… he didn’t want no crazy theme!!!
He just wanted the Kings to be Kings and the Queens to be Queens. Simple. Done.

Normal People vs. Normal People… or something like that?!
So I’m not really sure why one line of pawn is boxes of golf balls? And the other line of pawns is basketball players, with only two having basketballs?! Doesn’t really matter though… Jane was fully committed & dedicated to her theme. It all made sense in her head and that’s what matters most.

Mario vs. Bowzer… or something like that?!
I know it’s a video game reference, but sadly I’m “too old” to be hip to the new games!

Godzilla vs. Monsterzilla… or something like that?
Again, the little guy was completely engaged in his project and could tell you what each piece was and why it made sense in his theme. And if he’s happy… so am I.