And nobody likes ‘eh’… enough said!

While we’ve had a kinda “crazy” Spring here in Chicago… too early, too warm, too fast…
It’s good to know that there are some Spring “traditions” going on around the world.
Even if our local tulips came & went in March?!!!

The fields of northern Holland explode into a colorful springtime display.
Their dazzling colors are thanks to the years in the 17th century when Tulip-mania
swept the globe and the more eye-catching specimens changed hands for a small fortune.
But, like a rainbow, this colorful rainbow is a short-lived phenomenon. When the flowers
are gone, the land will be cultivated for a rather more mundane crop of vegetables!

Plus, a view of the tulips from a more common eye-level vantage point…

Just eight weeks from today!
The premier pottery event in the Midwest!

20th Annual St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour
Friday, May 11, 2012 – 10:00am-6:00pm
Saturday, May 12, 2012 – 10:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, May 13, 2012 – 10:00am-5:00pm

Mark your calendars and plan a weekend get-away to surround yourself with incredible
pottery at every turn. There are seven studio stops on the tour, with 49 incredible potters
along the way! Each one better than the next. Each one with a distinctive style. Each with
years of experience. Each with incredible pots!!! So hard to narrow it down… so I’ve picked
out the Top Ten Potters that I’m looking forward to seeing. Some are perennial favorites,
some are friends, and others are new… and may just “need” to join my collection?!

Bob Briscoe – Always the first stop of my tour! Bob’s studio location is beautiful as it
overlooks a quaint pond & woods. Then, to make it even cooler, he puts up several large
white tents and fills them with a LOT of incredible pots and potters! Bob makes these
incredibly funtional; pots with great glazes & textures. Nothing too fancy. Just a great pot.
In fact, I have a set of bowls that Bob made that are perfect for my Thai food addiction!

Matt Metz – One of the favorites on my tour. Luckily, he’s one of the guest potters
at Bob Briscoe’s studio. So when I start my day at Bob’s, I can “have my pick” of all Matt’s
treasures before they get snatched up. I’ve acquired quite a collection of his work…
including this platter which I got last year!

Simon Levin – Guest potter at Guillermo’s place, Simon gets these incredible flashing effects.
Generally I’m not a huge fan of wood-fired pottery. But Simon Levin is the exception!

Steven Hill – I’ve known Steven for several years now, and enjoy seeing him whenever I get
the chance. His glazing effects are stunning. With glazes running, dripping, crystalizing and
working it out all over every pot! Over the past few years, Steven has switched from cone 10
reduction firing to cone 6 oxidation… all the while keeping the integrity of his glazing
techniques. Can’t wait to see him up in Minneapolis. To laugh with him & see his new pots!
Maybe he’ll finally have some dinnerware ready for me?! Yep… I’m waiting Steven…

Delores Fortuna – I’ve know Delores now for several years, but definitely getting to
know her better over the past couple. Delores is an occasional teacher at Lillstreet Art
Center so I get to see her when she comes around. Unfortunately, her class is typically
on Tuesday night… which is the same night as my class! So I can never take her class?!!!

Ellen Shankin – Beautiful forms with sweet glaze combinations. When I first started taking
pottery classes, Ellen had some pots in the Lillstreet Gallery. Even back then, I was still drawn
to her pots. Now that I have more experience & clay knowledge… I still appreciate her work.

Silvie Granatelli – Textures, patterns & colorful glazes that accentuate the details.
If you want to get some of her work, you need to get to the Tour early… her “good stuff”
gets snatched up quickly!

Mary Barringer – Somehow, I have yet to get a Mary Barringer piece?!
How has that happened? I love her subtle textures, and minimal pop of color.

Suze Lindsay – Whimsical illustrations, forms and designs… and soda fired to boot!
I appreciate her simple brush techniques – how deliberate her work is, and yet still very
spontaneous looking. Suze’s style is one of those I “appreciate” but know that I would never
be able to duplicate! I think I’m just a bit too tightly wound… some say anal-retentive!

Josh DeWeese – I first met Josh DeWeese at the old Lillstreet Art Center. He stopped by
several years ago for a weekend workshop. I was still pretty young in my ceramics career.
So it will be interesting to see his work again now that I know more, and appreciate more!

