Make some popcorn… set the DVR… cuddle up on the sofa…
for my big television debut on HGTV’s “Great Rooms With Meg.”
Airing this Saturday, June 16th at 8:00pm Central time.

Now sure, this isn’t my first television exposure… not to gloat, but I was on WGN’s
Bozo’s Circus when I was a little kid. And, not only was I on the show… I played the
game at the end when they would have a group of kids all playing the game. The challenge
was for me a my partner to stack cups & saucers on the flat end of a baseball bat. I held the
bat, and she stacked the cups & saucers… tallest stack a the end of the game wins!
Well, let me just say I was suddenly the proud owner of big prize…
a View-Master 3-D ‘Scooby-Doo’ Slide Projector!!!

But I digress…

Back to the real show… get ready to watch my “20-seconds of fame” this Saturday on HGTV.
I did a special project for them for a kitchen remodeling show they were doing. I made the
pieces and they came into my studio to do some filming of Meg and me. We did almost five
hours of filming… but I’m confident all of “my best work” will be left on the cutting room floor!
I’m sure they’ll craft all the pieces together to make a great show. I’m confident… or…
The editors thought it would be fun to see me all sweaty, flustered and rambling on like an
idiot on screen. It was seriously like 90-degrees in my studio. Trust me, it could go either way…

And let me just say… I still wish I had kept the ‘Scooby-Doo’ View-Master!!!

It’s just a few days before the Schaumburg Prairie Fine Arts Festival…
and surprisingly, I’m already packed up and ready to go… almost!
I still have a lot of “busy-work” to do before then… but the tough part is done!

We cleaned, organized, priced and packed up a lot of new pots fresh out of the kiln.
And with the Hinsdale Fine Arts Fair just two weeks after Schaumburg, there’s not
enough time in between to make a new batch of work, fire & glaze… so we packed
for both shows at the same time. Luckily, I made enough pots over the past few months
to give us a full inventory for both shows! So there will be a different assortment of pots
in Schaumburg than there will be in Hinsdale! Come to both shows to see everything!

Schaumburg Prairie Fine Arts Festival – May 26th & 27th, 2012
Hinsdale Fine Arts Fair – June 9th & 10th, 2012

But here’s the funny part… while we were packing the pots, my Mom got “caught”
by a piece of pottery! She was wearing a shirt that had a lace-up neckline and the laces
had a metal aglet at the end. Apparently, the piece of metal somehow got “wedged”
on between the flower pot and the connected water dish. She walked around for a
couple minutes trying to get un-hooked! Of course I had to laugh & take a picture
BEFORE I could help her get it undone!

I’m ready to kick-off the Summer Art Fair season starting this weekend!
It’s been a busy Spring in the studio over the past few months…
making lots of new pieces, glazing & firing to replenish the inventory with new pots!
Including some new pieces I’ve never made before! Click on Preview.

Schaumburg Prairie Fine Arts Festival
Saturday, May 26th, 2012 – 10:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, May 27th, 2012 – 10:0am-5:00pm
Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center, 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg, Illinois.

All of my pieces are already priced, packed and ready to go…
and with the Hinsdale Art Fair just two weeks later, I’ve already split the inventory
for the two shows. So each show will have a completely different assortment of work.
Come to both and see two different assortments! Now that’s a LOT of pots!!!

I hope to see you this weekend in Schaumburg… and bring a friend!
Or better yet, bring five friends! We’re all hoping the weather is better
han last year when we got flooded out of the park!

Remember, you can always follow what’s going on with quick updates on Facebook.
Click the link below to get to my Facebook pottery page – and then click the LIKE button.
www.facebook.com/firewhenreadypottery

I’m a little over half way through stamping & labeling my show postcards…
and still have hundreds to go!  sheesh…

On an “up” note, ya’ gotta love the Hawaiian shirt postage stamps, huh???

Last night’s class demonstration was plates & platters. My beginners are progressing
quite nicely… cylinders, bowls, mugs… and now plates! I explained to them that plates
are fairly easy to throw, and that the drying & trimming of them is the hard part.
In class I threw two plates. But of course, I can’t leave a plate plain…
so tonight I stamped them up!

The class demo four-pound plate…

And now for the six-pound platter…

Plus, we have new clay at Lillstreet Art Center. For years we’ve had the same selections
of stoneware, B-Clay and porcelain. We’re now trying something new from Continental Clay.
It’s Stoneware with Ochre… which from what we’ve seen turns out to be a dark chocolate
brown after firing in a cone 10 reduction kiln. This is my first time trying the new clay…
hence the slight “greenish” hue in the clay. It was fun to throw with… although the color
was a little off-putting.

As a productive studio artist, I use a lot of clay.
And with that, comes a LOT of scraps & trimmings to be reclaimed.
I work hard to reclaim as much clay as I can. I put all of the dried scraps into
a large orange container in my studio, and fill it with water. As the clay absorbs
the water, it slakes down to become clay once again. When it feels & looks like clay
again, and much of the water has been absorbed, it’s time to scoop out the clay mix
and place it on a large plaster bat. So that’s what I did tonight… I scooped & scooped!
I scooped until my reclaim bin was empty and the bat was overflowing with clay.

And there it will sit until the overly-gooshey clay stiffens up and can be wedged up.
And when it’s ready… it’s a LOT of wedging, and wedging, and wedging…

And just in time… as my Northwoods potter friend Amy Higgason got “a little behind”
in her studio reclaiming and brought some of her scraps for me! Just a couple boxes…
okay, like twelve!!! That’s a lot of scraps!

So Amy’s scraps have now been placed in my reclaim tub. Add water. And wait…
Soon enough, it’s going to be  another huge batch of FREE CLAY!!!

I love it when patterns, textures, slips & glazes all come together!
Just a few more “teaser textures” that jut came out of my soda kiln yesterday!!!

Well, tonight I unbricked & unloaded my soda kiln.
It’s always exciting to take the brick door off and finally see my newest pieces!

It’s like a little treasure hunt. You have certain expectations & hopes while you’re
making the pieces and glazing them. But at some point, you have to release control
and let the kiln do its own magic. So here’s a quick glimpse at the front of the kiln…
knowing that the front “face” is always the grayest from a lot of soda. And then the
pieces that are deeper into the kiln have a bit more color.  As I unloaded, I was quite
pleased with the colors… a little brighter & more vibrant than usual?!

It’s always a good feeling to unbrick the kiln and find you cones melted exactly
to where they should be for a cone 20 firing. Towards the end of my firing,
it was impossible to see the top cone pack at all. It was quite “hazy” in the kiln
with flames shooting out at me when I tried to peek in. No visibility!!!
Glad I turned off the kiln when I did!

Well, I just added the last batch of soda mixture into my kiln.
Very hot. Lots of flames – so much fun! Not for the weak of heart.
The soda mixture is introduced on a long angle iron through a brick over the fire box.
The filled angle iron goes in and gets dumped into the fire box.
Instant combustion. Instant vapors. Instant flames shooting out all over the place!
Luckily, tonight I only burned off a few arm hairs.

Once the angle iron is removed, the “peep” brick gets put back in to keep the soda vapors
“trapped” and moving around inside – hitting all the pots inside building up a beautiful surface!

In case you’re wondering, my soda mixture is a combination of soda ash, soda bicarbonate,
whiting and wood chips. Mixed with a little bit of water to create a lumpy, oatmealy texture.

So now it’s just a waiting game for the kiln to get back up to top temperature
and for a little extra “soak” to get some more soda effects on the pots inside!
And now for the tough part… the kiln cools all day tomorrow, and won’t be unloaded
until Monday night! Gotta wait… stay tuned for pictures!