One of the best parts of throwing forty “Ghoul Heads” in one day… is that by the time you get to the end, it’s already time to start trimming the bottoms of the first ones! It’s been a VERY productive day in the studio… and it kinda had to be. Deadlines approaching quickly!!!

After a great art fair last weekend, I felt compelled to replenish the inventory with some new pieces. So I’m laser-focused on getting more new work ready for ART IN THE BARN in Barrington…. working fast, as it’s just a week away!!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 26th & Sunday, September 26th on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepard Hospital.

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!

So it’s been a very busy couple of weeks… finishing up Summer Camp AND throwing & glazing a lot of pots. I loaded the soda kiln late Friday night after the final day of camp. My studio cart travels from the second floor to the first floor kiln room on a rickety freight elevator. So I use a lot of masking tape as “seat belts” so none of them jump off along the way!

After a night of slip painting, there’s now another batch of mugs drying in my studio. Just getting ready for my upcoming September art fairs… ART IN THE GARDEN and ART IN THE BARN. Two favorite shows… and a lot of new mugs coming soon!

And now we have handles… and therefore, now we have MUGS!!! One step closer to the bisque kiln! Another step closer to getting these done in time for next weekend’s art fair in Glenview!!!

With one big “commission” batch of mugs finally done… I’m already working on the next batch! You know how much I LOVE making mugs. I’m going to try to rush these through the process a bit to get them done in time for my next art fair… The Glenview Summer Art Fair in a week and a half! Fingers crossed…

So here’s a sneak peek at some of the commission mugs with geometric shaped stamps! Looks like I need to do a little more cleaning up on them as I start to set them out to dry… but then they should make it into a bisque kiln in the next couple days!!!

At this point they’re all assembled, detailed & ready to start drying slowly. Headed off to the bisque kiln soon… moving along nicely with this commission project!