Jolly St. Nick & his reindeer are on their way!
All masked up for a socially-distant Christmas… be sure you’re staying safe & healthy too! We don’t want any unexpected “health issues” under the tree this year! Wrap your presents with gift wrap, but wrap your face with a mask!!!

Tonight’s the night… and Santa Claus is comin’ to town!!! So why not celebrate with some sweet treats and a little Christmas Caroling?! Feel free to sing-along… ahhh, remember road-trips back when you could still drive in the car with friends???

Not to ruin the surprise… but Santa’s coming tonight. And I’m pretty sure I know what’s going to be in his big red bag for many of you!!!

So I ran out quick to the studio this afternoon, and on my way back I “just happened” to pass LICKITY SPLIT near my house! I noticed they were open this afternoon, but closed tomorrow!

Knowing that I will be “celebrating” the holidays at home alone… I splurged and bought myself a little treat for tomorrow! We’re drawing near the end of “Flavor of the Month” eggnog frozen custard… which is needed for my all-time favorite Eggnog Snap!!! Eggnog custard, caramel sauce & gingersnap cookies blended together!

Okay, panic set in… and I “may have” bought more than one…
allegedly... I mean, it’s going to be a long Winter’s night, right?!

Doing a little holiday baking today… just finished a batch of double-chocolate brownies to share at all of my festive holiday get-togethers!

Oh wait… there are none as we’re abiding by “the rules” and staying safe & socially-distanced. Guess I need to eat all of these by myself?… oh shucks!!!

Hard to believe it’s already Christmas Eve?!
It seems like just yesterday that I hung my advent calendar and started adding an ornament each day. And it seems like just a month or two ago that the big quarantine shutdown happened… where did this year go?!!! Sheesh!!!

And expected to get even windier as the day goes on!!! Let’s just say, my morning ride towards the City was tough!!! Some cool clouds & crashing waves… and then the ride back home was AMAZING with an incredible tail-wind!!!

I’ve been working on these pieces for awhile.
And it finally feels GREAT to call them done!

I received a request from a local Chicago customer for a special order last Summer during the shutdown. He owns & runs THE ECCENTRIC CAFE in Kalamazoo, Michigan… a part of Bell’s Brewery. Apparently, the bar has a lot of “visual intrigue”… wonderful collections & things to look at all over the place. In fact, it’s one of the only brewery pubs with NO TELEVISIONS!!!

So the request was that I would make a large “tankard” or stein for his newest collection. I LOVE making mugs… so I was definitely intrigued to tackle them on a much larger scale! He said he was “collecting them” from a few of his favorite potters around the country. So I was HONORED to be chosen to be part of his collection of favorites!!!

The request was that I can make any style, shape or form tankard “in my style”… and they had to hold more than 64-ounces! Knowing that I was going to be soda-firing them, I decided to make a couple extra just in case something goes wrong during the firing… a drip from the ceiling, a splotch of errant soda, or any other random issue that comes up while soda-firing. So here are the three finished pieces seen from both sides. Totally pleased with the finished results… and NO random soda mishaps!!!

Tankard #1 –

Tankard #2 –

Tankard #3 –

As I was making them, I was continually concerned that they wouldn’t be large enough… a minimum of 64-ounces. You know how clay shrinks when it dries… again when it gets bisque fired… and yet again when soda-fired. So I threw them fairly large with the shrinkage in mind… but after each step in the process they kept getting smaller and I kept getting more & more concerned!!! Turns out I was all good… BY FAR!!!… as each of them finished out with a volume of nearly 96-ounces each!!!

When I sent photos of them finished to Larry to choose which one he wanted… I was blown away when he said he loved them and wanted ALL THREE!!! Blown away!!! I was so excited that he loved them so much.

Last night I dropped them off … so nice to complete the commission and pass them off to the client. They will now be on their way to THE ECCENTRIC CAFE in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I can’t wait to see photos of them in “the collection” when they all come together. I know a few of the other potters involved… and it’s sure to be a pretty sweet collection! And then when “things” settle down a bit this summer, I may just need to do a roadtrip to Kalamazoo to see the pottery collection in person!

Apparently the Christmas Carol is correct…
Santa Claus IS indeed coming to town!!!
As I found this little festive cutie in the hallway by the Kid’s Classroom at Lillstreet Art Center!