After “surviving” a weekend in the park, my booth display flowers found
a new home in an adorable oval vase made by potter Suze Lindsay!

It will be a beautiful Fall weekend in the Wisconsin Northwoods at the peak of Fall color!
There’s a lot of art activity that weekend with Art Tours all around. I’ll be setting up
at Pigeon Road Pottery with a few of My Talented Friends. We’ve got ceramics, metals,
glass beads, paintings and so much more… gourmet s’mores too!

So mark your calendar and start planning a beautiful Fall getaway
to the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods. Plus, you can follow the planning & activities
on Facebook… www.facebook.com/artdetourwisconsin.

Saturday we woke up very early to get Amy to her art fair. She still had some
setting up to do, and I was apparently her designated assistant. Since we had set up
the tent the day before, Saturday started with setting up tables, shelves and putting
out her wonderful pots. Check out her website for more at Pigeon Road Pottery.

Unfortunately, after only a couple hours, a huge storm came through and effectively
closed down the art fair. But as in true Northwoods style, just an hour after we closed
everything down & packed the cars, the sun came back out! But by then, the customers
and most of the artists were gone for the day! So we went to Dari-Maid for ice cream!!!

Back at the cabin, we again relaxed, and spent a little quality time in the hammock!

Unfortunately, before the sunrise could impress us again, the clouds rolled back in
and covered the sky. So it was time for another boat trip around the lake with my friend
Pam at the helm! Then back to more relaxing… and incredible grilled brats for dinner!!!

Looking for beautiful Fall get-away weekend?!
Hoping for perfect Fall colors, crisp cool weather and beautiful art?
And if that’s not enough… can we tempt you with some gourmet s’mores?!

Art Detour is a three-day event in the Northwoods of Wisconsin!
October 7th, 8th & 9th from 10:00am-5:00pm each day.
Hosted at Pigeon Road Pottery in Lake Tomahawk on… you guessed it, Pigeon Road!

It’s a big weekend up in the Northwoods area with lots of tourist activities,
beautiful scenery and a lot of original artwork! So I am currently making new work
and getting excited about my trip up north. Not only to add another show to my schedule
but also to play with these other great artists! I think you should come play with us too!

Amy Higgason : Pigeon Road Pottery
Amy makes incredible pots with a lot of texture (my favorite) and imagery. She’s
currently making two different pottery lines. One with a lot of carving, sprigging &
textures. The other is more brown & black sgraffito imagery. Amy is the host of
Art Detour – so we will all be setting up our tents on her front yard next to her studio.
And not too far from the campfire & s’mores!
For more of Amy’s work, click on Pigeon Road Pottery.

Sarah Chapman : Sarah C. Chapman Jewelry
Sarah’s work is primarily sterling silver that has been oxidized to give it that wonderful
patina. She has an uncanny ability to mix her metalsmithing with semi-precious stones,
seashells, buttons & other objects. Her designs & textures are incredible, frequently
two-sided… and I already have quite a collection of Sarah’s wonderful pieces!!!
There’s a good chance I’ll need to add another piece of Chapman-wear during Art Detour?!
For more of Sarah’s work, click on Sarah C. Chapman Jewelry.

Kathy Furda : Northern Light Glass
Kathy does her own glass flamework & beadmaking. She then combines the pieces into these
incredible collections of colors & textures. Her aesthetic choices & combinations make these
wonderful “treasures” you can wear everyday! She also makes wonderful stained glass
creations with beautiful imagery, colorful combinations with a few unexpected additions.
For more of Kathy’s work… click on Northern Light Glass.

Wendy Powalisz : Back 40 Arts
Wendy captures the spirit of the Northwoods in her visual artwork. Her watercolor
paintings reflect the imagery, textures and colors of her surroundings. Her color palette
is vibrant and unexpected. Wendy also makes colorful beaded jewelry that will put
a smile on your face every time you wear it!

So there’s five of us displaying our work during the Art Detour… Gary Jackson (me),
Amy Higgason, Sarah Chapman, Kathy Furda & Wendy Powalisz.

“Coincidentally”, there will also be a of of “other artists” in the Northwoods area
also showing their work that weekend. “Alledgedly”, there “may” be another art event
going on that weekend?! “Maybe.” There is a very good “chance” you “might” find
some other artist studios to visit while you’re up North for Art Detour. I can’t promise
anything “specifically”… but I’m just saying that we’ll be “just off the beaten map.”

And we’ll have gourmet s’mores.. and THEY won’t!!!

For more information, follow Art Detour on Facebook for regular updates & photos!
www.facebook.com/artdetourwisconsin

Or at least a night under the fast moving, dark grey clouds… with one star!
As it was another fun night at Ravinia Music Festival, this time with k.d. lang
who I still maintain has one of the best voices ever!!! There are times where her voice
is so full, so clear, so resonant that it sends chills through your body. Incredible.

So give her a listen…and a watch with some great video clips of my favorite songs!
Constant Craving – Miss Chatelaine – Barefoot – If I Were You – Constant Craving
again, really??? yep, it’s a favorite!!! Plus, an oldie but a goodie… Big Boned Gal

And a couple great duets…
What  A Wonderful World – with Tony Bennett and subtitled in Spanish?!
Crying – with Roy Orbison

A “murder” of crows has landed in my condo!
Yep, little known fact… a group of crows is called a “murder.” Who knew?

