Handles attached… mugs assembled!!! Now just a little cleaning-up, a little smoothing… and then some drying, firing, glazing & firing again! Coming along… but still a lot of steps in the process!

Looks like Diane has finally moved into her new place… lots of boxes & lots of paper… and unwrapping her pottery collection first thing!!! Perfect timing for another Mugshot Monday!

Here are the same bowls from this week’s class demo on how to make bowls on purpose… and then turn them into “not-so-basic bowls.” We did a bunch of altering & slip painting in class… but then you know I come from the school of MORE IS MORE. So I “may have” done a bit more stamping & detailing in my studio this weekend. Allegedly…

Sweet little stamped & soda-fired vase filled with some beautiful flowers.
Great colors & great textures. Thanks for sharing Tiffany!

With the weekend cold-front moving through with threats of frost up in Wisconsin, looks like Kristy has been pulling in the last of her garden’s flowers inside to enjoy. Before they freeze to death… ugh... good plan Kristy!

After a quick stop at the Andersonville Farmer’s Market this afternoon… I came home with some veggies & an AMAZING bouquet of dahlias from Vangie’s Farm. She custom-designs bouquets for you right on the spot… using your color choices & while blending her flowers & textures. We all know how much I LOVE dahlias… and I just happened to have the perfect oval vase to put them in!!! Shocking, right?! HA!!!

There are only two more Farmer’s Markets on the calendar…
be sure to stop by to grab some amazing flowers!!!

Hard to believe it’s already October! While I want Summer to last forever… I actually LOVE Fall too. And I’m ready to kick-off October with a big bowl of gourds on the table. Thanks to the folks at ART IN THE BARN for selling off their seasonal decorations at the end of the art fair. I came home with a couple bags of pumpkins & gourds! Although we all know that in a side-by-side contest… GOURDS are so much cooler!!!

And there it is… after “just a few” stampings! I’m always enamored by how the repetition of just one handmade stamp can transform a smooth platter into a crazy cool textured pattern. Each stamped pressed in one by one… by one… by one…

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with a bunch of the stamped mugs that came out of my most recent soda firing. I’m always so excited when you open up the kiln and see such bright, soda-fired colors… and not all of the blasted “dolphin-skin” darkness that so many soda-fired pieces get. Remember, not all soda-fired pottery needs to be black, gray or brown!!!

So today I’m packing up many of these mugs to come with me to ART IN THE BARN next weekend in Barrington. Be sure to stop by… I’ll be in the Lower Barn as usual in my double booth!!!

Some of my favorite flowers in one of my favorite vases! A perfect combo for the back porch! Seasonal black-eyed susans in a stamped & soda-fired vase!