After last night’s storms, I rolled out of bed this morning to cloudy skies… and considered crawling back into bed! Instead I hopped on my bike for a beautifully breezy & cloud-covered morning. There were moments of sunrise optimism where I thought “maybe” the sun would pop through and brighten the skies with color. But apparently not… just clouds. Very cool clouds… but clouds nonetheless!

Trimming some perfect spirals with my DiamondCore Tools! Always fun to see how the trimmed ribbons pile up, fly off or trickle down the sides! Even with a “thinned-over-time” trimming tool, this Diamond Core Trimming Tool stays sharp & still does a great job… but I think I might need to replace the blade soon!!!

A quiet start to the day. Simple clouds with a slight breeze. A beautiful day beginning, with rain predicted for later in the day… get out to enjoy the day while you can!

A little stamping… a little trimming… and a few accents of colored flashing slips! One step closer… so far, so good. Looking forward to the “Big Reveal” at ART IN THE GARDEN in mid-September! Mark your calendars for September 9th & 10th in Glenview, Illinois.

Okay, so there “might have been” a bit of streaming & binging this weekend! One of my beginning students recommended “THE TRAITORS” featuring some of my favorite reality TV celebrities! I mean, if you loved Kate Chastain before… you’re going to REALLY love her after her turn on “The Traitors”! Picture a reality game show… part Big Brother living together, part Amazing Race challenges, part Survivor voting people out and part the game CLUE with the whodunit twist. It’s a little “shmarmy” in the best way possible… and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. So much so… that I actually binged the US version… and then the Australian version… and then the UK version!!! So much fun… and I’m already looking forward to when the release Season Two!!!

“The Traitors Australia”…

“The Traitors UK”…

Bright & colorful asiatic lilies… a cheery addition to the garden blooming this morning!

Clear skies finally prevailed. After yesterday’s storms, it was great to wake this morning to dry roads & lightly clouded skies. A bit breezy, but beautiful nonetheless.

Fun little flakes scattered all over my latest sgraffito platter. My DiamondCore Tools make nice crisp carving lines… but this platter is already a little drier than I’m used to, so the flakes are everywhere!!!

Throwing some enclosed forms today in the studio… working on something new!!! Sure, I coulda done one prototype to see if it works… but no, I’m more of an “all in” kinda guy!!! Fingers crossed…. more to come!

After assembling, I dipped the exterior of my “hybrid mugs” in some thin flashing slip. After soda-firing, these colored slips will change colors & accentuate the stamped textures!