Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, I challenged my students to several fun glazing tasks. No one “really” likes glazing… so my goal was to make it more fun by trying new things on cylinders that I made ahead of time for them! So they wouldn’t be “sacrificing “ their own pieces… giving them no emotional attachment to the piece… allowing them to have some fun while glazing! Can’t wait to see their results!!!! More to come …

Good to see that last night’s storm didn’t blow away all of the flowers!!!
So nice to see this hydrangea bush starting to bloom this morning!

So tonight some crazy cool storms came blowing through town while I was teaching. It wasn’t until we heard large hail… that we “may” have decided to run up to the rooftop to see what was going on. Unfortunately, we missed the hail-fun by just a couple minutes. But we did see the end of the storm, the blue skies following & the dark clouds still pounding Downtown… sorry Beyonce’. Guess your concert got a little delayed & a little wet?!

A little early morning trimming! I’m trying to speed-up the drying process a bit. So they’re drying upside-down on elevated plastic grids. Better air circulation on all sides this way.

Tonight in class with my Advanced Beginners, I challenged them to make a single placesetting in one class. Dinner plate. Salad plate. Cereal bowl. Serving bowl. Tumbler. And not just throw them, but also think about how they can “throw with intention” to make their set “go together” visually. Several of them embraced the challenge… while we still have surface decoration, trimming, finishing & glazing to go. But I think my demo is off to a good start!

Last night in class, one of my students returned from a trip Ireland… with yummy souvenirs in tow!!! Even better when I referred to them with my terrible leprechaun impression!

Thanks Tessa… and welcome home!!!

Some crazy-cool fog rolling through the City today… just kinda hangin’ out low through the buildings. Generally there’s a really great view of the skyline from out on Navy Pier… but not today!!! Just a couple brief glimpses of the blue tower designed by Jeanne Gang.

A little early morning throwing. Just a few quick cylinders with a plan in mind.
Another 10×10 challenge… more than ten pieces thrown before 10:00am!!!

At the other end of the day… a strikingly beautiful sunset while I was teaching class tonight. So amazing… that we ran upstairs to take in the view from the Lillstreet rooftop!!!

Another rooftop view… with darker clouds giving a little more sunset drama!

Another sunrise… another morning along the lakefront.
Always the best way to start the day!