Tonight was a special night for my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
class at Lillstreet Art Center. My friend Amy Higgason from the Northwoods was
passing through Chicago and stopped by for a fun evening of dinner, conversation…
and a wonderful demonstration of her fantastic decoration techniques for my class!

Amy was once a Lillstreet Studio Artist back at the original location. She has since
moved on to the Wisconsin Northwoods – and set herself up as Pigeon Road Pottery.
I was up there a couple weeks ago for her Fall Art Tour – and it was great to have her
stop by my class! What a great opportunity for them to see another great potter at work
and sharing all of her surface decoration “secrets.”

After some brief introductions, Amy started to work on a couple simple bowls
that I had thrown on Sunday. I made five different bowls for Amy and I to work on.
The demonstration for my students was to see Amy’s work & techniques… but also
to see how a little surface decoration can dramatically alter the look of a pot.
And how five very similar bowls can end up completely different with her techniques,
my techniques… or our combined efforts! Amy then proceeded to start carve, chat and
discuss her path as a ceramic artist. Amy and I have similar backgrounds – both as
graphic designers who have shunned the corporate life. She worked on decorating her
bowls as she answered questions and demonstrated different techniques… and laughed!

The evening went by very fast. By the end of the evening, Amy had carved three
different bowls… and I had stamped one bowl in my newer “puffy stamps” style… as well
as one bowl that we worked together on as a collaboration piece! During her time, I also
worked with my students on their own throwing, and demonstrated how to throw a plate.

By the end of the evening, we had completed five dramatically different bowls. All of which
were very much the same at the start of the evening. I have a few small finishing touches
to do on them tomorrow before they can all start drying. I think my students enjoyed
our “surprise” special guest artist. Plus, I think Karen Avery’s Intermediate Wheelthrowing
Class enjoyed it too… as they came in and joined the Amy party! And special thanks to one of
my former students Chuck (and his wife) who brought in a tray of the best homemade
chocolate chip cookies ever!!!… and they were still warm! – Chuck, you rock!!!

I know that one of my students, Pam, enjoyed the night with Amy. They met
just a couple weeks ago during the Northwoods Tour – and Pam has become one of
Amy’s greatest fans VERY quickly!!!… and has already started her own
Pigeon Road Pottery Collection!

Just some more pretty pictures.
The Fall colors were so incredible while I was up in the Northwoods…
I took HUNDREDS of photos!!! Everywhere you looked, it was gorgeous…
and I had to take more & more photos at every turn. Here’s just a few more!

This afternoon after camp, my 5-year old niece Taylor stopped by the studio
to play in the clay along with my sister Jen (her mom), and my parents. It was
a special afternoon as she was working in clay, creating her own plates before she
heads off for her big adventure into starting Kindergarten! Taylor has been learning
to cook in the kitchen and loves to have people over so she can make lunch. So I
decided that she needs her own set of plates & bowls to serve her food on. We all worked
hard to make an 8-piece set of textured terra cotta plates & bowls. I made the slabs,
she did the textures, my mom helped slump them into the molds and my dad trimmed
off the extra clay. They all worked on the smoothing & painting… all with Taylor’s
design guidance and insistence!!!

And I’m sure you’ve already noticed… how adorable my niece & sister look in their
vibrant tie-dye shirts! You know how I loves me tie-dye!!!

After the plates were finished & painted, we had another quick tour of Lillstreet,
chatted with a few of my previous students (thanks Patrick), and looked at the kilns
and my studio. Then we headed off for dinner at Superdawg. Followed by a not-so-quick
18-holes of miniature golf. Considering it was only her second time golfing, she did
extremely well – and remained relatively focused & alert during the game!

Well, I got a little busy… and the promised alliteration had to wait a couple days.
But I finally got into the studio to do some more work on the “textured terra cotta tubes.”
And the tubes are now taking shape – and becoming ceramic birdhouses!

This evening I worked on adding some of the finishing touches to the construction.
Now with roofs, “doors,” awnings, loops to hang by, and a hole which will be filled
after firing by a real wood branch for the birds to perch on.

Hopefully they will dry overnight. I put them on elevated plastic grids so that air can flow
all around them and they will dry more evenly… and quicker?! Fingers crossed…
If so, tomorrow I can stain them with underglaze, and glaze the roofs & awnings…
as I am hoping to get them into a kiln on Tuesday night, fire on Wednesday, cool Thursday
and unload late Thursday night… just in time for this weekend’s art fair in Hinsdale!

Tops. ‘Tachments. Treatments. Tomorrow.
… and hopefully more alliteration!!!

Tonight I’ve been working on “stitching together” some more of my “ClayQuilts.”
Small, soda-fired, textured tiles that are put together as a work of art for your wall.
And what appears to be random, is anything but. I find it interesting every time,
how much effort goes into making it look random while it is all very controlled.
Can’t have too many similar tiles in one area, need to keep colors dispersed evenly,
and I sometimes try to create “thematic” color combinations as I go!

Tomorrow, I’ll look at them again with fresh eyes, make a few alterations,
and start gluing them in place. Again, “forced random” as I like to put it.

Remember… before the soda firing, they were just a lot of textured clay squares
with a bunch of different colored & flashing slips on them for different effects.

Last night in my Beginning Wheel throwing class, some of my students asked
to do some basic handbuilding… so of course, I said yes. I think they’ve all realized
that throwing & trimming plates on the wheel is a little tougher than they expected.
And now they know that handbuilding is always an option… just because it’s a
wheelthrowing class, does not mean they can only make things on the wheel.
It’s just clay. And the wheel is just a tool.

So we started with some basic instruction & demonstration of pulling slabs and adding
some texture to them. Once decorated, the slab was then “draped” over a simple clay
coil “frame.” The plate slumps into the frame and the edge is smoothed & finished off.

Then, as a quick “show-stopper” demo… instant plates trimmed right off the block of clay!
Using a stretched out spring to cut the squiggles, and a straight wire to cut the under side.
Tonight, once they set-up a bit, I added some small feet to the underside for a bit of lift.
I can’t wait to see how these sculptural “plates” will turn out when the glaze pools!