This week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we had a couple wonderful “guest” artists to do some demos. We started with one of my students in class… Sara with the inlaid slip technique she’s been favoring lately. Basically you carve thin lines into your leatherhard piece. Then “fill” that carved line with some colored slip. When it dries to leatherhard, you trim off the excess, leaving a beautifully thin line of slip… perfectly flush to the surface of your pot! Thank you for the demo… and Happy Belated Birthday Sara… it was yesterday!!!

Clouded reflections over the lake this morning.
Breezy & cool, yet quiet & serene. A beautiful way to start the day!

After the morning rain… well-hydrated hydrangeas in the neighborhood.

Just a few plates with bands of color… ready for some sgraffito fun!!!

Adding a swirl of color! Okay, so I can’t stop myself with just a swirl. So I did cover the entire flared flange area of the plates with a full, smooth layer of colored slip. Some green, some blue, some red & some black! Looking forward to some fun carving & sgraffito!!!

Well, it’s been two weeks since that dead rotten tree came crashing down to smash my car!!! My car has been towed. The tree debris has been cleaned up. But STILL no update from my insurance as to how this will all be resolved?! Not very “progressive” if you ask me… still waiting… and getting a bit impatient!

Another chilly start for an early morning in the studio.
This time tackling small plates for this 10×10 Challenge.
More than ten pieces thrown before 10:00am. Gotta love a productive morning!

Another beautiful flower in the garden this morning. These are always the first irises to bloom in my garden… shorter, smaller & sooner than the rest will be!

More Spring flowers popping up… this time vibrant violets in the garden. Also, a little known fact – the state flower of Illinois… and New Jersey, Rhode Island & Wisconsin!!! Who knew…