Today my Summer Campers switched to terra cotta. They threw a bunch of pots, let them set-up a bit and then did some more stamping! Go figure.

Here’s a quick glimpse at the textured tile wall in my condo. Just under 3,000 tiles on the wall… each one handmade, textured & soda-fired. I love the wall and how the highlights & shadows play over the textures… (2,894 tiles in case you’re wondering.)

The best part of the story was when I was getting ready to install the tiles…

My Dad’s concern was what would happen if the weight of the tiles literally pulled the wall off the studs?! I innocently said “We put a new one back up?!”

And then my Mom’s question was how I was planning on cleaning the wall. To which my response was ‘Who cleans wall?”

Look what’s coming up for sale next Saturday for the next online mug sale!
A little snippet of stamped textures. A little grid of groovy patterns.

Remember, the online mug sale with will start next Saturday, January 30th at Noon CST. Check out the official Facebook Photo Album on my pottery page. Be the first to Comment with “Mine. Mine. Mine.” to claim your mug!

Every year it seems like I have  “slow start” in the studio. Tough getting back into the swing of things. Tough “messing up” my beautifully clean holiday studio. But I’ve finished reclaiming clay… I’ve put away the holiday decorations… I’ve watered the plants… I’ve procrastinated enough. So tonight I finally kicked it into gear. And what better place to start than with some new stamps for the New Year?!

So I started to make stamps the way I always do. Made a few… but then decided I should mix it up a bit. So I looked around and found this really great wooden stamp that I picked up at NCECA last spring. I haven’t used it much… and it has been sitting on the shelf for quite awhile. So why not put it to use?!

So I took a small coil of clay and squished it into a portion of the Celtic design. Pressing in, squishing around and gently pulling the clay back out. Suddenly finding that the “reverse” pattern is pretty intriguing.

And if one worked well, why not make more?!…

And then I looked around and found a few more pieces to play with. Some laser-cut pieces of wood that I had not even pulled out of the packaging yet. I bought them, but haven’t really figured out how to use them. Here we go…

And then after a little more detailing… I think I might have a great stamp?!

So again… I kept making more. My thought is always that you should make a LOT of stamps… and along the way you’ll stumble on a few that you really love!!!

So by the end of the night, I have a few double-ended stamps drying for the night. These will dry and be bisqued before I can start using them.

Once a piece of pottery leaves my hands I always kind of wonder where it ends up. So it’s been so much fun to see some photos of their final homes. Like these in JoAnn’s house… two tiled mirrors and three textured wall pillows. Perfectly framing the doorway. Perfectly lit to help accentuate the textures.

While I was waiting for the clouds to move through and for the sun to break through, I noticed some beautiful leaves on the ground along the lakefront. I love Fall… with all of the wonderful colors & textures of Nature. This pink color on the back side of this red leaf was pretty incredible… and the dew drops put it off the charts!!!

A few more traditional leaves with traditional Fall colors.

As if these weren’t pretty enough, there were also some great leaves that had fallen into some puddles. I loved the submerged leaves and how they all floated to the top of the puddle with the subtle reflection on the water.

Tomorrow evening is the Opening Reception for a new exhibit in the Lillstreet Gallery Annex on the second floor. It’s a collection of Lillstreet ceramic artists who make soda-fired work. I have a large “constellation” of wall pieces in the show. The textured wall pillows make a fun installation grouping full of textures, surfaces & shadows.

Stop by tomorrow evening between 6:00-8:00pm for the Opening Reception. Second floor of Lillstreet Art Center just a few doors down from my studio. 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60640 on the corner of Montrose & Ravenswood.

Beautiful colors, textures, patterns & shadows in some of the large colocasia plants
being used by our landscaping team here in Dover.

Getting ready for my soda kiln…
so I glazed and added some colored slip accents to my latest batch of textured tiles. They still need to be wadded… with a LOT of wads, as I want to keep them as flat as possible. And let’s just say, the soda kiln doesn’t have a good reputation for keeping things flat & unwarped.