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!

Beautiful flowers in her new soda-fired vases! Looks like Rhonda is enjoying the vases she got out of the kiln from our LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. Such a beautiful combination of colorful flowers, wonderful textures & earthy soda-fired finishes. So glad you came to my workshop Rhonda… I hope you had a good time!!!

Okay, so this may have been my favorite pot from the entire LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP… because it comes with a great story!

So back in 2017, Carmina was in my beginning wheelthrowing class. But for one of our classes we focused on handbuilding. San Francisco potter Kate Chenok had contacted me as one of my Facebook Fans saying that she was coming to Chicago and asked if she could stop by for a visit… and I said yes, of course… but then I encouraged her to do a class demo while she was here. She was so gracious and did an AMAZING demo for my class. She brought her templates and showed my class how to make these cute textured-slab-darted cups. So the story is… that Carmina made this cup back in 2017… and has been wondering how to glaze it ever since?! Until this workshop…so SIX YEARS LATER it is finally done!!!

Good save Carmina… I’m glad you waited.

To see more about Kate’s visit and the demos she did for my class… click here… http://firewhenreadypottery.com/2017/06/class-demo-by-a-visiting-artist-kate-chenok/

And then be sure to click here to see more of Kate Chenok’s work… https://www.glazedoverceramicsorinda.com/

So when I said there were some “treasures” from the LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP… I should have mentioned some of the TINY treasures too! Lillstreet has been offering some classes now using the miniature wheel making miniature pots. Lillie has been teaching them how to make tiny pots with tiny handles & tiny details. Well, Ruth took the class and decided to soda-fire some of her tiny pieces! And they might just be the CUTEST soda-fired pots EVER!!! Well done Ruth!

I mean… c’mon… could they BE any cuter?!

So here they are… after a very long wait… the pottery “treasures” that came out of the soda kiln Monday night during my LILLSTREET 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. As with every soda firing, there area few hits, a few misses… and some crunchy chunks of kiln wash or brick flakes that “ruin” a few pots! There’s always a certain amount of loss during a soda kiln firing. But the soda-fired beauty of the rest of the pots makes it all worthwhile! And I think my workshop students were thrilled with their results as well.

Before my students could enjoy their newly soda-fired pots… they had to do some kiln maintenance! Always a hassle after a long firing weekend, but a necessity that I made sure my LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP folks got to “enjoy” as part of experiencing the “full” soda-firing process! Scraping kiln shelves, re-applying kiln wash on both sides of every shelf & cleaning the kiln room. After they put in the manual labor… we finally got to go back to caress, fondle & appreciate their new soda-fired treasures!

Okay, I’ve said for years that I “only know enough metalsmithing to be dangerous.” Even with that in mind… I can’t comprehend how ANY of this is coming together?! Darlys Ewoldt makes these crazy-cool metal sculptures all fabricated by hand. Looks like this one will be making its way to “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” this weekend… after this patina process is done giving it beautiful color & surface finishes. Can’t wait to see it this weekend in Evanston!!!

Okay, so the “sugar cubes” are gone… and I’m still intrigued by Robin’s progess on her collaboration pieces for “4×4”. Looks I might need to wait until next weekend along with everyone else to see how this all comes together. I have a few ideas… only because I’ve been working on my own pieces with the same theme. But my pieces don’t look anything like this?! …ha!!!

Looks like Robin Kittleson is still working on her fused glass pieces for “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS.” I know it’s part of the collaboration project we’re all working on… but I’m not quite sure what’s going on here?… looks like sugar cubes to me?!

In case I haven’t mentioned it lately… ha!… this coming weekend is our “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” gallery pop-up exhibition & sale in Evanston! I will be hanging around with three of My Talented Friends… metalsmith Sarah Chapman, metal sculptor Darlys Ewoldt & glass artist Robin Kittleson. We’ve all been working on some new work for this show… including a special collaborative piece that should be something to see when it all comes together!

4×4 : FOUR MAKERS
Space 900 Gallery – 816 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60202

Friday, March 3rd – 2:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday, March 4th – 10:00am-8:30pm
Sunday, March 5th – 12:00pm-4:00pm