Colorful bowls, stamped textures & Fall gourds… all ready for Day Two of ART IN THE BARN in Barrington. Its another beautiful day here… so come on down to the Lower Barn! We’re here until 5:00pm today!

A beautiful firing in the new Lillstreet soda kiln! So excited with the colors, the glazes & flashing effects throughout the kiln. No dry spots. No gray “dolphin skin”. No glops from the soda. Just a lot of pretty pots… many of which will be going to ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend! Now I just need to clean ’em, price ’em & pack ’em!

So Friday night I loaded the soda kiln… layer by layer… brick by brick… pot by pot. It always takes longer than I think it will. But it’s important to think it through while loading to allow some air space & flow through the kiln for good soda exposure… while at the same time getting in as many pots as possible! The more pots you squeeze in, the more pots you can divide the kiln costs over. Can’t wait to see how these turn out… as many of them will be going to ART IN THE GARDEN next weekend!

Apparently the Glenview Summer Art Fair was featured in the Daily Herald newspaper this weekend. And it appears as though there just may be some pottery featured in the article! Kind of exciting… especially as it seems like she’s REALLY enjoying my work!!!

For the full article, click here… and then click on “Show More Pictures”… https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210724/outdoor-summer-art-fair-in-glenview-returns-after-covid-19-break

Just a quick reminder… I’ll be setting up my tent & filling it with pottery this weekend for the Glenview Summer Art Fair. It’s supposed to be warm this weekend, but rumor has it my booth will be conveniently located under a nice shade tree!

So I had a glazed ikebana disc that had a crack through it… so I “donated” it to some kids to use as target practice with their BB guns! We put a piece of paper in the center hole so we could see if they every got a bullseye. They may not be very accurate, but the are definitely persistent. They’ve apparently hit ALL around the bullseye… but have never hit the center yet. Keep shooting guys… Sullivan, Maxwell & Franklin… and maybe aim a little better?!!! HA!!!

Well, it’s been a few weeks since we finished our SURFACE DECORATIONS class at Lillstreet. And things have been glazed & coming out of the kiln. Here’s an assortment of Helen’s pieces she made during class… including crackled slip, water etching, sanggam, colored slips, carving, sgraffito, piercing & more! Well done Helen… thanks for sharing your pieces with us!

After Summer Camp, I made it to the post office in time to send out my first pile of boxes from this weekend’s NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. There were some pretty nice purchase from my new ETSY store… and I’m trying to get them packed up & shipped out as soon as possible! Thank You to everyone who participated in this year’s tour… we’re already looking forward to next year!!!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make the inaugural NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR a huge success this weekend! We all had a great time… and looking forward to doing it again next year in-person! Just in case you missed the fun… my brand new ETSY SHOP is still open if you need to add some pottery to your collection! – www.etsy.com/shop/firewhenreadypottery

Well, it’s Day Three of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR… the final day… and there’s still plenty of time to curb your pottery addiction! Twenty-one ceramic artists with a wide range of styles, techniques & aesthetics. You can find them all through the Pottery Tour website… www.northernilpotterytour.com

And if you want to add some of my stamped & textured pottery to your collection, you can always go directly to my new ETSY SHOP… www.etsy.com/shop/firewhenreadypottery