Working on some collaboration parts & pieces… textured of course! Working on a few “things” I can share with my pal Cory McCrory as part of our collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN!!! Gotta love a good “teaser” photo…

Hard to believe that August is almost over, and September is right around the corner! Which also means that ART IN THE GARDEN is just over two weeks away! It’s a wonderful grassroots art fair in a charming setting right along a branch of the Chicago River.

Saturday, September 10th – 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday, September 11th – 10:00am-5:00pm

One of the best parts of this show is that several of the artists are working on collaboration projects… working together to combine their mediums & styles. Offering one-of-a-kind pieces you won’t see at any other art fair! I know I’m working on collaborations with at least three different artists!!! Mark your calendar… we’d love to see you!!!

So for now my pumpkins are drying. If you remember back to last year, I kinda “rushed” the drying process and put my pumpkins into the bisque kiln too soon. We had a little “explosion” situation because they weren’t dry yet. Let’s just say, that mistake will NOT happen again this year. I have plenty of time to let these dry this year!

Sweet treat when one of your favorite students stops by your studio with a sweet snack while I was working late last night… I mean, who doesn’t want a chocolate chip s’mores cookie?! Thanks Katie!!!

So while our adorable little Pottery Puppy has been hanging out at our Tuesday night class, we missed him this week… and fear that with the summer session ending he might not be back?! However…

This little cutie has moved in to the condo next to me! So now I get to be the best “Uncle Gary” to this little pup! Officially named Michigan Blue… but going by “Michi”... this little German Shepherd ain’t gonna be little for long! Can’t wait to play with this little guy… especially when he’s hanging out on my back porch!!!

Moments before the rain… another dramatic & moody sunrise along the lakefront. Huge dark clouds covering the sky as the rain blew in. Yet with a sliver of sunrise beauty hovering below the ominous clouds.

And yes, I did get rained on as I was pedaling home… mwah, mwah, mwah…

After adding warts onto my pumpkins, it was time to paint them all with orange flashing slip… as my plan is to fire these in my next soda kiln. The slip might look “plain” now… but in the atmospheric firing, the soda mixture will make the slip change to an orange color. If all goes well…

You know that everyone loves a good stem on their pumpkin when searching through the pumpkin patch. So I’ve added some twisted-viny stems to my pumpkins! Next up, my other favorite thing… some good warts & bumps coming soon!!!

It’s always amazing to me how a few grooved-line indentations & a squished top can make a simple sphere look so much like a pumpkin so quickly!

Tonight in my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class, we finished off the session by sharing some finished vases. They had asked for a class “challenge”… and I gave them a TULIPIERES!!! During the session, several of them tackled building their own tulipiere vases! Clara went for three sections stacked with a mini vase on top! Christine made one piece with a beautiful blue & red glaze. Ashley combined her wheelthrown oval bases with extruded tubes. And I provided the fake tulips… I thought that was the most I could do!!!

So here’s a few more pictures of Clara’s tulipiere…

And here’s a few more picturs of Chritine’s tulipiere…

Plus, a few more shots of Ashley’s tulipiere…

We had a couple more who were tackling the tulipiere challenge… but ran into kiln issues and they weren’t quite done in time for class tonight!