Early morning sunrise from the rooftop of Chicago’s Navy Pier…
well before the racing begins…

The morning sky started out clear, not a cloud in the sky. But then as the sun began to rise, the clouds moved in at just the right time. Such a magical moment when the sky lights up & the clouds turn a vibrant pink… with amazing harbor reflections… and then evolve into glowing white clouds as the sun finally begins to peer over the horizon. A beautiful start to another beautiful day!

During last week’s SURFACE DECORATION class, I was getting ready to do some carving on my marbled demo bowl… when I noticed that my DiamondCore Tools was pretty much matching the bowl!!! Like a bit of camouflage for the carving tool?!

Last week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we celebrated the end of the session with another “trading game”… and I came home with this wonderful plate from Christine. The rim of the plate is textured slip “squiggles” with a variety of stains & glazes at work to make this fantastic result!

It’s great to see some of the purchases from last weekend’s NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. Like this great grouping… it looks like Rhonda did some shopping in Sandwich with Cory, Kenyon, Linda & me! And even better… it looks like she’s already putting them to use!

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!!!