Tonight is the Lillstreet Holiday Open House Party from 6:00-10:00pm
to kick-off the holiday shopping season. The studios are all decked out and
stocked up for the eager shoppers! Including mine…

The group of artists who share the spaces in Studio 205 West at Lillstreet Art Center
will be open for holiday shopping every weekend through Christmas! So stop by for our
scheduled hours, or throughout the week if one of the artists happens to be around working.
Saturdays 10:00am-6:00pm and Sundays 10:00am-5:00pm.
Even if I’m not in the studio, any of the other studio artists can help you with your transaction.

You know, I’ve often said…  “I love having talented friends.”

And this weekend is a HUGE art weekend all over Chicago.
Lillstreet Holiday Opening, Cornelia Arts Holiday Show, local bazaars and more!
With the biggest one being the “One Of A Kind Show” at the Merchandise Mart.
I won’t be exhibiting at “One Of A Kind”… but I will be going to help & support my friends!!!

Sarah Chapman – my favorite metalsmith…
I’ve known Sarah for several years and have quite the collection of her pieces!
I love her designs, her textures, her patterns, her mixed metals… I love it all.
Many of you may have met Sarah over the years as we are neighbors every summer
at the Evanston Lakeshore Art Fair. And she’s frequently my guest artist at my second
Holiday Home Show… which coincidentally is Saturday, December 11th with Sarah!
I’ll be helping Sarah throughout the weekend as it is a really long show with long hours!

Rebecca Zemans – fine silver jewelry
Rebecca is a studio member at Lillstreet as well – and she always makes me smile.
Her energy is contagious. Her smile infectious. Her metal work incredible. I even got to
“play with her” two summers ago when we were booth neighbors at the Hinsdale Art Fair.

Brad Pogatetz – fine art photography
Again – incredible photography of rust, organics, contrasts, forgotten industrial spaces…
and did I mention rust?! I met Brad a couple years ago at the Barrington Art Fair and have
been coveting his photography ever since! Especially this picture…

Melissa Banks – Rapt In Maille – chain maille jewelry
Okay… I have quite the wide collection of Melissa’s work as well. Nothing better than
geometric repetition and metal linked together than feels incredible?! Like fabric!
Many times she has been more than willing to “custom fit” a bracelet for me right there
on the spot! My Mom even has a pair of Melissa’s earrings that she wears ALL the time!

Karla Wheeler – jeweler
New kid on the block… so to speak, but making quite a name for herself on Etsy!
In fact, Karla will be part of the Etsy group of artists at “One Of A Kind.” Apparently,
one of her most popular pieces is this “binary code” bracelet cuff. For the techno geeks
out there I guess?! Her other pieces are great too… like the same cuff with pi written
out to the gazillionth digit, or something like that?! She makes “regular” jewelry too!!!
And her Mom share the same birthday with me too! Go figure…

Rebeca Mojica – Blue Buddha Boutique – chain maille
Another chain maille artist – but this one I’ve actually taken chain maille classes from!
Geomtric repetition, turning a lot of something into one really cool new thing! Love it.

So with this many incredible artists at the “One Of A Kind Show” you really should
stop by and do some holiday shopping for yourself!!!… and others too?!
If you do stop by… make sure you say hi for me too!

“One Of A Kind” Chicago… this weekend at the Merchandise Mart
Thursday, December 2nd – 12:00pm-9:00pm
Friday, December 3rd – 11:00am-9:00pm
Saturday, December 4th -10:00am-7:00pm
Sunday, December 5th – 10:00am-5:00pm

Such a simple thought. But such an important message.
My friend & potter Amy Higgason of Pigeon Road Pottery made this quick poster
as a subtle reminder which is so important this holiday season. And I found it somewhat ironic
that it came out just as I was completing another successful Holiday Home Show.

