Just seven hours away… the kick-off of my POP-UP POTTERY SALE only on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page!!! Come back at 7:00pm CST to see the official Photo Album when I post it. The first person to claim a piece on the photo in that album gets it! Easy-peezy…

As this weekend was “supposed to be” the Hinsdale Fine Arts Festival… which was “pandemic-postponed” until the middle of August with fingers crossed… I’ve decided to host a little pop-up sale on my Fire When Ready Pottery Facebook page with some of the bright & colorful new pieces I’ve been working on. Pottery which would have been on display this weekend in Hinsdale… but instead, we’re going to go online! Check my Facebook page tomorrow evening at 7:00pm CST for the kick-off – Sunday 6/7/20!

And sure, looks like we have PERFECT WEATHER this weekend… when does that ever happen for an outdoor art fair?! Really?! I can’t wait until we can really get together for a “real” art fair again… I miss seeing everyone!!!

So I just posted a bunch of spoon rests on my Online Pottery Shop here on my website. Probably the most “functional” piece I make… better than a piece of paper towel, tin foil or just dropping your goopey spoon on the countertop. A lot of people asked about them… so now they’re posted. Click here to do a little shopping online for spoon rests and a whole lot more!

Or… you can ALWAYS click on “Online Pottery Shopping” in the top, right-hand corner of my blog!

While everyone was quarantined during this corona-craziness, Lillstreet Art Center created a page on their website to help some of their artists during the tough times. Knowing that many of us were facing cancelled art fairs, loss of teaching gigs and no workshops… they created MADE AT LILLSTREET. An online gallery featuring several of their “in-house” artists, teachers & studio members. Please feel free to click on this link to see my current offerings through the Lillstreet Gallery.

Spent a lot of this afternoon photographing more pieces…
in my kitchen with my little photo booth set-up!

I’m thinking that since this coming weekend “would have been” another art fair weekend… so instead maybe I should post more pieces for another online sale on my Fire When Ready Facebook page?! More details to come…

My studio plan was to do a bunch of glazing tonight… or at least waxing all of the bottoms… well, THAT didn’t quite happen! They’re still all under wraps to keep the dust from getting on them! Maybe tomorrow will be better. Somehow I got sidetracked on a bunch of other little studio projects?!

Still working in the studio on a special commission project… which yes, includes the piece that literally FLEW OFF the wheel while I was working on it a couple days ago! I threw another one as a back-up just in case… but things are fitting together nicely! All under wraps for the night… now I just have to work on the tops tomorrow!!!

Okay, so here we go…
With art fairs being cancelled left & right, we’re all figuring out different ways to get our work out there. You know I LOVE art fairs… but desperate times call for desperate measures! So I’ve created a little online pottery store on my website. Nothing hi-tech, we’re staying old-school. Just a bunch of pieces & photos with a short descriptions.

Click here to go to the Online Pottery Shopping!

If you see something you want, shoot me an e-mail to claim it and I’ll remove it from the website selection. First come, first-served. Full details on my blog. And then in the next few days I’ll start replenishing the “store” as pieces get shipped out. We’ll see how this goes… my fingers are crossed… it’s a learning curve for all of us, so please be patient!

You can also find the Online Pottery Shopping by clicking on the Page in the top right corner of my blog!

So this first “batch” of pottery is all separated, photographed, numbered and ready-to-go… mugs, bowls, vases, pitchers, teapots, berry bowls and more! It’s going to be first-come-first served… so grab ’em as you can! And then I’ll continue to replenish as some of these pieces get shipped out. More details coming VERY soon!

As “shelter-at-home” continues on & on… today is a weird day for many potters as the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour was forced to go “virtual” this weekend for the first time EVER. I’ve gone to the big Minnesota Pottery Tour for MANY years to see a lot of incredible pottery, meet the artists, network, get inspired, play with friends and add to my own pottery collection! It’s become an annual tradition. But this year… it is all online! Which might be the “new normal” for the foreseeable future. But I don’t like it. I miss playing with my friends. I miss touching & holding pottery. I miss a lot of things! But we’re all in this together… so show ’em some love and check-out their online Pottery Tour Sale!!!

Click here to go to the main Minnesota Potters web page… and then go shopping by artist!

And just to whet your whistle… a jew photos from how it “used to be”!!! If you want more, you can also go back in my blog here to see some of my adventures in previous years! Do a SEARCH for Minnesota Pottery Tour and see a bunch of great times & great pottery!

Not so much for this year… mwah, mwah, mwah…