Yesterday was the Spring Open House at Lillstreet Art Center.
As a resident studio artist, we’re kind of “expected” to be there. Which is fine by me
as it’s also a great chance to have people stop by, see me working and hopefully they’ll
become a customer or student down the road. So there I was, working on a few projects…
finishing up my lidded jar class demo piece, and the extra “lid” which is now a small
dipping bowl… and throwing small plates for the new berry bowls.

It’s a long day of greeting people…
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
“Welcome, let me know if you have any questions…”
Repeatedly. Over & over. Until, imagine my surprise, when my parents turn the corner
and I throw them the same stock response… and then realize it’s them! They had read
on the blog that it was the Open House and they decided to come down to visit and
surprise me… and they did! So they hung out, visited a few studios including metalsmith
Rebecca Zemans who they met a coiple years ago as my art fair booth neighbor in Hinsdale!

And then… when the day was over, we decided to go out for dinner. I think it might have been
their plan all along to go to Rose Angeli’s?! I think the “surprise studio visit” may have been a
good “means-to-an-end” for us all to get a great meal?! Which I’m totally fine with as you know
I LOVE Rose Angeli’s!!! And we did have an incredible meal… I had some Chicken Vesuvio
filled ravioli with parmesan cheese & lemon cream sauce concoction YUMMY!!! – and we
shared three desserts!!! Bread pudding with pools of hot caramel sauce, chocolate & peanut
butter ice cream, and a hot chocolate fondue pot! Plus some quality time to get caught up
on  a bunch of stuff. Including all of the craziness going on at Lillstreet these days!

Holiday ornament batch #2 is now assembled, stamped, textured,
slip painted… and drying overnight!

New berry bowls are stamped, trimmed, hole-punched… and drying overnight!

Studio cleaned, organized, floors washed… and drying overnight!

Tomorrow…
The Lillstreet Art Center Spring Open House from 12:00pm-5:00pm.
Everything should be done, clean & dry by then. So stop by, say hello, see a lot
of great art, tour the facilities and participate in some free workshops!
I will be there all day working on some new pieces… Studio 205 West.

The Spring Session of pottery classes will being at Lillstreet Art Center in just two weeks.
I checked in tonight and found out there are only five spaces left in my class. Five!!!
Sign up as soon as you can… no one likes to be on the waiting list!

Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing… with me!
Tuesday evenings from 7:00pm-10:00pm.
10-week session beginning on March 29th, 2011
Register online at www.Lillstreet.com

Tonight was Week #8 of my 10-week Beginning Wheelthrowing class.
And so far, this class has been one of the “sweetest” ones yet!
With three pastry chefs… and plenty of others joining in the fun, we’ve been
having great snacks every week. And tonight was no exception. We had a lot
of topics to cover in class, but everyone was more interested in the treats!

So, Olivia decided to make treats tonight – and they were FANTASTIC!!!
With her adorable Irish accent, Olivia coquettishly wouldn’t tell us what was in them,
other than chocolate, fruit & nuts. It was incredible. And I had to “make sure”
several times! It was a heavenly concoction of fudgey chocolate, pecans,
raisins, sugar, caramel and “some secret stuff.” After taste-testing it repeatedly,
I think the secret ingredient was some sort of cookie. Someone said “digestables”?
Olivia did say that there was no baking involved… which is always good.
And I told her she can bring them again ANY time!!!

Even the pastry chefs were impressed!

Last night in class, in between the sweets, we talked about surface decoration
and how my students can turn their own “plain” pots into very special pots!!!
We talked about trying a bunch of techniques, finding the one they love the
most – and then exploiting i doing as much as they can with it. So during class,
I started each of the demo bowls, but quickly found out there was not going to be
enough time to finish the bowls during class. So I finished them tonight in the
studio. And now they’re drying overnight. Tomorrow I’ll clean them up a bit,
and brush off all of the little burrs & crumbles on the pots!

