‘Tis the season to be shopping… and my studio is all decked out & ready to go!
With mugs & bowls, oil lamps & vases and oh so much more. Plus some fun, festive
holiday décor to set the mood – I’m ready for a fun night at the Lillstreet Holiday
Open House tonight!

Kick-off your holiday shopping season with some handmade artwork by local artisans.
The Lillstreet Studio Artists will be around throughout the month of December to
meet & greet people as they visit the studios. The group of artists in my studio area
will be open every weekend leading up to Christmas – so stop by soon!

The Lillstreet Art Center Holiday Open House is coming quickly…
and it’s the perfect time to spruce up the joint a bit. ‘Tis the season.
In fact, the Opening Reception is this Friday night from 6:00pm-10:00pm!!!
And I’ve completed my self-imposed remodeling just in time!

I decided to “take one for the team” and tackle the common area hallway.
We’ve had a bit of artist turnover in the studios, the bios were out-of-date,
and the place was looking a little beat up. Not so inviting… so it’s time for a change.
A couple coats of fresh paint. Some updated artists biographies & signage.
Voila’… whole new look to kick off the holiday shopping season!

A couple masks to greet our holiday shoppers. Always  friendly. Always perky…
with shifty glass eyeballs to bring a smile to the kid inside everyone!

As well as some tiled wall pieces in hallway in different sizes, colors & styles!

Welcome to October.
Welcome to Chicago Artist Month.

October is a special month every year that celebrates the local artists in Chicago
who make cool stuff around town. There will be lots of studios, galleries & stores
celebrating throughout the month with shows, openings & artist receptions.

To kick-off the month, this weekend is the annual Ravenswood Art Walk.
It’s a great chance to stroll up & down Ravenswood to see all of the galleries and
studios that will be open to the public. Lillstreet Art Center is a great place to
park and start your tour. My studio is on the second floor in 205 West.
You can stop in and see “where the magic happens.” I will be there all day
Saturday from 10:00am-6:00pm to greet the people strolling by… and trying
to get some clay work done at the same time?! Then start your tour using the maps that
will be available at Lillstreet. If you stop by every place on the list, it could take all day!

Lillstreet Art Center – studio 205 west.
4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago… on the northeast corner at Montrose!
Seriously, just a few steps east of the Montrose stop on the Brown Line El.
Stop by for a tour, participate in some free workshops, have a piece of pie
at the First Slice Café or just hang out in my studio!

And to kick-off the month of art…
here’s a quick picture of a great new bricolage mural that was completed this summer
on Foster Street at the Lake Shore Drive underpass. Gotta love it…

So this was my final week of Summer Camp with Lillstreet Art Center.
The kids are getting ready for school and summer has just flown by!!!
This week I was teaching Clay & Multimedia for both mornings & afternoons.
So for the sake of clarity… we’ll call the morning class Part One!

So this week, we started on Monday with textured slab plates & platters.
Each camper had to make their own slabs and then textures them before
draping them into a slump mold… also known as a readily-accessible Chinet plate!

On Tuesday, they all got the chance to put on colored underglazes and a coat
of clear glaze to make them shiny! The more they worked on them, the cooler they
became – with the details coming alive and popping off the plate’s surface!

Along the way, we also tackled book binding, friendship bracelets, painted murals
and a challenging two-sided wooden block puzzle. The puzzles took awhile
as they had to design both sides of the puzzle so the designs would work on both sides
as you flipped the planks! We also did one of my favorite projects… Tie-Dye Thursday!!!

Well another week down… and another week of Summer Camp completed!
This week, it was “Wild Things”… a week full of art projects all about animals.
And I had a great group of “animals” to play with all week long.

We started the week on Monday with introductions & ceramic animal masks. Despite a
rough start on Monday, and the first time I’ve ever had to send a kid home… issues… the
rest of the class finished up strong, shaping their masks and painting them with underglaze!
Tuesday took us to Lincoln Park Zoo for our camp field trip!

Keeping a group of “wild things” corralled, contained & entertained is quite a feat.
Luckily, I had Brian, my favorite summer camp assistant with me for the week.
Not that it stopped any of the kids from being themselves… mugging for the camera!

The rest of the week we were back at Lillstreet Art Center creating their animal sculptures.
With an armature of wire, wood, newspaper, wire hangers, styrofoam & masking tape,
the kids each created their own animals. Once the base shape was created, we covered the
armatures with a layer of plastered fabric, and then a second coat of plaster gauze.
Friday was spent painting the animals to bring them all to life!

