After yesterday’s huge microburst storm, I am very relieved & thrilled that we didn’t really lose any pottery. The winds were SO gusty that there were things flying around everywhere. Pots sliding off shelves, sounds of things crashing around us, tents shaking & moving… yet we stayed safe. As I was holding down the tent, my parents were quickly putting pots on the ground and saving as many as they could. This large slab vase & flowers made it through unscathed… along with all of the others!

Tomorrow evening is the Opening Reception for a new exhibit in the Lillstreet Gallery Annex on the second floor. It’s a collection of Lillstreet ceramic artists who make soda-fired work. I have a large “constellation” of wall pieces in the show. The textured wall pillows make a fun installation grouping full of textures, surfaces & shadows.

Stop by tomorrow evening between 6:00-8:00pm for the Opening Reception. Second floor of Lillstreet Art Center just a few doors down from my studio. 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60640 on the corner of Montrose & Ravenswood.

Tonight I did a little stamping & detailing of my class demo bowls from Tuesday night.
“Not so basic” just got a little more textured!!!

So my “constellation” of textured wall pockets has been hung in the Gallery Annex. I love how it turned out. And in the perfect location right there at the top of the stairs (thank you Brian). Kinda nice being the very first thing you see as you come up to the second floor. Finishing touches are still being added to the show… and the Opening Reception is next week on Friday, July 24th.

Putting it all together… making a plan for how my collection of textured wall pillows will become a complete “constellation” for the upcoming “Variations In Soda Fired Work” Show.

I’ve been pulling together some of my textured wall pillows for an upcoming show in the Gallery Annex at Lillstreet Art Center. Can’t wait to put it all together…

One of the highlights of spending the Fourth of July in downstate Illinois is the charming “Norman Rockwell” quality of it all. Including corn dogs, lemon shake-ups, flea markets and vintage car shows. I’m not so much into the old cars… but I am REALLY into the beautiful colors and rusted patina on this beauty from 1939!!! Seventy-six years of rust… beautiful!!!

The festival is coming together nicely. All of our pieces are falling into place. We’ve worked long hours in the blazing sun & torrential rains. Lots of mud everywhere. So it suddenly felt incredible when we got the afternoon off!!! Whoo-hoo! Most people went back to their hotel rooms or shopping… I however decided to seize the moment to ride to another beach. I changed clothes, put on another layer of sunscreen, hopped on my bike and pedaled up to Woodland Beach near Smyrna. A nice sandy beach… again, with surprisingly few people. Gotta love it.

And after days of damp, dirty & muddy feet, it felt so wonderful to take my shoes off and wade in the cool waters of Delaware Bay.

Beautiful colors, textures, patterns & shadows in some of the large colocasia plants
being used by our landscaping team here in Dover.

Glazed & loaded another kiln today.
This time, a cone 6 firing for a quick pop of color.
Just in time for the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival next weekend.