Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
04.20.2011
Gary Jackson-demo bowl 8
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2 Comments

Claire

 November 12th, 2011 4:03 am

Hi Gary,

I’m thrilled to have discovered your pottery! I absolutely love your bowls and was inspired to try out a few of your styles using your photos for instruction.

I want to try to do the flowers and can see the imprint of the tool for the bottom petals but did you cut out the relief petals and lay them on top?

Also, what clays are you using for those bowls and are you using a thin slip for the squiggle flowers?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Claire
November 15th, 2011 12:21 am

HEY CLAIRE – So glad you’ve stopped by. And I love when my pictures inspire people to try some of my techniques. None of it’s rocket science. It’s just clay! As for the flower impressions, it’s just a simple pointed tool that I press in to create the flower. It’s the repetition that makes the pattern. The pointed tool presses into the clay, leaving the “high areas” which is actually just the original bottom surface of the bowl. Does that make sense?! There is nothing added to make the relief dimension. It’s just the pointed tool indented at an angle… repeatedly. The clay in these demo bowls is stoneware with iron from Continental Clay. And yes, there is a thin layer of slip on some of the bowls to change to color and add some contrast for the patterns. Does that answer some of your questions?! I’d love to see “your version” of the bowls after you try some of the techniques. Have fun… and stop back soon! GARY

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