Now that the holidays have passed, this week is a perfect chance to catch up
with some of “My Talented Friends” to share stories, break bread and trade goodies!

Today I had lunch with two of my “ART DETOUR” cohorts… my friend & metalsmith
Sarah Chapman and potter-from-the-Northwoods Amy Higgason! We chatted and
shared some of our Christmas stories. As well as talking about some of our plans for
the upcoming year. With art fair application season right around the corner, it’s time
for all of us to consider where we want to be in the coming months! We had a nice lunch
at a local Thai restaurant – Amy’s choice as she doesn’t have Thai food in the Northwoods!
Along the way, there were also a few gifts shared, a few more trinkets purchased,
and we all left with more “goodies” than we came with!

Amy and I are both proud owners of some new “Chapman-wear”… me with a new
silver link bracelet and Amy with an incredible new ring. Custom-made by Sarah just for us!!!

I also added to my already expansive Christmas ornament collection…
adding two more Amy Higgason ornaments to the mix. Already on my tree…

Have I mentioned lately how much I love having “talented friends”???

Well, Christmas has come and gone…
after months of planning, decorating, shopping & wrapping.
And now it’s time to enjoy some of the gifts you’ve received from friends & family.
And for me, it was a “picture-perfect” present pairing.

First off, I received a beautiful photograph from a photographer friend of mine.
I’ve been “coveting” this photograph for a few years after meeting Brad Pogatetz
as my “Art In The Barn” booth neighbor. I’ve himmed & hawed for years…
and finally, tired of me putting it off I’m sure, my parents purchased a print of it for me
at the “One Of A Kind Show.” Of course, I had no idea. Brad didn’t tell me. Even Sarah,
who was totally in on it, didn’t tell me! Regardless, I love it. Now I just need to get it
framed and find a place to hang it!

I love Brad’s work. It’s an intriguing combination of architecture, history, urbanization,
ruin, vegetation, nature’s reclaiming power, and my favorite… rusty metal.
Check out more of his work on his website, click here – Brad Pogatetz Photography.

Also… as if that weren’t enough…
my parents also gave me a brand-spankin’-new Canon PowerShot camera!
Much like the one I’ve been using for years. Hundreds of sunrises later, a couple bad falls
and few pieces of tape holding it together… I guess it was time for a new camera?!
I’m very excited to start out the New Year with a new camera.
So I can continue my quest for the perfect sunrise!

Well, for one weekend anyway.
Incredible glass artist Amy Lemaire returned to her Lillstreet roots for a Trunk Show,
workshop and slide presentation today. Amy used to have her studio at Lillstreet and taught
glass bead making classes. In fact, I took my one-and-only glass bead making class with Amy
as my teacher. Amy left Lillstreet to go to grad school, and now lives in Lousiville. Her work
has always been spectacular… and it was so great to see her newest pieces in the gallery.

Of course, many of her pieces are large, stunning masterpieces that I could never pull off.
But I did get a couple smaller beads that I think I can wear as a single pendant. The first two
were in the gallery show, and the third was a “trade” with Amy after her slide show!

It was great to see Amy again – even if it was just for a very brief visit.
Again… so nice to have “talented friends.”

Last night I stopped by the “Ceramics Showcase” at McGaw YMCA in Evanston.
A couple of “My Talented Friends” were showing there, so I wanted to swing by before
heading back to Lillstreet for our annual Holiday Opening Party. All of the work in the
Showcase was quite nice, but of course, I’m just a little partial to my friends Cory McCrory,
Roberta Polfus & Delores Fortuna! So I just “had to” add to my collection…

First a couple new things from Cory. An adorable red hat kid which is actually a jar.
The hat comes off to reveal a bright orange interior! And you know how I love orange!

Speaking of orange… I also got another mug from Cory while I was there. I’ve always been
drawn to her sense of color & whimsy. Plus the textures & patterns ain’t too shabby either!

And then, as if I don’t already have too many ornaments on my Christmas tree, I needed to
get another one from Cory. The white bird will get added tot he tree. The black bird will
take up year-round residence elsewhere! You’ll need to come find it!

And another textured, porcelain vessel by Roberta. Such fine detail and carving! Love it.

And a groovy plate by Delores! Great pattern & design… plus a really cool “lip” or rim
of the late that curls over slightly. To help get all of those peas onto your fork!

It was another busy night of art. This Ceramics Showcase and the Lillstreet Holiday Opening.
Of you have a chance, stop by either one, or both, today or tomorrow!

Ceramics Showcase is at the McGaw YMCA at 1000 Grove Street, Evanston, Illinois
Lillstreet Art Center is at 4401 North Ravenswood (at Montrose), Chicago, Illinois

Here’s a HUGE thank you to all of my loyal friends & customers who stopped by
this weekend at my Holiday Home Show. Whether shopping for everyone on your list,
or just hanging out on my sofa, it was so great to see all of you at my place!
So many friendly faces. So many happy shoppers.

Thank you all for always being there, and being so supportive every time!
I couldn’t continue this adventure without your support & encouragement.