Thanks to Amy – and her talented friends top to bottom & left to right…
Roberta Polfus, Emily Murphy, Gary “me” Jackson, Kathy Furda, Katlyn Koestler,
Amy Higgason, Wendy Powalisz and Debra Ketchum Jircik.

And special thanks to Amy for including my handmade holiday ornaments!
They were big sellers this weekend… only a few left!

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

My friend & fellow Lillstreet Summer Camp teacher Karen Mansfield is currently hiking
the entire Appalachian Trail all by herself.  It’s the adventure of a lifetime and I’m sure
she must be having a blast! And I’m quite envious of her adventure… some day…

Today I received a postcard from Karen and thought I’d share. She started hiking the AT
way back in June when she set off from Maine headed south. At the time of this postcard
she was close to the border of Connecticut & New York. Karen is a big naturalist, bird watcher
and artist – all of which are coming together in this journey. I can’t wait for her to get back
and hear her stories, see her journal and share her experiences when she gets back.
Especially if this postcard is a hint of what she’s been up to…

Karen is still hiking and moving her way further south. She is occasionally posting to a blog
with the help of her daughter Madeline. If you want to read any of her stories, check out:
http://birdyat.livejournal.com/

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

It’s Halloween and there’s no trick-or-treating for me!
Everyone thinks that being an “artist” is so glamorous, but so many people
have no idea of all the “other” things we have to do besides making art!

I spent much of today doing busy work at home.
Designing & ordering a new postcard for my Holiday Home Show…
Updating a bunch of mail list changes & additions…
Adding e-mail addresses I collected during “Art In The Barn.”
A lot of busy work… and I still haven’t touched clay today!?
It’s amazing how much work goes in to being a self-supporting artist.
When I started off, I assumed I would be playing clay all the time.
Who knew there was so much busy work?

What would Halloween be without some good, old-fashioned pumpkin carving?!

Artist Ray Villafane began carving pumpkins on a lark for his art students in a small,
rural school district in Michigan. The hobby changed his life as he gained a viral
following online and unlocked his genuine love of sculpting. Here are a few of his
eerie pumpkin creations from the past five years!

Villafane has made a name for himself with the pumpkin carving even though he is
allergic to pumpkins. “If I’m carving too many or too long, my skin gets really itchy,”
Vilafane said. “If pumpkin juice gets anywhere near my eyes, my eyes itch.”

Villafane created a pumpkin-carving tutorial and posted it on his website,
VillafaneStudios.com. In it, he recommends carving with the following tools:
a large clay ribbon loop, a medium clay ribbon loop, a mini clay ribbon loop,
an X-acto knife and a paring knife. Who knew that my old clay ribbon loop tools
could be so useful in the pumpkin carving realm?! A great chance to re-purpose them!

And speaking of talented friends… here’s another one! Metalsmith Amy Taylor!
She makes great jewelry. She makes me laugh. She also made me this…

In the past, she’s made me two pendants using slices of vintage bowling ball instead
instead of a semi-precious stone! Anyone can use a stone… but a bowling ball, c’mon!
And this time, she’s outdone herself!

All of Amy’s jewelry is based on a creative use of a hinge! So all of her work pivots,
turns & twists. And as an eternal necklace fidgeter, this one is perfect of me!
Flip it, twist it, spin it. Either way you look at it – it’s groovy on both sides!
But what is it you may ask?… and don’t even guess a stone!

The “stone” center of the pendant is a piece of paint slag. Apparently, when they closed
the Ford automobile plant, someone was ingenious enough to chip some of the paint
off the floor. Picture years & years of auto paint, layers & layers… chipped off the floor!
When the chunks were cut down and smoothed into cabochons, the layers of paint
are revealed to show off these groovy patterns of colors. Different on both sides!
So a quick flip of the hinged pendant shows off both sides of the paint slag cabochon!
Brilliant… I told you so! Check out more groovy stuff at www.AmyTaylorJewelry.com

She also made a smaller necklace for my Mom, but she hasn’t seen it yet. Soon…
I’m sure she’s going to love it.

