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

So I finally finished glazing & wadding my pieces. Exhausted. Relieved.
Once they’re all done, the go onto my rolling studio cart (that my Dad made for me),
and we all go downstairs on the freight elevator. A little rickety, but still much
better than carrying everything by hand down to the first floor!

And yes, that is masking tape stretched across each shelf acting as a “safety belt” to keep
the pots from hopping off the shelves as they jiggle down the hall & elevator.

Take the tape off, and I’m ready to start loading. The back stack is always the quickest.
I think it’s the fact that it’s one shelf, no seam and you have a whole cart of possible pieces.
When you get to the front, it’s two shelves with a seam between shelves to contend with…
and the selection of pieces left on the cart is beginning to dwindle. So it’s all a big game
trying to get everything in, packed well, but not too crowded, but crowded enough to get
my money’s worth! Too loose and everything doesn’t make it in. Pack it too tight and
the soda atmosphere doesn’t have any room to travel around the kiln –
and you end up with some dry pockets!

So here’s a glimpse of the back stack…. with tall, textured slab vases all the way to the top!

And here’s the completed front stack. Complete with cone packs… which I have
a tendency to forget until it’s too late and I’ve already started bricking the door.

Now that it;s all packed, the front door is bricked into place and it’s good for the night.

Categories: kiln firing, lillstreet, textures

I just love the range of colors in the flashing and the crusty build-up of the soda
on the bricks on the sides of the doorway. From the dark browns, through the reddish hues,
with hints of greens & turquoise going into the crusty whites. All created “naturally” by
the flames escaping through the bricked kiln door and leaving their mark along the way.

And the somewhat “lunar” textures of the back wall bricks from the intense soda build-up
from firing after firing of the Lillstreet Art Center soda kiln.

Categories: inspiration, kiln firing

Don’t you just love the endless possibilities of an empty kiln?!… soon to be filled.

Categories: bike, Chicago, special events, sunrise

So the sunrise was a little anti-climactic again this morning. Dark & gloomy. But…
there was a bright spot on the morning ride… The Redbull Flugtag has come back to Chicago!
And this morning they were setting up just south of North Avenue Beach.

So here’s the deal with the Flugtag… it’s a whimsical competition for human-powered
flying machines. And by “flying”, I really mean running off the edge of the large scaffold
structure and plummeting into the water below. Each “flying machine” is handmade
and had some sort of theme to it. The “crew” does a thematic performance on the deck
before attempting their flight. It’s a day of wonderful nonsense & merriment…
and a bit of cluttered wreckage in the lake for the Redbull folks to clean up!

The fun begins tomorrow! You can tour the “airplane” hangars starting at 11:00am
followed by the official shove-off. For more information, click here… Redbull Flugtag.

Categories: glaze, kiln firing, process, production, studio

There are still far too many naked pots in my studio.
I just unloaded my second bisque kiln.  I now officially have a LOT OF POTS
to glaze & wad before I can ever start loading tomorrow night. Yikes!!!
Not quite sure how & when this is all going to get done?!

Categories: art fair, artists, friends

Mark your calendars now, and plan on a beautiful Fall getaway weekend
to the Wisconsin Northwoods! On the first weekend of October, there is a full tour
of Northwoods artists who open their studios. Well, we’re not quite on the tour,
we’re the ART DETOUR!!! Same weekend, so you can come up just to see us…
or you can do the full art tour as well. After spending some time playing with us
and making some gourmet s’mores!

Five friends, five artists… one studio location! One stop shopping!!!
Stop by the pottery studio of my friend Amy Higgason of Pigeon Road Pottery
for some great art, good fun & guaranteed giggles! Yep… guaranteed!!!

Categories: glaze, mugs, pottery, process, production, studio

When you make a big batch of mugs…
at some point, you’ve got to glaze a big batch of mugs!

Same mugs… just a different, possibly cooler perspective…

Categories: bike, nature, sunrise

Sure, it looked like a beautiful sunrise much like many other mornings. So I pedaled out
and made it down to North Avenue Beach and went out onto the thin strip of breakwater
for these photos. But when I turned around… something was definitely brewing.

Uh-oh. And the temperatures dropped… and the wind picked up. Strong gusts…
and this storm front headed straight towards me. So of course I had that moment of
“I should find some place to duck under cover.” Followed by “Maybe I should hop on
my bike and try to race home before it hits.” But the one that won out was…
“This is gonna be pretty darn cool… and I need to take pictures of it!” So I did.

As the storm cloud rolled and took over the sunrise to my left…
and took over the city skyline to my right. Yep, the top of the Hancock Building is gone!
Crazy cool on both sides! And directly over head… just gusty winds, and no rain???

But then the band of clouds seemed to roll over & past us almost as fast as they came in.

And then the storm left Chicago, on its way towards Michigan! And quick.
So quick in fact, that we actually got treated to a “second sunrise” after the first wave
of clouds had passed… and the second & third were still working their way through!

 

 

Categories: kiln firing, process, production

After drying overnight, everything was “pretty much” dry.
So I loaded everything into one last bisque kiln. I’m firing my soda kiln
this Saturday, so it was important to get everything into this kiln. It wasn’t my
best job of loading… because I found myself with a lot of strange shapes & sizes.
Luckily, my studio neighbors Karen & Lisa were there with some “filler” to help
take care of some of the holes. You know how I LOVE a well-packed kiln!!!

Layer #1 -Bowls, ovals, dispensers, mugs & gourds!

Layer #2 half a layer anyway... Bowls, gourds & “filler” from Karen & Lisa.

Layer #3 – not sure how to count this one?… is it another half shelf?…
or should I count the tall textured slab vases in this layer? Anyway… a platter & round fun!

Layer #4 – another half layer with another slab vase that was too tall so I laid it down
on its side… plus more “filler” from Karen Patinkin!

 

Categories: production, studio

There was a fresh “harvest” of gourds in my studio today!