Tonight was the opening of Sarah Chapman’s Trunk Show at Lillstreet Art Center.
Stunning work as always. Click on her name in the LINKS section of my blog to see more
of her metalsmithing work. As always, her work was meticulous & inspired. Such great
design & craftsmanship throighout her collection. However…

The piece that really caught my interest was her new “tile” wall piece!
Squares of textured pieces of metal showcasing several different methods, textures and
finishes. All connected with jump rings so it can hang on the wall like a “tile” tapestry!
Here’s just a small section of the wall hanging. Love it…

And no wonder… it does look somewhat familiar to me.
Kinda like a section of my own textured tiled wall?!

Last night when I got to the studio, they asked me if I had seen my special delivery.
I said no – and assumed it might be my new postcards for the Holiday Home Show!?
He explained that it arrived a couple days ago, and someone was supposed to tell me. Yep,
that worked well. Ha. Then Joe from the front desk said my delivery was in the refrigerator.
Now I’m intrigued. So quickly I went to find out what my surprise delivery was…

Turns out that my college friend Pammy, and fellow first-time-Triathlete, had sent me
a little trick-or-treat surprise. And what a treat it was! I had sent her a couple Halloween
surprises in the mail, and apparently this was her response!

Breakfast of champions… seriously!

I just found out from one of my faithful blog readers that my friend Sarah Chapman
is featured prominently in the new SOFA CHICAGO 2012 catalog.
Apparently, an image of her work is in the full page ad for Lillstreet Art Center on
page 254. Click below and check it out. Her work is incredible, and it’s great that she’s
getting exposure such as this. Well deserved Sarah!!!

SOFA CHICAGO 2012 Exhibition Catalog online – search for page 254

Also, as a quick heads-up… Sarah will also be having a Trunk Show at Lillstreet just in time
to kick-off the holiday shopping season. The show opening will be on Thursday,
November 17th and run through the following week with beauties like these…

Okay, so the s’mores may have gotten the best of us?!
But if you’re going to do something, be sure you do it in a big way!
So Amy came up with the brilliant marketing plan to hype our sugary addiction.
And after a little friendly “name-calling”… we were all S’morons! … with groovy t-shirts!

Amy was truly getting into the spirit of things… and was “bedazzled” with buttons & necklaces
galore! As part of our clandestine marketing campaign, we thought it would be fun for “our”
Art Detour customers to wear ART DETOUR buttons as they went around on the “other” Tour.
We had ART DETOUR buttons, as well as S’MORON buttons for anyone who made a s’more!
Plus, Amy & Wendi had each had buttons printed to promote their own “brand.” And if that
weren’t enough, Amy was also excited to show off her new collection of necklaces made by
Sarah, Wendi and myself (top to bottom).

But a shirt is just a shirt, and a button is just a button.
And with the addition of some hi-octane sugar, you can see where the real fun began!
Caught in mid-air, and Amy’s going to kill me for this, but I LOVED the reaction that came
after I caught her trying to get the first mouthful of her breakfast s’more! Simply adorable!!!

Plus, we couldn’t keep all of the s’moron fun to ourselves, so we also raffled off a t-shirt
for our customers. And there was enough interest by people who wanted their own t-shirt
that Amy actually started taking orders for t-shirt reprints!

So the fun continued this morning… with fun around the fire!
One of the “selling points” of our marketing campaign was gourmet s’mores!
So we’ve been playing with various combinations of yummy ingredients.
Sure, we had the traditional graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate & marshmallows.
But we also had an assortment of cookies, crackers, chocolates, spreads and more.
My personal favorite was gingersnap cookie, Reese’s peanut butter cup & jumbo
marshmallow. We even had vegetarian marshmallows (who knew?) and gluten-free
graham crackers. Plus, Amy’s cousin’s wife spoiled us all with homemade graham
crackers & marshmallows!!! Yes, homemade… again, who knew any one would even
take the time to make marshmallows?! Thank You Kirsten!!!

But then this morning, Amy decided to up the ante… with gourmet breakfast s’mores!
Those of you who know me, know that there is nothing too sweet or too rich for me.
I have the palette of a four year old. I could easily eat the whole bag of jumbo
marshmallows right now! But I digress.

So Amy brought out her “gourmet” ingredients.. and the toaster!
Picture this if you will… in order of the bowl “stacked” s’more…

Toasted Eggo Waffle. Chunky Peanut Butter. Hershey’s Chocolate. Bacon Bits.
Then a toasted JUMBO Marshmallow… toasted to gooey perfection!
Another Toasted Eggo Waffle… with homemade raspberry preserves spread on it.
Squish… and then drizzle with Real Maple Syrup! I know.. sounds like a lot…
but it was great!!!

Here’s Sarah making her s’more… which was a group effort to get the layers ready…
as Sarah toasted her very own vegetarian marshmallows!

And here’s mine… with the “real” jumbo marshmallow squishing out the sides!!!

And then Amy made her’s, complete with some spiced apple compote that Wendi made.
Which too was awfully scrumptious – with a kick of hot pepper!

And as if one weren’t enough… I had to go in for another one. So I went “deconstructed.”
With a layer of crumbled gingersnaps, graham crackers, crunchy peanut butter, chocolate,
toasted marshmallow, spiced apple compote… and some more real maple syrup!
Can you say “sugar high”???… Followed by “sugar coma”???