I’ve said it many times…  ” I love having talented friends.”
So much creativity. So much exuberance. So much talent. And always willing to share!
Martin Chadwick has been featured here before… but look what he’s been up to now!
A large scale pastel drawins on the city streets of Raleigh, North Carolina!

I met Martin & his wife Christi when they took my beginning pottery class at Lillstreet.
While Christi had a session’s head-start, Martin quick caught up and was quite proficient.
It wasn’t until later that I found out that he was an architectural model builder and an
incredible painter. They have since moved to Raleigh, North Carolina… where Martin
is becoming quote the local celebrity!… at least in the art circles! And look how he’s made
his mark on the city streets of Raleigh. Check out his work at www.ChadwicksWorld.com

Too bad it’s just chalk… and it’s got rain at some point, right?!
And pay no attention to the typo in his website address in the picture above…

Tonight was a special night for my Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
class at Lillstreet Art Center. My friend Amy Higgason from the Northwoods was
passing through Chicago and stopped by for a fun evening of dinner, conversation…
and a wonderful demonstration of her fantastic decoration techniques for my class!

Amy was once a Lillstreet Studio Artist back at the original location. She has since
moved on to the Wisconsin Northwoods – and set herself up as Pigeon Road Pottery.
I was up there a couple weeks ago for her Fall Art Tour – and it was great to have her
stop by my class! What a great opportunity for them to see another great potter at work
and sharing all of her surface decoration “secrets.”

After some brief introductions, Amy started to work on a couple simple bowls
that I had thrown on Sunday. I made five different bowls for Amy and I to work on.
The demonstration for my students was to see Amy’s work & techniques… but also
to see how a little surface decoration can dramatically alter the look of a pot.
And how five very similar bowls can end up completely different with her techniques,
my techniques… or our combined efforts! Amy then proceeded to start carve, chat and
discuss her path as a ceramic artist. Amy and I have similar backgrounds – both as
graphic designers who have shunned the corporate life. She worked on decorating her
bowls as she answered questions and demonstrated different techniques… and laughed!

The evening went by very fast. By the end of the evening, Amy had carved three
different bowls… and I had stamped one bowl in my newer “puffy stamps” style… as well
as one bowl that we worked together on as a collaboration piece! During her time, I also
worked with my students on their own throwing, and demonstrated how to throw a plate.

By the end of the evening, we had completed five dramatically different bowls. All of which
were very much the same at the start of the evening. I have a few small finishing touches
to do on them tomorrow before they can all start drying. I think my students enjoyed
our “surprise” special guest artist. Plus, I think Karen Avery’s Intermediate Wheelthrowing
Class enjoyed it too… as they came in and joined the Amy party! And special thanks to one of
my former students Chuck (and his wife) who brought in a tray of the best homemade
chocolate chip cookies ever!!!… and they were still warm! – Chuck, you rock!!!

I know that one of my students, Pam, enjoyed the night with Amy. They met
just a couple weeks ago during the Northwoods Tour – and Pam has become one of
Amy’s greatest fans VERY quickly!!!… and has already started her own
Pigeon Road Pottery Collection!

Big surprise for my Tuesday night Wheelthrowing class… shh, don’t tell anyone…
but my good friend & fantastic potter Amy Higgason will be stopping by
for a “surprise” visit this coming Tuesday to show off some of her incredible
surface decoration techniques. We may even get the chance to do some tag-team
demos to show off why her work has been referred to as “more feathery” and my
work as “more footprinty.” She’ll be passing through Chicago on Tuesday, and I
persuaded her to stick around for an evening with my beginners!

If you want to see more of Amy’s work, scroll back a few posts to see more about
my trip up to the Wisconsin Northwoods. Amy is THAT incredible potter!!!
My class is so lucky to see her demo… and they don’t even know it yet!