Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: pottery, process, production, studio

Like I’ve said before, it’s kind of tough for me to get back into the studio
and start up the full-production routine again after the holidays. It seems
like I’ve been so busy for so long. And everything at the studio is clean…
empty… not wet… nothing drying… nothing urgent. So why hurry into it?

gary-jackson-empty-table

gary-jackson-empty-cart

Well, today was the big kick-off. I finally sat down to do some throwing.
Back in the saddle so to speak. And what to start with?… mugs, of course!!!
We started the holiday season with over 100 mugs at the Holiday Home Show.
And now the inventory needs to be seriously replenished. So I wedged up some clay…
and boy did it feel great to get dirty again.

gary-jackson-wedged-clay-balls

And then I threw the basic cylinders that will get stamped, trimmed, handled, slipped, dried,
fired, glazed and fired again in the weeks to come! It felt great to be back in the saddle again!

gary-jackson-thrown-cylinder

gary-jackson-cups-from-above

4 Comments

February 27th, 2010

Nice drying cart.

February 28th, 2010

SCOTT – Thanks… but I can’t take all of the credit. My Dad actually built the cart for me. I gave him the basic design concept & measurements. He did the rest. As usual, he “overdid” my expectations. Heavy duty casters. Sturdy construction. Laminated shelves – two per layer, one front, one back. And my favorite part… the shelf spacing is measure perfectly so I can store two shelves per slot. So when the cart fills up with work and the extra shelves need to go somewhere – they slide in easily & double-up for storage!!! I added the pegboard & paint-job… and have put it through its paces for several years now. My studio is on the second floor and the soda kiln is on the first floor. So the rolling cart and a freight elevator make it all possible!

March 1st, 2010

Very cool.
It’s great you have a handy Dad. Mine was not so much but I’ve become a fairly skilled carpenter anyway.
Hope you don’t mind but I’m stealing the overall concept of your design. I should have some free time in the next few decades to knock it out.

March 1st, 2010

Steal away!!! It has worked very well for me, and I’m MORE than willing to share good ideas. My top suggestion… be sure to measure the width & height of ALL the doorways you need to get through en route to the kiln! My cart “just” fits through all of the doors and the freight elevator, until I get to that one last doorway into the kiln room. I never thought to measure THAT one?!!! Luckily, it’s a double-door, so I just need to open the left side door that is generally closed. Whew…

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