So it was a tough day down in Peoria for some good friends of mine when the gusty winds blew through last Sunday! They have an amazing terraced backyard garden with large trees, tons of hostas & flowers, and a LOT of rustic decorative accents all over the place… even a ceramic totem pole made by “you-know-who”!

Well… after the gusty winds…
they now have a few less trees and one less totem pole!!!

Yes, the storm took out one of their largest trees, which in turn took out portions of other trees… and totally smashed my TOTEM POLE!!!

But like I tell my students… “It’s just clay!”

I was just happy that the tree fell where it did… damaging the trees & totem… and NOT my friends or their house! Could have been so much worse… luckily, they had a beautiful green bowl of chocolate to help with the aftermath… also made by “you-know-who”!

This past weekend was a great chance to get away for a few days…
not too far, but far enough.

So much fun to visit my “first art fair friends” and their amazing garden
in Peoria ablaze with Spring colors!

Oh, and look… a ceramic totem pole in their terraced backyard garden!
Wonder how THAT got there???

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So the students in the  the Montessori School of Lake Forest, Adolescent Program have been working hard on their totem pole. My friend Claire has been working with them to create their final masterpiece. They’ve used my blog as inspiration & reference as I’ve made a few totems in my day. So I was excited when Claire contacted me to tell me about their project. And now they’re in the final stretch. And plans are in the works for the installation of their totem.

It was a rather dreary day when they assembled their totems. First with a rebar pole down the center, then stacking and filling it up section by section.

At some point along the way, the people that purchased their totem decided they wanted three shorter totems instead of the one tall one. Of course I would prefer the  one tall one, but that’s just me. And since the kids had planned on just one totem, they had made just one topper. So now they need three!!! Unfortunately, the additional toppers can’t be made “immediately” so they decided to top them off with blue potter’s buckets. Safe keeping to protect them from filling with water. When the final topper pieces are built and fired, they will finish them off… and hopefully send me more pictures!!!

So for now their totems are “done.” Standing proud.  And they look amazing!
Congratulations to Claire and all of the adolescents who took part in this special project.
Thanks for sharing your totem pole adventure with me! I can’t wait to see the finished totems!

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My friend Claire works with a great group at a local Montessori School. Her students decided to build a totem pole for their auction project. Claire saw one of the totem poles my Summer Camp kids made a few years back… so she’s been using my blog as a reference for her totem pole project. I can’t wait to see the final results by the students at the Montessori School of Lake Forest, Adolescent Program. Their slab-built sections look great so far… even better when they’re glazed, fired and stacked!!!

Slab-built terra cotta sections… rolled into a hollow cylinder with a slab base. Each section will eventually be stacked into the finished totem pole.

To see more about my own totem pole adventures, click on the “totem pole” category in the column to the right.

With such a beautiful garden… it always seemed like the perfect place for one of my soda-fired totem poles. It has been neatly tucked into their garden for a few years now. I love seeing it every time I go down for a visit. Quite the honor to be “featured” in their award-winning garden!!!

As you go down the terraces, and turn a few corners, the path begins to reveal the totem pole.

Perched on the side of the slope, surrounded by ferns & hosts.

It may be freezing here in Chicago, but it’s never to soon
to start dreaming about Spring, gardens and totem poles!!!

Last weekend at my Holiday Home Show, my cousin’s wife Anna brought their three kids all the way down from Minneapolis for a weekend visit, and a trip to my place! My cousin Kim came along with the Minnesota Foursome for some quality family time. Anna has been “threatening” to come for many years… and finally made it in to the city while her husband (my cousin Michael) was out-of-town for business. Thanks Anna for sharing your photos!

Bundled up outside my place like good Minnesotans… Christopher, Mitchell & Caroline.

Upstairs with cousin Kim…

They also loved my back porch and playing in my back courtyard area.
Not quite so pretty once all of the plants die-back for the Winter, huh?!

Which includes a “tilting” totem pole that needs to be straightened in the Spring…
and my Capt. America PEZ Dispenser sculpture that will be looking for a new home soon.

After my weekend in southern Indiana, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ivy in my back courtyard has started to change colors. But not a subtle gradation of colors. Instead, a smattering of deep red leaves mixed amongst the greens. A great backdrop for one of my handmade totem poles!

When I got back from my morning ride, the sun was just starting to hit the garden. So I took a short breather to enjoy the Spring flowers popping up… as well as my stamped totem pole!

My friends Pam & Pat are once again vacationing in Hawaii, as they do every year,
and went to the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center. While they were there, they found
a wonderful totem pole on the grounds. Pam posted the photos – and I love them!!!

It reminds me of the totem poles my Summer Camps kids have made over the past
couple years! It looks like they’ve created their totem pole section-by-section as we do!
I especially love the face on the second one from the top… as well as the “handle”
sticking out the side for apparently no reason!!! Too cute…  thanks Pam!!!