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

Tonight I signed up for my third workshop with Julia Galloway!
If you want to see beautiful pots, extreme detail and exquisite design… this is the
clay workshop to sign-up for. Julia’s coming back to Lillstreet Art Center for another
two-day workshop on February 18th & 19th. And there are only 10 spaces left!

My first workshop with Julia Galloway was several years ago. I had just started pottery
classes, and had finally moved on from my Beginner’s class to Intermediate. I was still
pretty new and didn’t think that I was ready for a workshop with such an established &
renowned ceramic artist. Plus it was more expensive than I was ready to pay. Luckily,
a few of my “more advanced” friends at Lillstreet convinced me to sign up for the workshop.
So I did. Thanks Amy. And within the first 10 minutes of the workshop I was hooked. Not
only is Julia Galloway’s work exquisite, but she’s also extremely eloquent, insightful and so
approachable. In the workshop she demonstrated her construction methods, as well as
her decoration tricks & techniques. I was enamored from the get-go. I could just sit there
and listen to her talk. Her anecdotes. Her insights. Her creative turn-of-phrase.

A few years later, Lillstreet Art Center moved to its current location on Ravenswood.
Julia Galloway was one of the first artists to come there for a Visiting Artist Workshop.
And I was right there ready for another workshop… and to be her workshop assistant!
By then I was a studio monitor, teaching assistant, had moved on to more advanced classes
and totally understood the benefit of taking a workshop from someone of Julia’s caliber…
regardless of the price!

As her workshop assistant, I also had the opportunity to work more closely with Julia.
Including helping her install her solo show in the Lillstreet Gallery. It was great to have some
quality time with her to discuss her work, as she also asked me about mine, as we unpacked
and put out her stunning pieces. Part of her show was this incredible & crazy collection of
tumblers. Each on it’s own shelf. But the crazy part was that when I put them all on the
shelves in the correct sequence, an image appeared across the collection. Like magic. Oh,
but wait there’s more…
when you turned all of the tumblers around to show the opposite
side, the same image appeared but only as a black & white line drawing across all of the
tumblers! Luckily, someone just happened to catch me passing the installation one day…
me in my apron, smirking with a bunch of stunning tumblers behind me!

So now she’s coming back to Lillstreet Art Center for another 2-Day Workshop. She’ll be
showing her techniques, sharing her stories and hopefully giving away all of her secrets!
I’m very excited to be going to her workshop once again. My Julia Galloway Trifecta.
Each time that I’ve seen Julia in person, I’ve been at a very different stage in my ceramic
career. The first time I was a beginner, recently engulfed in clay. My second workshop I
was becoming proficient but wasn’t sure where my “path” would take me. This time, I look
forward to seeing her again with my current perspective as a now “professional” potter
working to make a living while playing in the clay!

In fact, I’m so excited and encouraging everyone to sign-up… so much so, that Sam,
my Tuesday night wheelthrowing assistant, has already secured her spot as Julia’s assistant
for the workshop! Hopefully she’ll have a similarly wonderful experience that I did
when I was Julia’s workshop assistant.

Sign up today – click here to register online with Lillstreet Art Center.
As of tonight, there were only ten spaces left for this special workshop!

2 Comments

cathy smith

January 10th, 2012

Hi..I am a beginning potter and am interested in your class. Can you give me details?
Thanks so much.
Cathy Smith

January 21st, 2012

HEY CATHY – Sorry it took me awhile to get to this?! I teach classes at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. It’s a Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing class. For those who have never touched clay… all the way up to those who want to refine their skills and have fun. My class is every Tuesday night from 7:00-10:00pm. Most classes are a 10-week session, except for summer when it’s just an 8-week session. We start each session with introductions and a discussion if who’s in class and what they want to cover during the session. And then I develop our syllabus based on where they’re at and what projects they want to tackle. We cover the basics of wedging, centering & throwing… but I’m not afraid to challenge them along the way! I hope that covers it for you. If you need more information, check out the Lillstreet Art Center website at http://www.lillstreet.com.

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