Well, that’s just ten of the 49 incredible potters that will be part of the annual tour!
Of course, there are always a couple surprises along the way. New potters to the tour
who catch your fancy. Or artists who may have new work that catches your eye. Of course,
there a few “missing” from the tour that I was looking forward to seeing. What happened to
Ryan Greenheck & Laurie Shaman?! I got my first Ryan Greenheck pieces last year and
LOVE ‘EM!!! I was definitely looking forward to more of Ryan’s “perfectly” glazed pieces!!!
What the heck?… no Greenheck?!

Mark your calendar and make plans to see a lot of beautiful pottery. Start saving your money
because you’re going to need it… unless you have more restraint than I do! Even if you’re not
planning on purchasing any pots, it’s still a great adventure. So many beautiful things. That
region of Minnesota is beautiful. And the artists are all there and willing to chat. Last year,
we had a great conversation with Bob Briscoe & Suze Lindsay. Hope to talk with them
again this year!

Check their website for complete details, dates, maps & artist information…
www.minnesotapotters.com

Today is Leap Year Day!
Once every four years we get this wonderful FREEBIE kind of day!
Celebrate this bonus day – go out, get excited and make something fun!

This weekend was a two-day workshop with Julia Galloway.
Let me just say, this was my third two-day workshop with Julia Galloway!

Each time I’ve seen her working, I’ve been at a different stage in my own ceramic career. She was also my first workshop ever – just a few sessions into my wheelthrowing classes. My second workshop with Julia was a few years later when I was addicted to clay, but not really sure where to take it from there. This weekend was another experience – now as a working potter with a whole new perspective. And quite possibly, ready to actually “hear” all of the tips she’s so good at putting out there.

First off, her three word artist statement du jour : domesticity, conversation, beauty. And that’s what she makes. Pots that can be used for nourishment, that create a conversation and are inherently beautiful. Sounds like a good plan to me!

We started with Julia doing some quick throwing. In Julia’s studio, she throws for two days on the weekend & then spends rest of the week decorating those pots. In a condensed workshop like this, she had to make pots quickly to have something to work on later.

As the pieces began to set up, she then started to alter the forms by pressing, billowing & squaring the forms. In her mind, she had a plan for each piece. And she explained to us that many of her “plans” are created by a “predicament.” A conflict that needs to be resolved. A hurdle that needs to jumped. A limitation that needs to be pushed. It wasn’t always clear to us where she was going with the demos… but the exploration & discovery was part of the fun. Many “ah-ha” moments as they came together.

Not only are Julia’s pots very gestural & animated, but so is she. Her ability to be informative & approachable at the same time is refreshing. She has so much information to dispense that it could easily be overwhelming. But instead, she instills so much humor & passion into her presentation. She’s one of those people that I find so endearing & engaging… so much so,
that this is my third workshop with her. Sure, her work is incredible. But I could just listen to her talk. Seriously. Give her a topic and let her go. She’s thoughtful, insightful and giving. Always willing to share. But I digress. Enough gushing. Back to the workshop…

An added bonus… she also showed us a few new, groovy handle making techniques. Handles with textures?!… I loved ’em… and watch for me to be “appropriating” them soon!

Day Two… back for a second day of too much information flying our way…
and she’s still making beautiful things. Even more beautiful as things come together!

As her pieces are now leatherhard, she started attaching, stacking, cutting & combining pieces. Creating some of her signature pieces… also making pieces that will accentuate her surface decorations! And all the while, she’s talking. And talking. Sharing stores. Sharing insights. Sharing her path. Again… I could just listen to Julia talk. And I did. I’m impressed by people who can express themselves verbally & eloquently. And yet never condescending or demeaning. Always willing to answer a question. Always willing to share concepts, tips, secrets & opinions. Everything you want in an educator. Everything I want to be as a teacher.

