Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: artists, inspiration, terra cotta

You know how I love to hear from my blog & Facebook followers. It’s a nice affirmation that someone out there is actually reading my endless ramblings and enjoying my photos. Sometimes you wonder if “anyone” out there is even listening. And then you get a sweet e-mail like this one. And once again, everything is good in the world. Thank you Sonya for sharing a picture from your Special Needs Class. I’m glad I could be an inspiration… your birdhouses look fantastic!!!

Hi Gary,

You sound so enthusiastic and generous in your blog! You also seem to genuinely want to hear from folks that benefit from it. So, I am sending you a picture of some Gary Jackson inspired birdhouses that were made by my special needs adult class. They are super excited about these and can’t wait to get them glazed! One student plans to give her birdhouse to a friend as a bereavement gift (her friend lost her mother recently).

Cheers from Kentucky,
S. Penn

And for those of you who might need a quick refresher, here’s a couple shots of my terra cotta birdhouses from a couple years back. Sadly, I don’t have any currently in my inventory, but this may be a great reminder to make more!!!

2 Comments

Jodi

July 10th, 2014

Do your birdhouses have a clean-out? I’m trying to figure out a good way to rig them so they can be cleaned out at the end of a season.

BTW, your style is right in my wheelhouse. I hope I can do a workshop sometime.

July 13th, 2014

HEY JODI – Sadly, they do not. They do have a hole on the bottom that is large enough to stick a wire hanger into it to break up the nest and then “fish it out” through the bird hole. That’s the closest I’ve gotten to a clean-out solution. I also add a line of ventilation holes around the top of the cylinder just under the “eaves” of the roof line. I feel like it might get a little toasty inside without some airflow.

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