For those of you wondering how Cory McCrory makes such amazing bugs… here are some great “process” shots from her studio! She works with paper clay which helps with keeping the clay “workable” a bit longer. And then it’s a lot of parts & pieces… body parts, wings, antennae, legs & so much more!!! And a lot of scoring & slipping!!!

Be sure to come to ART IN THE GARDEN next weekend to see these amazing bugs in person!!! Saturday, September 6th & Sunday, September 7th in Glenview, Illinois.

Continuing on a theme… a sweet moment after this morning’s rain.
A small butterfly getting a little snack from a shaggy pink flower blossom.

Looks like things are coming together in Cory McCrory’s studio! Every year we do a fun collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN. This year we’re working on ten different pieces… each a one-of-a-kind masterpiece!!! And yet I’m sensing a theme…

ART IN THE GARDEN is just over a week away in Glenview… so we gotta get goin’!!!

Playing with power tools! These boards aren’t gonna finish themselves!!!
Which means I need to keep working on these collaboration projects!!!
We’re a little over a week away from having it all come together… fingers crossed.

Roll, glue, stick, flip, press, repeat. Just adding a bit of wadding to every textured tile for my soda firing this weekend. They might look white now, but they’ve all got some colored flashing slips on them. So if all goes well, they should change to a range of oranges & yellows!!!

Coming soon to a beautiful garden in Glenview!!! One of my favorite art fairs of the year. ART IN THE GARDEN keeps getting bigger & better every year. A smaller, cozy art fair with a group of talented friends showing off their creative wares. Plus, we’re working on some great collaboration projects just for this show! Giving us a chance to work with each other & merge our mediums & techniques together to make fun one-of-a-kind masterpieces!

Saturday, September 6th & Sunday, September 7th
10:00am-5:00pm both days

In my mind, this show was a week later… good thing I checked…
now I’m a little panicked… lots to do still.

And don’t think that I have forgotten about Alaska. How could I?… is was AMAZING!!!

It’s just that I’ve been crazy busy in the studio getting ready for this weekend’s soda kiln… and I have a TON of photos to go through editing & choosing the best of the best. I promise to post more photos soon. I’m thinking maybe a chronological day-by-day “journey” to show my travels, workshop & adventures through Alaska last week.

Another beautiful morning along the lakefront… chilly with low-flying clouds on the horizon. Kind of enjoying the “false Fall” weather this week… but I am NOT ready for Summer to be over!!!

With a bit of a chill in the air, it was a beautiful morning along the lakefront. Nice clouds, dramatic sunrise & fun waves crashing in! And a great chance to work out some of that post-race lactic acid & loosen up my leg muscles. It felt great to get out on my bike… and my legs feel much better now! And I’m just happy we didn’t have these waves crashing in for Sunday’s triathlon swim in the lake!!!

So this happened too… after swimming, biking & running all morning I felt like I “deserved” a little treat on the way home!!! Frozen custard with cherries, raspberries & chunks of cheesecake swirled inside!!! A little sumthin’-sumthin’ to replenish & reward myself!!!