Once again, bigger skyshows require bigger photos! Gorgeous!!!

Clouded start… clouded finish. We started with a good amount of clouds on the horizon. I had good expectations for a colorful sunrise. But then the clouds seemed to dissipate & disappear during the middle of my ride. But then… kinda out of nowhere… a very dramatic cloud system moved in. Creating some amazing lights & shadows… crazy cool contrasts in color & shadow. A wonderful way to end today’s bike ride!

A perfect day with an ideal “window of opportunity”… so I skipped out of the studio for the afternoon. A little playing hooky in my kayak again up at the Skokie Lagoons. The sun was out, the skies were blue… and I had the whole place practically to myself. I saw a lot of waterfowl, turtles and only four other kayakers all afternoon!! So many great blue herons that I lost track! The perfect “escape” from the studio. Carpe diem, grab it while you can… and all that jazz!!!

Doing a little stamping this morning… one impression at a time! Press, squeeze, repeat.
The textured pattern was made all with that one handmade clay stamp!

Sometimes well-used pottery needs to start the day with an early morning “bath” in the sink!!!
Thanks Jody for sharing this “Pittsburgh pottery bath!”

Everyone knows picking a good pumpkin requires a good stem!
And I’ve just added a few twisted ones…

Got the shape… now onto stems!!!

Looks like Sarah’s purple hyacinth bean vine is almost ready to start blooming up in Minneapolis…. yes, I shared some seeds to spread the happiness! I love how the vine is “framing” her birdhouse so perfectly. Stamped & soda-fired for their fine-feathered friends. And the cutest pup Roscoe to “guard” their backyard too!

It’s that time of the summer… when my purple hyacinth bean vines start blooming! So easy to grow, so easy to collect seeds for next year! You get treated with nice green leaves, purple flowers floating off graceful stems…. followed by shiny aubergine seed pods. Such a fun plant… so easy to care for… grows so fast. Makes me smile every day!