My morning ride was interrupted by rain. No sunrise. No fun. Just a few miles before I had to turn around. So now I’m home tackling a big box of tiles getting ready to assemble a few more “ClayQuilts” for this weekend’s art fair. It takes a lot of time & planning to make them look so “random”!!! Who knew???

Towards the end of last year, I had become kind of enamored with my new, slightly larger,
textured tiles. Now don’t get me wrong… they’re by no means large. They’re just a smidge
bigger. And I’m still digging ’em… so I had to make more!!!

By the end of the night, I had pretty much covered my entire work table. So I was done.
I put all of my tiles on a plastic grid so they can dry more evenly. It doesn’t always work,
but they seem to dry more evenly, with less warpage, when they have air drying them from
all sides, top & bottom. It’s a little “trick” I learned from friend & tile-maker Mike Skiersch.
It’s a simple “trick” using the plastic grids they put in suspended ceilings to help “hide” the
fluorescent light fixtures. Any hardware store has them… and they’re pretty darn cheap!!!

It’s been a busy week setting up for this coming weekend’s Holiday Home Show…
let alone a whirlwind tour of Dallas, Washington DC and Boston (more to come).
But I also took time out today to help my friend Catherine Tweedie fire her soda kiln.
She unloads on Monday… and I can’t wait to see her lovelies!!! While we were firing,
I did manage to make another batch of tiles in a new, slightly larger size!

I love when my pots find a good home. And look, one of my tall stamped vases
found a great place to hang out surrounded by monsters & tiles! Add some candles
and we’re pretty darn close to a Gary shrine?! I’m just sayin’…

It was a fun evening in the studio…
making a new batch of textured tiles and enjoying the “free” air conditioning!
The different slips will create the flashes of color when they get into the soda kiln.

Although it seems as though the heatwave may have broken today?! Finally.
Right now the evening breeze is quite enjoyable.

Tonight a Lillstreet student came over to my place to purchase a bunch of tiles for her kitchen.
Sure, she could make her own tiles, but why not use mine?! She’s re-doing her kitchen and
installing cement countertops. Her plan is to randomly imbed several of my handmade,
textured soda-fired tiles into the cement. Very cool. And kind of exciting to be part of her
kitchen counters for may years to come! I can’t wait to see the final results!

Good thing I try to keep a couple boxes on hand for different projects, magnets & ClayQuilts.

And in the spirit of the holidays, after she had chosen all of her tiles, I told her that they would
be my holiday gift to her AND her new kitchen! Merry Christmas Jette!!!

I woke up this morning to Chicago’s first snowfall. Everything was white.
Alas, no morning sunrise bike ride for me. Instead, I used the time to assemble three
new ClayQuilts just in time for tomorrow’s “MUD & METAL” Holiday Home Show!

Just for the record, all of the snow melted within a couple hours.
But it was white when I woke up… I swear!

After almost a year of “neglect,” I finally got around to filling in the gaps of my basement
window tile piece this morning. A few tiles had gone “missing” from the weather, school kids
or some neighborhood ne’er-do-wells… whatever. They are all now zip-tied back in place.

Window full once again.
Finally.

Tonight was the opening of Sarah Chapman’s Trunk Show at Lillstreet Art Center.
Stunning work as always. Click on her name in the LINKS section of my blog to see more
of her metalsmithing work. As always, her work was meticulous & inspired. Such great
design & craftsmanship throighout her collection. However…

The piece that really caught my interest was her new “tile” wall piece!
Squares of textured pieces of metal showcasing several different methods, textures and
finishes. All connected with jump rings so it can hang on the wall like a “tile” tapestry!
Here’s just a small section of the wall hanging. Love it…

And no wonder… it does look somewhat familiar to me.
Kinda like a section of my own textured tiled wall?!

Hot, hot, hot… So today it’s been tap-dancing right around 100-degrees outside…
and not much better inside?! Maybe not the best day to be staining, varnishing
and gluing together more tiles “Clay Quilts”???

But if they’re going to be ready for this weekend’s art fair in Hinsdale…
I’ve got to keep plugging along regardless of the heat index!!!
I’m surrounded with fumes & fans… textures & tiles… sweaty & smelly…