Along my ride yesterday through the Skokie Northshore Channel Park, I passed this statue to Gandhi… with some very thoughtful, caring & appropriate messages especially during these trying times.

Just a reminder… as seen this morning on one of the boulders along the lakefront near Northwestern University. Stay safe, stay healthy… but don’t give up on the adventures!

Now if only we had a little more snow…
I could totally get outside to make one of these “tasty” snow sculptures! HA!!!
Thanks to Snow Art Zone for the inspiration!

After last week’s POTTERY THROWDOWN class where they decorated tiles and a cylinder using that one tool… their “homework” was to throw another cylinder at least 9-inches tall… and then decorate that new one with that same one tool. Looking to see how the design transformed from the two-dimensional tile, to a smaller cylinder… and then even larger where there was even more “canvas” to decorate. This time, they had to use THAT ONE TOOL as their primary decorating tool, but they could also embellish with other surface decoration techniques as well.

Unfortunately… Teresa, Jon & Patti missed the class the week before…
so they didn’t have a tile or a cylinder to work from.
All they had was their homework assignment… and ONE TOOL.

Teresa

Jon

Patti

And now back to the original challenge… with tiles, cylinders and their new vases!

Susan

Jacob

Taylor

Tatiana

Claire

Dave

Molly

And now our TOP TWO WINNERS…

Ryan who carved out all of the areas with the dull metal part that was inside his tool.. and then applied each cut-out to the vase to make it even more dimensional.

Donna who started with a simple heart design on her nine tiles, then extrapolated one tile of the heart into the five dots and one hexagon for the cylinder… and then came back and combined them all back together for her heart-themed vase… still with the dots and hexagons!

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“Don’t lose your old self”…
thin 2D wire sculpture flying high from a power line on Damen & North in Bucktown.

So much better than the sadly more typical pair of hanging shoes!

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Great patterns & reliefs on pressed ceiling tiles in the theater lobby at Drury Lane. Might need to make some new stamps now???

While she may be gone, she’ll never be forgotten
as we celebrate what would have been her 90th birthday today.
Simple words to inspire your life. Words to live by. Truer words were never spoken.

Thanks to www.goalcast.com for this inspiring list of Maya Angelou quotes…
which I’ve added to and edited a bit along the way.
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Starting of course with my favorite!!!

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes
it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart,
I usually make the right decision.

We need much less than we think we need.

If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?

Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.
We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.

Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take
but by the moments that take your breath away.

Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.

There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands;
you need to be able to throw something back.

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

We are only as blind as we want to be.

I got my own back.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody.
And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.

Determine to live life with flair and laughter.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life.
And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.

Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it,
you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.

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So now that they have their mugs assembled, it’s time for my Pottery Throwdown students to embellish them. So last night towards the end of class, the next challenge was revealed. They now need to take their four matching mugs and decorate them to represent, signify, resemble, interpret or otherwise show some influence by The Four Seasons. They have until class next Thursday to “finish them up” and bring them to class as they’re drying to greenware!

It’s completely up to them how they approach the project…
stylized & graphic?… sculptural?… illustrative?… carved?… stamped?… sgraffito?… painted?…
or otherwise “naturally” inspired!!!

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It’s Day Two of Wheelthrowing Camp… with a quick chocolate treat after camp.
You know, those yummy Dove Dark Chocolate “Promises” with a little message inside
on the foil wrapper?… well, here’s today’s message… yep, got that covered!!!