It was a fun weekend at the PRAIRIE VIEW ARTS INVITATIONAL in Naperville. A good show to kick-off my art fair season. Great to meet some new folks out there… and to show off some new pots! Huge thanks to the organizers who put together such a smoothly run show with all the perks!!!

They did such a great job from loading us in & loading us out…
yes, THEY transported all of my shelves & pots from & to my car for me!!! What?!!! No kidding. Not to mention all of the food and fun a along the way. Friday night they had dinner for us during set-up, a free public champagne reception, live music and a Taco Truck!

And then on Saturday, they offered us breakfast & lunch, as well as a never-ending, bottomless soup bar!!! Over fifteen handmade soups for a small donation to the Youth Group. Also great to “wash it all down” with some sweet snacks from Katherine Anne Confections!!!

Not to mention that they set my booth space right across from my metalsmith buddy Amy Taylor! Even better to spend the weekend playing with her and looking at all of her sparkling beauties!

And my new favorite of hers… a groovy necklace with a miniature glass Coca-Cola bottle
and an amazing old-school handmade pull tab on the chain!

And oh, but wait there’s more… did I mention that the PRAIRIE VIEW organizers even offered up overnight Home Stays for the artists! So I drove four minutes from the art fair to my Home Stay for a great overnight… and then four minutes back the next morning. So much better than driving all the way back to & from Chicago each time. Thank you Ann & Bob. And as an added BONUS!!!… I also got to sleep with my new best furry friend Jake!!!

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Another table full of bisqued pots for last night’s marathon glazing session. Either way you look at it… there’s a LOT of pots waiting to go into this weekend’s soda kiln. Happy to report… these are all glazed, wadded and ready to go. For tonight I load the kiln!

So much fun last night with the Krenz clan playing with the clay & getting all muddy at the studio last night. As always, some were better than others… but all of them had a great time!

Suddenly not as easy as it looks…

“Maybe if I watch him doing it… it might make more sense?”

Uh… Kel’s bowl is flopping… save it… save it…

But it looks “someone” found the Mystery OREO’s a bit more enticing than throwing on the wheel.

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Huge thanks to everyone who came over yesterday for our Mud & Metal Holiday Home Show. Amy and I had so much fun playing with all of you, chatting it up and selling off a few holiday gifts for your friends & loved ones. In case you missed the festivities, here are a few tiny peeks!

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A quick peek into the pottery cupboard as dinnerware pieces are changing from summer colors to seasonal earthtones. So fun to see my pottery in people’s homes… in this case, my first ever “art fair friends” who have quite the collection both old & new! Thanks for sharing Gerry & Rosene. See you soon!

It was a very productive day in the studio with a great afternoon bike break… let’s be real!!!
But, while I was working, I also got caught up and watched all of Season Two
of “The Great Pottery Throw Down” on YouTube. Great show…
although I still don’t understand what brings the judges to tears so often?!

And just to be clear… fountain maybe, chandelier possibly, toilet never!!!

Click here for Episode One of “The Great Pottery Throw Down”
to start your binge watching of Season Two!!!

It’s the third day for my Summer Campers and today they had to “finish up” their stoneware pots. So we did some trimming, some stamping, some adding of handles and colored slip detailing. Never too soon to start stamping, right???

Unloaded my soda kiln last night. Lots of bright colors…
not all browns & grays much to the chagrin of my soda students.
See, a soda firing CAN be colorful!

Now to pack it all up for this weekend’s art fair in Schaumburg!

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