And not to be outdone, two of my campers decided to go for the “actual size” animal…
with a life-sized proboscis monkey and ostrich standing nearly as tall as the artists!!!

This week at Lillstreet Summer Camp I’m teaching “Clay & Multimedia.”
Which basically just means that we do a clay project on Monday, and then
any kind of other art projects for the rest of the week. So we started this week
with ceramic birdhouses!!! Slabs, textures, basic handbuilding & underglazes!!!

And then followed with a weaving & sewing project – Woven-Top Pillows!
So the kids had to choose their fabrics, cut out their strips, weave them
together and then sew it all into a throw pillow!

Then… as if it could get any better… today was Tie-Dye Thursday!!!

So this week we offered a new & completely different option for the kids.
Many of them have taken several clay classes… or metalsmithing classes…
but why not put them together?! Why not combine the two?!

Pam Robinson (Lillstreet Metals Dept. Head) and I worked together
to develop a camp for the kids to put both materials together in one project.
Fire. Forge. Feast. – fire the clay, forge the metal and then feast on the results!
Yep, we had the kids make a complete dinnerware set this week.

So we started the week with two days of clay – designing & making slab plates,
platters & bowls… as well as clay handles for what would become their cutlery!
So Monday & Tuesday the kids designed & made their dishes, as well as painting
them with colorful underglazes!

Then on Wednesday & Thursday, we moved over to the Metals Dept. to start
cutting their metal components…. knives, forks & spoons. It was a lot of sawing,
filing, sanding, texturing… and unfortunately, broken saw blades!

Friday was a day to finish up their pieces, finally combining clay & metal…
and enjoying a potluck meal on their finished projects!

And my new collection of knives… that I made all by myself!!!

Another week down… another week of Chess Camp done!
And we finished just under the wire! Without a moment to spare!

The second week of Chess Camp had fewer kids, and a bit younger too!
But the week started out as usual – with a discussion of theme ideas.
What we’re they planning on making their chess set look like.
What team is battling against what team?

One of our most ambitious themes was “DC Comics versus Marvel Comics”!
That was until he worked all day on Monday, came back Tuesday and realized
that it was “going to be too hard.” So he came back with a plan, started over and went
with “Chicago versus New York City.” Other themes included:
* Jungle Animals: Fierce vs. Cuddly
* Transformers
* Cats vs. Dogs
* Medieval Royalty vs. Dragons
* Foods vs. Drinks
* some video game… that I’m sadly too old to have ever even heard of ?!!!
* The Simpson’s: Good Characters vs. Evil Characters

So the kids worked hard all week – making pieces, painting them with underglaze
and painting their chess boards. As this was only a “morning camp,” they had
just five days (less than 20 hours) to get everything done! One day we skipped lunch,
and today it was close – as Ethan was still building his last piece just minutes before
class ended!!! Whew… another week done! But we made it.

So after the woven clay plates on Monday, we continued our “weaving” theme
with a traditional weaving project – each kid with their own vertical “loom.”

We started with dowel rods & twine hanging from the ceiling. They had to string the loom
and tie it off the bottom with another dowel rod and hung a brick at the bottom
to keep it all taut. Once assembled, their looms were ready to start weaving. We discussed
techniques and colors.. and let them go! They loved it… in fact, they’re still doing it!!!
Tomorrow we’ll a short break from it today for some of my favorite – Tie-Dye Day!!!
But as soon as we were done – they will be right back to the weaving.

Then Friday is our last day for this camp. They’ll need to finish weaving back & forth
and then tie-off the bottom and add some decorative fringe!!! And voila’…
another week of Summer Camp will have come to an end. With a lot of happy kids!!!

And as if playing with the kid’s all day wasn’t enough…
my adult’s Beginning Wheelthrowing Class begins tomorrow night!
It’s another 8-weeks of fun – and a chance for the brand new beginners
to get their hands dirty, and the “experienced” beginners get to further
their skills and begin to develop their own style!

Lillstreet Art Center
Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing
Tuesday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm… with ME as your teacher!!!

There’s only a couple spaces still open – register in person or online!!!
If you miss out on this Summer Session, mark your calendar now for the
10-week Fall Session which will begin on the Tuesday after Labor Day!