First I did a quick demo on basic stamping… my favorite which they expected…

And then we talked more about slip and how you can put it on with a more
“painterly” technique. So I put on a layer of white slip, and then did some freehand
swirls with green slip. I hope my students liked it… when I came back to it tonight
I realized that I didn’t like it all that much. So I carved through it tonight.
Still not sure if I like it any better than just the slip?! We’ll see…

Then we moved on to carving, and we discussed the work of my friend Amy Higgason.
She stopped by last session for a class demo, and some of my students were there for
that. Unfortunately, Amy wasn’t in town last night – so I had to do my best to attempt
to carve the pot… in something slightly similar to Amy’s beautiful style. One of Amy’s
“disciples” from her demo last session was there as well… and Pam was excited to show
my class one of her pieces that she was currently carving ala Amy Higgason!!!

The next bowl was carved again.. and then we added sprigs. Another Amy trick!
Amy does this incredible work, and I hope she doesn’t mind that I tried to emulate
her style for the benefit of my class. I know they LOVED seeing the demo again!
Plus, one of my concave stamps worked perfectly as a sprig mold.

One more bowl… what to do?… what to do?…
So the last bowl is surprisingly plain & smooth on the outside… let’s work inside!

So I covered the inside of the bowl I covered with a layer of black slip. And then began
a discussion of sgraffito with my class. I started to carve through, but only did a couple
swipes – before I realized that I needed to focus a bit more on my own… and my students
needed to get back to their own bowl making!!!

Tonight was another class for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class.
And over the past couple weeks, we’ve had quite the sweet treats in class
thanks to my “pastry chef” students. But tonight… a couple “layman” bakers
stepped up for the “sweet treat” challenge… and succeeded!!!

Ted decided to cook for us – and shocked everyone with an odd concoction
of saltine crackers, butter, sugar and chocolate chips! Melted, layered, baked,
then chocolate spread over the base. SURPRISINGLY INCREDIBLE!!!
Sweet & savory… sugar & salt… yummy & more yummy!!!

Then, as if that weren’t enough… one of my former students decided to bring in
some homemade cookies for us. Pam has since moved on from my class and up
to an Intermediate Class. But I think she misses us, and I know we miss her!
So for the past few weeks Pam has been “joining” our class, chatting it up,
and helping teach my class. She’s become a great teacher’s assistant! And an even
better “assistant” when she brings cookies! It was a great mix of oatmeal cookies,
with chocolate chunks, toffee chips and dried cherries! WONDERFUL!!!

I know today was a cold & dreary Winter’s day...
And summer seems a long ways away. But it’s never too soon to start
planning the summer schedule for the kids! Registration is already open
for this summer’s art camps at Lillstreet Art Center! Summer camp begins
on June 6th and goes weekly up to Labor Day. It’s going to be a very busy
summer with camps & art fairs… and a little biking thrown in for fun!

So, here’s my teaching schedule so far. At this point, we only know the dates
of the “theme” camp weeks that we’re slated for. Additionally, I’m sure I will
also be teaching wheelthrowing, multimedia and other fun camps during the
weeks in between the schedule of my “theme camps” below!

June 13th – June 17th – Functional Sculpture For Your Garden
A full week of projects intended to make your garden extra special this summer!
Large ceramic planters, maybe a birdbath or totem pole, and other forms of whimsy!

June 27th – July 1st – Wild Things!
With a field trip to Lincoln Park Zoo on Tuesday, the week will be all about animals!
Lots of clay, drawing, painting… and possibly a lot of gooey plaster fun!!!

July 18th – July 22nd – Chess Camp
One of the coolest camps every summer! In just one week, the kids will create their
own “theme” chess set out of clay, and paint a chess board to match! It’s a lot of work
but also a lot of fun for everyone throughout the week!

August 1st – August 5th – Fire. Forge. Feast.
Can’t decide to play in the clay or work with metal?! In this camp, you get to do both!
We’ll start the week making clay plates, bowls, cups & handles… and then move into
metals making knives, forks, spoons! We wind it all up with a big potluck lunch
on Friday using the dinnerware we’ve made all week!

August 15th – August 19th – Chess Camp… again!
Just as much fun as the first week of Chess Camp!

