Looks like Kristin Conneely has been busy working her “mosaic magic” in her studio… still working on some collaboration pieces for ART IN THE GARDEN. It’s always so cool to see how different artists re-imagine things you’ve made for years… giving them a breath of fresh air!!! Can’t wait to see the finished pieces… September 9th & 10th in Glenview!

For more info… www.grassrootsartfair.com

I posted pictures of these tiles a couple days ago… but from the backside as I was stitching them together with copper wire. The pictures got a good amount of lovin’ as the backsides have some great soda flashing marks! But I’m hoping that people like the front side as much or more! I love how the textured tiles came together kinda like a cathedral window quilt. This one-of-a-kind wall piece will also be at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS”… and there’s just one… so it might go fast?!

Enough of the teasers… here’s a quick look of the big collaboration project we’ve all been working on! The “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” have been busy “making”… four tiles each for the four seasons! So sixteen tiles total in one large installation… but first we need to get it up on the wall?! The show opens at 2:00pm today, so we gotta get going quick!

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall.

And here are the same tiles after soda-firing… framed & ready to be hung on the gallery wall. A fun collaboration challenge for each of us… making thematic tiles using our usual medium & techniques. So some are metal, some are glass, and mine are clay! We’ll have sixteen tiles in the collaboration wall installation. We’re pretty excited to see how it’s coming together… and we hope you can come see it in person this weekend in Evanston!

Getting ready for this weekend’s “4×4” gallery show… so today there’s a good bit of glue & epoxy drying all around!!! Currently working on this large ClayQuilt with over 200 textured & soda-fired tiles!

For those of you who have never been to my condo…
a quick glimpse inside while celebrating NATIONAL TILE DAY with a few shots of a tiled wall I made several years ago! All handmade, textured & soda-fired tiles filling the wall from floor to ceiling… from bedroom to bathroom.

While it’s still feeling a bit like Winter here… I’m looking forward to getting some leaves back on the trees around here! But until then… I guess some clay gingko leaves in my studio might have to be good enough. Especially when they’re headed to the “4×4 : Four Makers” Show coming up in two weeks! So far so good… but they still need to be glazed & fired… so fingers crossed!

Another quick batch of textured “tiles” getting ready for the kiln… hoping that this very loose plan will come together in time for “4×4 : Four Makers” in Evanston. It’s a bit sketchy still… fingers crossed…

You know I’ve always said “MORE IS MORE”… well “more” of these little tiles are starting to come together! I’m kind of excited with this new “plan”… hoping they all come together for my “4×4 Sculpture Show” the first weekend in March with my talented friends Sarah Chapman, Darlys Ewoldt & Robin Kittleson! Mark your calendars!!!

The final “surprise” challenge for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class was to interpret five different words onto five different tiles. They each received the same words & a blank tile, and then had fifteen minutes to “represent” the word on each tile. The words were PAISLEY, NOSTALGIA, CHAOS, FESTIVE and JUXTAPOSITION. Always fun for me as the observer to watch each of them approach a challenge in different ways – both in interpreting the word and their handbuilding approach & techniques!

CHAOS –

NOSTALGIA –

FESTIVE –

JUXTAPOSITION –

PAISLEY –