Special thanks to my talented friend Cory McCrory who created this masterpiece.
Such talented fingers and incredible creativity, all coming together in a murder!

While I was at Terra Incognito today, I stopped off in back to visit with one
of the studio artists there. Roberta Polfus. And there she was, tucked away back
in her little corner of the world working away on her little treasures! It’s always so much
fun to see an artist at work in their normal surroundings. Generally everyone sees their
work at an art fair, in a store, or in a gallery somewhere. Never really taking time to think
about where the work is actually being produced. I love Roberta’s space… complete with
a lot of inspirational images, knick-knacks, postcards, tools and a lot of Tupperware!

If you’re lucky enough to run across Roberta at an art fair, take some time to admire
the fine details & glazing effects. There’s a lot of work going into these tiny treasures!
For more about Roberta Polfus and her work, click on her website here.

You know I love textures. And clay. And colors. And whimsy!
Put them all together and you’ve got wonderful work by Cory McCrory!
And today was quite the day for Cory as her gallery show opened at Terra Incognito
in Oak Park, Illinois. It was wonderful to see such a wide collection of her work all
in one place. She’s a wonderful artist… and it was great to play with her today as well.

I met Cory several years ago during the Hinsdale Art Fair. We had booths fairly close
to each other and have been friends ever since. Her sense of whimsy, attention to details,
use of colors & textures… and her never-ending creativity have amazed me for years!

Some of Cory’s newest work includes there incredible wall pieces – complete with twigs,
leaves and playful, life-sized blackbirds! But they’re not all feathered… there were also
love birds, and other fun things perched on branches! All of which are handmade
& sculpted with Cory’s special blend of paper clay. With that, she gets great such great
textures and flexibility while she’s constructing her pieces.

If you can make it out to Oak Park, Cory’s show will be running in the gallery at
Terra Incognito through June 16th, 2011. For more information, click on Terra Incognito.
And if you do, make sure you add a new piece of hers to your collection… I did.

So part of the fun of this weekend is seeing a lot of great pots…
or meeting the artists… being inspired by their talent… their attitude… the pots!
But another great part is being able to buy these great pots by these great potters
and adding them to my already overflowing pottery collection. It’s tough to choose
and limit myself while I’m there. It’s so easy to be swept up in the moment. So easy
to pick up every pot and yearn to take them all home. But I resisted that urge… kinda.

Matthew Metz plate… added to my large Matt Metz collection of mugs, jars & tumblers.

Dinner plates by Jo Severson… because food always tastes better off a real ceramic plate!

An adorable oval vase by Suze Lindsay… love the combination of texture, pattern & design.

A wonderful carved bowl by Ellen Shankin… love the color, and how the glaze pools.

Delores Fortuna finally made it into my “mug collection.”

As did my “new favorite” Ryan Greenheck – whose work is sheer perfection.
Not only is his surface decoration & glazing incredible, but his pieces are so well thrown,
trimmed and he’s paid attention to every detail – even the bottoms!

An I was excited to add Ryan Greenheck to the “mug collection” as well.

Plus… we love supporting potters of all levels… so it’s always a pleasure to stop in a shop
with The Rogue Potters who hang their shingle on the roadside hoping to grab a few shoppers
from the “real tour” to share their wares along the way.

So I added a beautiful, wood-fired shallow bowl by Randal Anderson to my collection…

Breakfast  ———-
After two days of fun, we were undecided on what to do today. Except for
breakfast… where I corrupted Amy with peanut butter & syrup on her waffle!

One Final Pottery Stop ———-
We had original planned on hiking all day. But then felt somehow obligated
to do another pottery stop! So it was back to Bob Briscoe’s for one last time!
And it was great… so much more relaxed than the days before. A slower start
in the morning with fewer people – and a LOT fewer pots on the shelves. In fact,
several of the shelves had disappeared and the remaining work condensed down.

Bob Briscoe & Suze Lindsay ———-
We had a great opportunity to chat with Suze & Bob for almost an hour.
We talked about the tour, how it has changed, all the work involved, as well as
what Amy & I are doing in clay. They’re both familiar with Lillstreet Art Center,
so they know some of the same people. It was refreshing & inspiring to talk with
these two who have so much experience & knowledge to share. And they did.
Thank You Bob. Thank You Suze.

The Interstate State Park  ———-
So we finally got to the hike we had planned on. A little later than expected.
But still exciting to get outside and enjoy the nice weather & beautiful scenery.

The Drive Home ———-
So I guess it only makes sense that at some point I had to face the long drive home.
After our hike, we said our goodbyes and head of fin our own cars. The drive was a lot
easier during the daytime hours… but not so much fun through the construction zones
where it went down to one lane!

By the time I finally got home… I was relieved.
And yet so inspired after a great weekend full of pottery, friends & camaraderie!
Special thanks to Bob Briscoe for spearheading the event and keeping it growing.

Bob: If you ever need a new potter for the Tour… I’m available!