August 22nd – August 26th – Gallery Artists: Learning From The Masters
Never too son to start the kids on a little Art History, presented in a fun camp!
The kids will learn all about some of the Masters who have passed the test of time.
Along with a field trip to the Chicago Art Institute, the kids will do art projects all week
“in the style” of famous artists! Ending with a gallery show of their work!

Sign-up early for a theme camp!!! Register on www.lillstreet.com
And be guaranteed a wonderful time this summer!

Tonight we worked on making basic bowls. It’s Week Six… and it was time
for my beginners to learn how to make real bowls – and not a cylinder gone bad!
So we started out with my demo of throwing basic bowls. With a nice smooth
curve inside, instead of a flat bottom & corners! So everyone made bowls…
but anyone can make a bowl. So we went a little further and worked on some
basic decoration techniques to make their bowls a little more special!

I started by quickly throwing eight bowls… all quick, all round, all plain.
And then we started playing… flanges & stamping, and dragging spirals through slip!

Chattering a rib through slip , and pressing in a “fish scale” tool to make a flower!

Then fluting the rim in four places, and a layer of black slip waiting for some sgraffito!

Then folding out the rim & stamping which I did a little after class when the bowls were
a little drier… as well as chattering done by one of my beginners Hanna!

Tonight was another pottery class… week four of our ten-week session.
We tackled basic glazing & throwing plates. Nothing too exciting…
at least by comparison!!!

I brought left-over Valentine’s candy – conversation hearts & Hershey’s Kisses.
Only to be out-done once again by Cam, one of my beginning students who is also
a pastry chef. He can “show me up” anytime!!! I’m pleased to eat… tonight it was
Fudge Sour Cream Habañero Brownies with Sal-De-Mer Caramel Sauce!

Now I’ve frequently said that I have the palate of a four-year old.
Nothing is every too rich, too sweet or too chocolately. Pile on the frosting!!!
But these were “adult” brownies!!! And they were incredible. The first bite was
“just a brownie.” But then, the flavor started to build. Each bite brought on more
flavors – and by the end of the brownie, my mouth was singing!!!
I think it sang about five times!… although I lost track of how many I had?!

Tonight we finally made it back to pottery class at Lillstreet Art Center.
After a week’s hiatus for the snowstorm, it felt kind of odd to be back again.
Especially with glaciers still covering the majority of Ravenswood in front.
It kind of felt like we were “re-starting” the session. We had only had two classes
before the snowstorm week. So tonight was out third class after missing a week.
It was great to see everyone tonight… all except Eric, pastry chef #3?!

And speaking of pastry chefs… my beginning students Cam & Paul both brought
snacks tonight. Okay, so maybe our not-so-subtle discussions last week about how
they “can bring snacks anytime they want” and that we don’t mind broken cookies,
poorly frosted cupcakes or other day-old snacks didn’t hurt our cause?! Apparently,
Paul works for the Chicago Greater Food Depository and teaches culinary classes
to people trying to turn their lives around and/or make a career change. So tonight
we all benefited from his students’ efforts – Maple Brown Sugar Shortcakes and
White Chocolate Chunk Brownie Cookies. Yum. And then Cam brought in some of
the best cupcakes ever!! Get this… Balsamic Cherry Fudge Cupcakes with Cream
Cheese Frosting and Caramelized Cherries in Balsamic Reduction. Oh my!!!
Not a single one left by the end of class! Hopefully we all gushed enough to encourage
them both to bring more any time soon!!! Sadly, no recipes were shared?!
And Eric, if you read this… you’ve got some catching up to do!!!

Another great bonus tonight… my friend, potter & former student Pam stopped by
and “somehow” became my second TA?! Which was fine by me! Jess, my first assistant,
was busy tonight doing a slide show as she’s one of Lillstreet’s Artists In Residence.
Pam was hanging out, saw someone struggling a bit and she stepped right up.
She was a great addition to my class – and I was glad to have her back in the mix!
I even told Karen, my boss, “slightly-jokingly” that she should stay on as my 2nd TA.
Jess can be my “technical TA” and Pam can be my “cheerleader TA.”
How fun would that be for me?!!!… oh wait… maybe it was just Pam “working off”
her Balsamic Cherry Fudge Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramelized
Cherries in Balsamic Reduction?!!!