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

Kicking off the last day of this week’s Summer Camp with a festive splash of color!
You know how I LOVE a good tie-dye!!!

Categories: classes, platters, stamped

So then this happened tonight!!!
I subbed for the Thursday night Soda Firing Class at Lillstreet.
We did a lot of chatting, solving all of the question of the pottery world…
and did a little stamping along the way!

Categories: lillstreet, sculpture, summer camp

This week my little Summer Campers have been working hard building large sculptures… photos to come! Tomorrow we finish painting them in the morning and set-up a gallery show for the afternoon. If you’re around town and looking for a fun art experience… c’mon by for the kid’s Sculpture Art Gallery Show at Lillstreet from 3:00-3:30pm in the Kid’s Rooms!

Categories: bike, sunrise

So glad the yesterday’s crazy heat wave has subsided, and that this morning
we were back to BEAUTIFUL!!! Basically clear skies, a gently breeze, colorful horizon
with a gorgeous day on tap.

Oh yeah… and something odd going on near Fullerton beach with all the major TV news crews there this morning… and what looked like a capsized boat of some sort?! Seemed kind of small for all that commotion?

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Categories: platters, stamped

Looks like someone has been paying attention in class?! One of my students did a bit of stamping this past Tuesday night… and her plates are looking AMAZING!!! Well done Michelle!

Categories: bike, sunset

Clouds today, but yesterday… beautiful pastoral colors, gentle reflections & hazy fog layers blowing through the City yesterday morning. Two different mornings, two different rides. Either way, it’s always the best way to start the day!

Categories: sunrise

Not much in the way of a sunrise this morning…
it was more about that one huge cloud that blocked it out early today!
Dramatic cloud-cover with a simple green reflection.

Categories: classes, flowers, vases

Another beautiful piece finished from our Lillstreet Throwdown pottery class… a sweet vase made by Jon during our “decorate a cylinder with one crazy tool” challenge! The pink peonies are a nice touch too. Well done Bucky!!!

Categories: mugs, porcelain, process, production, stamped

There’s been so much going on these days, that it was tough to find time to finish these mugs! Spray. Re-cover. Repeat. I was so happy that I finally found time last night to get them done. Score. Slip. Attach. Repeat.

My handles start out with a wedged “carrot” of clay. I then pull them the traditional way… with a bit of water and lot of friction!

When I have the handles pulled to my desired width & thickness…
I like to flip them into a loop, stand them up to let them stiffen up
with the curve already established.

So for now they’re drying slowly under plastic. I’ll do a last-minute cleaning & smoothing of the attachments today when I take off the plastic.

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Categories: bowls, classes, mugs, porcelain

It’s always fun to see finished work by some of my students… even if it is MONTHS later!!! Like these pieces that Dave finally got around to glazing. Beautiful porcelain pieces made during out Lillstreet Pottery Throwdown class back in January! And I totally get it… I have a tendency to let my bisque pile up as well as my least favorite part of the process is glazing!!!