Hard to believe that my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW is already next weekend!!!
Kilns are cooling… shelves going up… halls are being decked… and you’re all invited!!!
Next Saturday & Sunday from 10:00am-6:00pm with pots in every room of my condo,
treats in the kitchen and the “Tired Of Shlepping Sale” on the back porch!

After a couple hours of “Pottery Tetris”… I finally got my soda kiln filled to the brim last night. Lots of pots & ornaments that will be coming out just in time for next weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

The Back Stack…

The Front Stack…

My studio cart works especially well when I’m glazing & wadding for a soda kiln. When my cart is full… it pretty much equals a full kiln. So then I put these masking tape “seat belts” on the shelves so no pots can jump off during their ride down the rickety freight elevator to the kiln room.

This week in my pottery class I showed my students how to throw taller cylinders… and to lift the extra clay up & away from the bottom. Then I challenged them to throw their own tallest two-pound cylinder. Looks like Jacob & Janet took it to heart, as they were pretty much neck & neck for most of their challenge!

Well, my studio cart is finally full. And I’ve found that a full studio cart pretty much equals a full soda kiln! So I’ve transported my filled cart downstairs to the kiln room via the rickety-old freight elevator. I like to put a “safety-belt” of masking tape across the shelves so nothing jumps off during the ride!

It’s always encouraging to see that people are actually out there USING the pottery that I make. All too often I hear that people save it, show it off, or that it’s just “too nice to use.” Well, my pottery is meant to be used!!! And I love seeing a dish drainer full of soda-fired pots drying off! Thanks Rosene for sharing your dish drainer!!

Huge thanks to everyone who came out this weekend for the
HINSDALE FINE ARTS FESTIVAL. We had surprisingly great weather both days,
met quite a few fun people and a LOT of pots & mugs found their way off to new homes.
Thanks again!!!

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Always feels a little weird to take black slip & paint it on pristine white porcelain…
that is “cherished” as perfectly clean WHITE clay. Now with some black splattered on it.

So you saw all of the prepping, glazing, wadding & loading…
so it only seems fitting to show you the finished results too!

I unloaded my soda kiln Monday night… and it was my quickest & most efficient unload ever… TWO HOURS unloaded, packed, shelves scraped, kiln washed, floor swept, garbage out, all done!!! In. Out. Done… oh, yeah, and a few pictures along the way!

Front stack of the kiln…

Back stack of the kiln…

And a few of the pieces still on the kiln shelves…

After spending the night in Minneapolis at a friend’s house, I got up and headed over to the Minneapolis Convention Center for a full day of NCECA fun. Okay, let me just say from the get-go… for the record… I’m NOT a huge fan of NCECA. I just want to make pots. I just want to see pots. I just want to have fun, buy pots, buy tools,  and see a LOT of pottery friends!!! Not so much into the “educational-lecture” part of the show, which I totally get as it IS an educator’s conference! So I knew going up that one day of NCECA would be enough for me! Well, that plus a full day of touring NCECA Gallery Shows on Friday.

So the first thing I ran into after registering for the day was the Artstream Gallery… LOVE IT!!! I’ve seen it before, but you can never see it enough! Basically they took an old Airstream Trailer and converted it into a mobile pottery gallery! What a wonderful idea!!!

There were several galleries that had made little Pop-Up Shops with their ceramic wares.
Many of them focusing on a few featured artists… like one of the galleries was featuring
this oversized sculpture by George Rodriguez

So many mugs… so little time. Loved this contemporary twist on mug display & shelving… one mug per shelf.

Also fun to see so many potters that I’ve been introduced to through social media. Like this slip-cast, layered-colors and carved tumbler by Valeri Alexsandrov. Beautiful to watch on Instagram, but even better to touch, fondle, caress and admire in person!

So many things to see… so many pots everywhere… I WAS IN POTTERY HEAVEN!
And the first “souvenir” to come home with me was this Ted Neal mug. Loved the rustic, almost rusty quality of it… as well as the industrial-somewhat agricultural aspects to it.

And one of my favorite things at the Pop-Up Gallery areas were these pre-packaged shot glasses. What a wonderful idea – a comic satire on commerce & mass-production… with a handmade ceramic piece inside the retro-inspired retail packaging. So, so funny!!!

And then it was off to the Trade Show Expo area. Always fun to see all of the latest in pottery tools & supplies. Many of which I’m not in the market for… like kilns, commercial glazes or more pottery wheels. But even though I might not be looking to buy any of these… still fun to see everything.

Including these little mini-wheels… a tiny little wooden box that is actually a miniature potter’s wheel… perfect for making miniature pots!

And then I finally got down to the back corner to find my favorite… DiamondCore Tools!!! Great to finally meet Robert and his crew, as well as see all of their amazing products all in one place! And all ready to be played with on some clay. Carving. Scraping. Sgraffito-ing. Whatever. So much fun getting a chance to play with all of their tools… as well as seeing some great demos by some pretty great artists!

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