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

Just finishing up one last “project” before kicking off the Christmas Eve festivities!
Needed some red & green to perk up tomorrow’s dessert… and then once you start,
it’s SO hard to stop. Especially when there’s melted chocolate to be playing with!!!

Categories: bowls, food, holiday, porcelain, stamped

And here’s what’s left AFTER you’ve pulled all of the red & green ones out!!!

Categories: friends, holiday

Just wrapping up a few last-minute presents. Including this little gem for my Mom (shhh… don’t ruin the surprise). It’s a wonderful coloring book made by my friend Allison! And if you don’t get what you want for Christmas… I’m sure she could hook you up with one of these sweeties too!

Don’t want to wait?… and just want to order a few for yourself and friends?
Click here for the Artillicious website.

Categories: food, porcelain, soda-fired, stamped

While running holiday errands today I “just happened” to pick-up a yummy bottle of egg nog. Couldn’t wait to break it open… and it’s good for me, right? It’s a dairy product… for strong teeth and bones! Ha!!!

Save

Save

Categories: holiday, television

Tired of the capitalism of Christmas?
Frustrated with crowded stores and fighting over that one doll left on the shelf?
Well, here’s an alternative. A new holiday… a FESTIVUS for the rest of us!

No Christmas Tree to decorate. Just a simple aluminum pole.
No Christmas Carols… just the “Airing of Grievances.”
No Christmas Presents… just the “Feats of Strength.”
Enticing, right?

Click here for a “Seinfeld” FESTIVUS recap video on YouYube.
… and another piece of the puzzle falls in place!

And nothing says “Christmas” like all the happy faces around the table.

So here’s an addition to consider for EVERYONE’s gift list for next year…

Save

Save

Categories: creativity, holiday, television

Okay, so I’m not a huge fan of Mariah Carey. So there. I said it.
But I do like James Corden… and I LOVE Carpool Karaoke!!!
So this one is pretty cute… and it just gets better.

Click here to watch the Carpool Karaoke Video on YouTube!

I love when a plan comes together!!!
And they must have been planning this one for quite some time!!!
Just some of the others in the car…

Categories: bike, Chicago, sunset

Sure, maybe I should have been Christmas shopping? Or wrapping presents? Or one of a million other things on my to-do list?! But it was surprisingly warm (comparatively) this afternoon so I just had to head out on my bike! Christmas stuff can wait till tomorrow, right? Why rush.

And while the sunset was brightening the western sky, it was fun to see the festive Christmas colors on top of the John Hancock Building downtown!

Categories: seasons

Here’s to Winter. Welcome back.
Here’s to days getting longer and nights getting shorter.
Here’s to one tiny step closer to Summer!!!

Save

Categories: food, friends

So you know how I LOVE sweet treats. And how I LOVE my Talented Friends!!!
And how special it is when they both come together. Like today!!!
Look what was waiting for me when I got home today!!!

A very “sweet” care package from a Facebook Friend in Alabama. Donnalee and I have been friends online for a few years now as she follows my Facebook page as a fellow potter and fan. She’s purchased a couple mugs online and shared Selifies you may heve seen here recently. But when I found out that she lives on a farm and produces natural honey… errrr… back it up… FRESH HOMEGROWN HONEY?!!! Who doesn’t like fresh honey??? So we decided to do a little trading. Who doesn’t like a good trade?!

So my good box arrived in the mail today. I quickly opened it and was thrilled to find a couple different kinds of honey, all homegrown in Pelham, Alabama at Blankenship Farms! A couple different jars of honey and some fun sticks of honey.

And oh, but wait there’s more… PEPPERMINT HONEY???
Who would have thought? It sounds perfect for the season…
and I can’t wait to give it a try!!! Not sure in what?… with what?… or just on a spoon?

So if you like honey as much as I do… and like supporting small, family-owned businesses, please click here for Blankenship Farms. And when you do, tell Donnalee I sent you to Blankenship Farms!!! Their Facebook page can link you a few different options of where to find their honey.

Would you love to get some of this…

 

Save

Save

Categories: friends, holiday, My Talented Friends, ornaments

We’re inching ever closer to Christmas… days away now…
and we’ve finalluy made it to the end of the Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan was for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year. And we’ve finally done it. Four of My Talented Friends joining me for a year of holiday ornaments… and crossing the Finish Line with another festive batch of ornaments!!!

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory’s ornaments for December are literally “out of this World!!!” Cory’s last entry in this year’s holiday ornament challenge is a collection of spaceships fresh out of a B-Movie!!! Charming. Adorable. Like they’re straight out of Flash Gordon!

And a splash of color like they’re flying through the Galaxy!


My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah went with a hydraulic pressed copper puff reminiscent of a pear!
Almost a partridge in a pear tree?!?


My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta decided to ring in the New Year this season with festive Christmas bells.
Each a small, hand-carved porcelain bell… ready to grant some angel their wings!

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
Amy went sterling again this month with three curvy & hinged pendants each with a sterling silver bezel. Beautiful scrolls dangling from your Christmas tree… or on a chain around your neck? Or the perfect gift for that special someone… maybe even YOU!


My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
My December ornaments kind of went on a “journey ” this month. Each month we tried to come up with ONE idea for one ornament. But somehow, with this being the final month of the challenge, I had trouble narrowing it down to one. First I started with a large snowflake. This was the first prototype. My plan was to do large textured snowflakes (surprising, huh?) but it seemed heavier than I wanted it to be. I still like the idea… but maybe I’ll try again next year!

Next I decided to try out a new snowflake stamp on a concave disk…
but I kind of felt like I’ve done this “trick” before. Different stamp. Different size.
Still too similar.

And then I saw these wonderful stylized peacocks in a window display in Dallas
and they’ve been stuck in my head ever since.

So I went back to my high “quilling” days… and created stylized peacock feathers.
Or maybe too much like a pinched cinnamon roll? Not quite sure how these might be glazed? Another challenge I’ll put off for the New Year.

So I finally landed on some colorful fish for my final ornament.
Each one has stamped “scales” and colored fins, head & tail. I made them out of terra cotta
so I could get them single-fired in time for Christmas. As you may recall, I like to dry thin
flat pieces on plastic grid to help avoid warping.

And then a quick coat of clear glaze sprayed on… and yes,
this odd green color will fire to be a shiny clear!

I kind of loved the residue left on my banding wheel after spraying the fish
while sitting on the plastic grid.

A quick cone 06 firing and we have a shiny school of Christmas fish!

So there they are… December ornaments from My Talented Friends
Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Amazing how the year has come and gone so quickly.
Twelve months of holiday ornaments. And how we’re all wishing you a very
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save