Another art fair… another bouquet of flowers.
Nothing shows off a stamped & soda-fired wall pocket vase better than a bundle of beautiful flowers! A nice mix of colors & textures from the Northern Illinois Pottery Tour!

One of the best parts of a pottery studio tour is seeing all of the tools, kilns, supplies… and maybe just a couple little “mascots” hidden in amongst the rest. Like these little cuties that were hidden in Cory’s studio this weekend during the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR.

What a fun trading game we had last week in my Tuesday night class… category theme of flowerpots with a plant in it! My students rocked it out… and brought their A-game to the trade. I was lucky enough to come home with a cute yellow orchid in a beautiful rutile blue pot!

Last week in my Beginning & Advanced Beginner Wheel class, we celebrated the end of the session with a fun “white elephant trading-stealing-exchanging game”… with a category of handmade flowerpot with a plant inside! I prepped mine the day before… so my variegated ivy would be happy to head-off to its new home!!!

A beautiful bi-colored iris bloom from my garden enjoying some time in a handmade ikebana vase! Homegrown & handmade… the perfect combo!

In Cory’s front yard, she has a little garden “graveyard” of broken pottery… and it’s an “honor” to be included in her graveyard collection! Even if my stamped & soda-fired bowl is only there to prop-up Steven Hill’s cracked platter?! ha…

I thought I would get up & get out on the bike trail before the heatwave hit… but I was wrong. Kind of. It was already “warm” when I got up but it felt great while riding. Except that there were these weird patches of cold foggy areas, followed by warm steamy areas… it kinda felt like I was having hot flashes?! Pretty cool though… and I always like a clouded sunrise where you can see the rain falling down from the clouds well out over the lake.

I “behaved” the whole weekend… until I saw Kenyon’s cups and I just had to have one!!! I think I must have touched them all at least twelve times… narrowing it down slowly… until I finally decided that THIS ONE was the one that “had to” come home with me! Crazy cool design, patterns, glazes & soda-fired effects. Well done Kenyon… and THANK YOU!!! It was great hanging with you guys all weekend in Sandwich!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to Sandwich this weekend for the first in-person NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! It was so much fun seeing everyone celebrating pottery & appreciating handmade wares! Great fun hanging out with some talented potters all weekend as well… Cory, Kenyon, Lindsey, Linda & Nancy (errr… Burt)!

Another huge THANK YOU to my talented friend Cory McCrory for hosting us at her studio location in Sandwich! She made it such a wonderful event for all of her guest artists. So thoughtful, so welcoming, so appreciated! You’re the best Cory!!!

After a fun “weekend of pottery” out in “the country”… it felt great to get back to the City & back on my bike for another kick-off to another week. So nice to have a beautiful sunrise over the lake to start my day again!