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

So Nancy and I finally made it to The Greeks exhibit… after a not-so-quick lunch and fun conversation. The Greeks exhibit is set up chronologically. So it starts “in the beginning” way, way, way back before time. Seemingly forever ago. But it was interesting to see when the potter’s wheel was “introduced” to the world. And for the record, we found it interesting to see that not much has changed to the kick-wheel design!!! But look at that date… WOW!!!

The exhibit is pretty amazing. So many artifacts and remnants. But what REALLY caught my attention were these adorable little boys and their sketch books. Turned out to be an entire family spending the day with The Greeks. The boys were adorable, with Dad hovering but never getting in their way, and SO into their sketch books. They were drawing pictures of the artifacts and labeling them with words from the displays. The little guys were adorable… sketch books, LED light-up sneakers and a fidgety little sister sitting on the bench with Mom.

Okay, enough about the kids... now onto the POTS!!!
Sure there were weapons, buttons, adornments, sculptures and more.  Yet not surprisingly, I focused primarily on the pots. Considering how long ago they were created, it’s kind of amazing how great they still look. Sure, there has been some “refurbishing” along the way, but really. Beautifully formed, beautifully decorated, and really with very few tools. And given the test of time, these pots still stand up really well.

Love the surface decoration… the swirls, the colors…
Keep in mind they had no “real” glazes or chemicals.
Just things they dug up, ground up or found.

Beautiful brushwork & design…

A quick diversion…. made me laugh... and then back to the pots…

And then as we made it further down the chronology, we finally made it to the Grecian Urns that most people are familiar with. Gotta love the designs, the brushwork and graphic color contrasts.

And of course, I saved my favorite for last…

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