Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: bowls, classes, stamped, surface decoration

Here are the same bowls from this week’s class demo on how to make bowls on purpose… and then turn them into “not-so-basic bowls.” We did a bunch of altering & slip painting in class… but then you know I come from the school of MORE IS MORE. So I “may have” done a bit more stamping & detailing in my studio this weekend. Allegedly…

Categories: flowers, soda-fired, stamped, vases

Sweet little stamped & soda-fired vase filled with some beautiful flowers.
Great colors & great textures. Thanks for sharing Tiffany!

Categories: Chicago, workout

As part of my morning bike ride, I went down to cheer on the Chicago Marathon runners! After doing it last year, I know how much better the cheering crowd can make make their day. So I was there watching… impressed by the wheelchair racers coming through first… intrigued by the Elite runners who flew by in no-time flat… impressed by the first couple waves of fast runners who oddly seem to “enjoy” running (not jogging) while gliding by quickly & effortlessly… and then “my peeps”… the ones in the later Race Corrals like M & N. The ones who you can tell are NOT full-time runners, but excited to tackle the day & have a great time! They’re going to have a LONG day out in the breeze & chilly weather… but they’re also going to have a great time going through so many of Chicago’s great neighborhoods! Just keep moving forward… and HAVE FUN TODAY!!!

Categories: nature

Also looking around the lakefront… enjoying the sunrise and looking for breakfast… a local hawk hanging out & resting on a street lamp! Not sure what kind he is… Red-Tailed Hawk?… Cooper’s Hawk?… but at least he wasn’t looking at me too closely as I pedaled past.

Categories: flowers, nature

While the waves crash around at the lakefront… and there’s also beautiful rocks & flowers right there if you happen to look around the other way!

Categories: bike, sunrise

Another chilly morning for long sleeves & gloves… with a crisp wind blowing in with crazy cool clouds for some morning drama! Always fun when the waves are crashing in all around… where timing is everything… kinda makes the sunrise photo shoot more like a lakefront game!!!

Categories: holiday, terra cotta, The Ghouls Collection

It’s the first chilly Saturday night of October… and the Ghouls are coming out to party!!! Here’s an almost complete collection sparkling with some festive Halloween lights… missing just a couple Ghouls from the party! Thanks for sharing Chris!

Categories: flowers, soda-fired, stamped, vases

With the weekend cold-front moving through with threats of frost up in Wisconsin, looks like Kristy has been pulling in the last of her garden’s flowers inside to enjoy. Before they freeze to death… ugh... good plan Kristy!

Categories: color, nature, seasons

Another beautiful blue-sky afternoon… perfect for another bike ride along the lakefront. A bit on the chilly side… long sleeves & gloves again. But I wasn’t quite ready for trees to be changing colors already! As much as I love Fall… I’m not quite ready for it. But let’s be real… this tree is in fact BEAUTIFUL in the beginning of its Fall coloring!!! Okay… so maybe I’ll be “ready” soon…

Categories: classes, food

And while we were having a “bowl party” in class last week… it was oddly appropriate that Chris brought “party-size” OREOs to class! Possibly the biggest package of OREOs we’ve ever seen in class!!! … burp.