In between the demonstrations, giving the clay some time to stiffen up, Julia took time to share some art history with us. She brought her PowerPoint collection of pottery through history. To give us a basis of understanding, to offer up historical reference on how pottery had evolved and changed along with the world. How surface decoration is as old as pottery itself. It was somewhat amazing to how pottery has remained the same, and yet so
completely different over the centuries. When I was in college, art history was all about painting & sculpture. We never talked pottery. Who knew how much it was all connected?!

Then, as she started decorating her pots, she also explained how ALL surface decoration can be summarized into four categories. And since we had just seen centuries of surface decoration, it was fairly obvious… yet great to have it pointed out clearly. Here they are…
1. dots.     2. lines.     3. floral representation.     4. pictorial imagery

So, starting her own surface decoration, she wanted to show how “easy” it can be… and that sometimes you just need to dive in and do it. No hesitation. Don’t overthink it. So her pitcher slip demo is just that… dots, then lines, then floral, then object imagery.

And then it was on to some of her signature styles in surface decoration.
With a lot of slip painting, slip trailing, incising, wax resist, slip inlay, shaving, layering and more! All the time talking. Talking about styles. Talking about techniques. Talking about how you need to make a lot of pots. How you need to try a lot of different things. Try, try, try again.
How you need to commit to the techniques when you start. Don’t be timid. Don’t be hesitant. All suggestions I give my own class of beginners… don’t be wishy-washy… commit… it’s just clay!

As the workshop began to draw to a close, we had a much larger vocabulary of techniques, as well as a lot of historical reference to draw from. We looked at some of her pots from the gallery – now understanding exactly how they were made, as she explained some of the steps of how she made them.

As we all found out, so much of Julia’s work is about making beautiful things. Beautiful forms & shapes. Beautiful lines & details. Beautiful layers of patterns & shapes. Her quest for beauty is admirable. Her willingness to share is impressive.

With the workshop encapsulated above, I still feel as though I haven’t covered it all. It’s her dynamic personality, her passion for clay, her willingness to share everything, and her eloquent turn-of-phrase that does it for me. It’s impossible to grasp that in a blog.
And I do think that the third time was the charm. I feel at this point in my ceramic career, I was ready to “hear” what Julia had to say. And now confident enough in my own skills to now stat trying more of her techniques. The trick will be making it happen. I can’t wait to
see what happens, and how I can incorporate her tricks into my own styles. I don’t want to make “Julia Galloway Pots.” But I am looking forward to seeing how she influences my work.

Thank you Julia Galloway for another wonderful workshop.
I know that everyone in the room was as enchanted as I was, and learned a lot along the way. Everyone in there has their own path that they’re on, and I’m sure we all got something different and yet equally important out of the two days we spent with you.

For more information on Julia Galloway, check out her website in my “Links” section. As well as the “Link” to Montana Clay which highlights her surrounding ceramic community.

If it were only this easy… and a handful of new crayons
could end the issues of racism & promote equality around the world

A beautiful dream Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thanks for sharing.

Tonight I signed up for my third workshop with Julia Galloway!
If you want to see beautiful pots, extreme detail and exquisite design… this is the
clay workshop to sign-up for. Julia’s coming back to Lillstreet Art Center for another
two-day workshop on February 18th & 19th. And there are only 10 spaces left!

My first workshop with Julia Galloway was several years ago. I had just started pottery
classes, and had finally moved on from my Beginner’s class to Intermediate. I was still
pretty new and didn’t think that I was ready for a workshop with such an established &
renowned ceramic artist. Plus it was more expensive than I was ready to pay. Luckily,
a few of my “more advanced” friends at Lillstreet convinced me to sign up for the workshop.
So I did. Thanks Amy. And within the first 10 minutes of the workshop I was hooked. Not
only is Julia Galloway’s work exquisite, but she’s also extremely eloquent, insightful and so
approachable. In the workshop she demonstrated her construction methods, as well as
her decoration tricks & techniques. I was enamored from the get-go. I could just sit there
and listen to her talk. Her anecdotes. Her insights. Her creative turn-of-phrase.

A few years later, Lillstreet Art Center moved to its current location on Ravenswood.
Julia Galloway was one of the first artists to come there for a Visiting Artist Workshop.
And I was right there ready for another workshop… and to be her workshop assistant!
By then I was a studio monitor, teaching assistant, had moved on to more advanced classes
and totally understood the benefit of taking a workshop from someone of Julia’s caliber…
regardless of the price!

