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.

Each year, Lillstreet Art Center brings in a couple people for their Artist In Residence Program.
Tonight I stopped into the metalsmithing room on my way out since I heard people talking
and I heard Sarah Chapman’s voice. While there, the current metalsmithing Resident Artist
was chatting… and Sarah suggested that she show me her latest piece. WHICH IS CRAZY!!!

Apparently, Michelle has a lot time on her hands… which “puzzles” me. But in a good way.
I love crazy, eccentric artists. So she etched the brass and handcut each of the puzzle pieces.
Twenty pieces down one side, by 17 pieces the other way… that’s 340 puzzle pieces to make
her handmade, etched map of the Chicago Transit system. Keep in mind that this entire
puzzle is made out of a single sheet of metal and measures only 6-1/2″ x 8″.

So glad I decided to stop into the Metals Room… otherwise I would have missed out on
seeing Michelle’s latest puzzle masterpiece. Such patience. Such precision.
To see more of Michelle’s work, click on – www.michellesallemi.com

Yikes… and pay no attention to my overly dried out finger tips from a long night
of throwing bowls. Looks like a little lotion is needed… but still, that’s a small puzzle piece!

Over the years, I have frequently mentioned one of my “studio neighbors” at Lillstreet
Karen Patinkin. The two of us are frequently there – we used to play Jeopardy! over the walls
everyday at 3:30pm. Lately, we’ve been overlapping for about an hour… so as I’m coming in
she’s getting ready to leave. A metaphorical “high-five” and it’s the changing of the guard.
But tonight, she stayed a little bit later as she was working on a set of bowls for a commission.
For those that may not have seen her work, Karen makes these incredible porcelain pieces
that have a insane amount of elaborate  glaze decoration. Hours & hours of details.
Beautiful… even though these are still just a “work in progress.”
Imagine how pretty they are after the final glaze firing!

And the original “example” that she’s trying to replicate for her commission clients…

It’s good to know that I’m not the only insane one around the studio these days…

With last night’s surface decoration demonstrations…
including some techniques from my friend & potter Amy Higgason…
I was surprised with the HUGE coincidence of her posting some pictures
of her own work that she had done in her own studio up in Northern
Wisconsin that same day. So while we were “channeling” the carving style
of Amy Higgason, she was actually doing it too! And much better!!!

Here are some photos of the incredible platter she was working on…
See… THIS is how it’s supposed to be done!!! Stunning as always!!!

Check out more of Amy’s incredible work on her website or Facebook.
Search for Amy at Pigeon Road Pottery.

Congratulations to my friend, potter & former Lillstreet student Pam Johnson-Howe
who just had two of her handmade mugs make it onto the “special shelves”
for extraordinary student work as it comes out of the kiln!

Pam used to be a tile maker and never threw on the wheel. After years of tile classes,
Pam finally decided to try a wheelthrowing class at Lillstreet and ended up in my class.
And we’ve been friends every since. It was so much fun to watch her love for clay blossom
every time she touched the clay. And now she’s addicted just like the rest of us. She’s even
moved on to her first Intermediate Class and is going ever deeper into the addiction!

It was especially evident when my friend & potter Amy Higgason stopped by last Fall
to give my beginning wheel students a very special demonstration on her incredible
surface decoration techniques. All of my students, as well as students in other classes,
were enthralled by Amy’s techniques & anecdotes. Pam was completely entranced by Amy
and has since been using a lot of Amy’s techniques on her own work. And it is definitely
paying off… as seen by these two sweet mugs!!!

You know how I like beautiful landscape photography.
And pride myself on a few of my own sunrise biking photos.
But here’s another friend of mine who takes great pictures!
Although I’m still wondering where the color went?

Personally I prefer my nature shots to be vivid color as Mother Nature intended.
But my friend Julie Wight sees the world differently through her camera lens
and creates these stunning, and sometimes haunting, black & white photographs.
I’m entranced by the composition, the contrast, the geometry… basically all of it.

The majority of the work I have seen of Julie’s has been this kind of austere nature shot.
But recently, Julie kicked off her own photography blog to showcase more of her photography.
And this time, it’s not all landscapes. I can’t wait to see where her blogging journeys take her.
Be sure to check out her new blog adventures – http://juliewight.blogspot.com/

Beautiful shapes. Beautiful textures. Beautiful glazes.
Gracefully combined by Kate Biderbost… another Talented Friend of mine!

I’ve know Katie for several years now since our days at the “original” Lillstreet Art
Center. In fact, Katie was one of my instructors early on as I was just getting started
in soda firing. Over the years, Katie has gone away for grad school and now returned
to Lillstreet as a studio member. She continues to teach around Chicago and…
she continues to make great pots!!! In fact, I’ve started quite the collection for myself!
Including a nice collection of Katie’s mugs as they’ve grown & changed over the years!
Her latest style is this beautiful “knit-woven” texture she creates with layers of slip.
Check out her new website and you’ll see her actually working on the detailing!

So now she finally has a website to share with everyone!
After many years of pots… many years of school… many years of teaching…
Katie has finally ventured onto the World Wide Web!!!
Check her out on her new website!!!   www.KateBiderbost.com

After spending an entire “Mud & Metal” day with Sarah yesterday at my place…
selling, chatting, schmoozing, replenishing, drinking grape soda and just plain hanging out…
we also celebrated Christmas with a little gift exchange. Merry Christmas to me!!!

I was excited when I opened my present from Sarah to find a new addition to my
“Chapman-wear Collection”! Another beautiful necklace made just for me! With a beautiful
orange stone that she had picked out just for me. And in typical Sarah Chapman style,
this one is also double-sided so I can wear it either way – silver or bronze!

I hope she liked her gift as much as I like mine?! A pair of stamped & soda-fired mugs
plus a special ornament I purchased during the One-Of-A-Kind Show. The ornament was
made by Brad & Sundie Ruppert of “Vintage Sculpture”. They make these really great
sculptures out of recycled materials – especially bottle caps! And after a little searching,
I found the perfect ornament to celebrate Christmas and our mutual “love & admiration”
for grape soda! And now we have matching ornaments too! Follow the connection?

A couple years ago, I purchased another wonderful piece of art from Brad & Sundie Ruppert.
It’s a wonderful piece made of wood, letter blocks, wire and bottle caps! And a wonderful
motto to live by. I love it… and it makes me smile every day! I was so excited to find them
again this year at One-Of-A-Kind… and to add a little more art to my Christmas tree…
and Sarah’s tree too! Merry Christmas to the both of us!

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

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/