As her workshop assistant, I also had the opportunity to work more closely with Julia.
Including helping her install her solo show in the Lillstreet Gallery. It was great to have some
quality time with her to discuss her work, as she also asked me about mine, as we unpacked
and put out her stunning pieces. Part of her show was this incredible & crazy collection of
tumblers. Each on it’s own shelf. But the crazy part was that when I put them all on the
shelves in the correct sequence, an image appeared across the collection. Like magic. Oh,
but wait there’s more… when you turned all of the tumblers around to show the opposite
side, the same image appeared but only as a black & white line drawing across all of the
tumblers! Luckily, someone just happened to catch me passing the installation one day…
me in my apron, smirking with a bunch of stunning tumblers behind me!

So now she’s coming back to Lillstreet Art Center for another 2-Day Workshop. She’ll be
showing her techniques, sharing her stories and hopefully giving away all of her secrets!
I’m very excited to be going to her workshop once again. My Julia Galloway Trifecta.
Each time that I’ve seen Julia in person, I’ve been at a very different stage in my ceramic
career. The first time I was a beginner, recently engulfed in clay. My second workshop I
was becoming proficient but wasn’t sure where my “path” would take me. This time, I look
forward to seeing her again with my current perspective as a now “professional” potter
working to make a living while playing in the clay!

In fact, I’m so excited and encouraging everyone to sign-up… so much so, that Sam,
my Tuesday night wheelthrowing assistant, has already secured her spot as Julia’s assistant
for the workshop! Hopefully she’ll have a similarly wonderful experience that I did
when I was Julia’s workshop assistant.

Sign up today – click here to register online with Lillstreet Art Center.
As of tonight, there were only ten spaces left for this special workshop!

Okay, so maybe I’ve been watching too much TV lately?!
And yes, let me just say before anyone else does… I WATCH FAR TOO MUCH TV.
But I’m really good at multi-tasking so I can get a lot done at the same time.
Especially with the TV & DVD player I have in my studio!

With that said… I saw this wonderful pile of metal this morning on my bike ride.
It has just “appeared” along the lakefront in a parking lot near Montrose Harbor.
And it seemed odd that this geometric pile of metal would just show up. Out of nowhere?!
Love the geometry. Love the repetition. Love the unexplained presence along the lakefront.
Kinda like an alien invasion. Setting up before their “arrival” to our planet… uh oh…
Yes, I just finished watching both seasons of the alien invasion show “V.” Can you tell?…

I’m also all caught up on the fairy tale based shows”Grimm” and “Once Upon A Time.”
As well as criminal drama “Person Of Interest” from “LOST” creator J.J. Abramms.
Next up, it’s another alien show – “Falling Skies” … and then “American Horror Story.”
It’s been really nice having a little more free time heading into the holidays. Catching up
on a lot of TV viewing while wrapping, packing & prepping for this weekend’s festivities!
My TiVO was getting full with all these shows piling up. It’s been fun watching all of these
series from the start and clearing out my TiVO at the same time.

But while I’m on the topic… I’m also all caught up with “Chuck” and “Hawaii Five-O.”
Both of which I’ve really liked over the years, but am now ready for them to end.
“Chuck” just seems to drag on and on… luckily it’s their last season! As for “Hawaii Five-O”…
I still like the show, but I really hate how they always seem to spoon-feed you every detail.
How each plot “revelation” is handed out like a Hawaiian prescription drug. Someone needs
to tell them that their audience can think and piece together the clues without them
smacking me over the head with them! But I digress…

Making room for MORE TV in the New Year!
More Reality TV… more Housewives… and a new season of “Survivor” starting in February!

For those of you haven’t figured it out yet… this pile of geometric metal pieces will become
a large geometric done to house salt. Yes, the salt that they will scatter all over Lake Shore
Drive throughout the winter to help keep it clear. No dome yet… just a pile of metal.
And I love it. The only thing that would make it better is if it were all rusty!!!