Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play |
Still on our bikes Friday… and yet another reason to STOP!!! I mean, how many times do you get to stop and see a flock of emu running around?! Crazy cool birds – so odd, pretty ugly & kinda prehistoric! All good reasons to stop my bike to see the emus!!!
While the clouds roll through today, it was a beautifully sunny day yesterday… perfect for a bike ride up to where the “path ends” and back again. Such a pretty day pedaling north to the Great Lakes Naval Base, through Fort Sheridan, Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Chicago River North Branch Trail.
Great fun to find my friends Allison & Terry at Openlands…
while he was busy trying to balance more rocks along the lakefront!
With the past couple days of rain, and a LOT of rain…
it was no surprise that much of the North Branch Bike Trail was FLOODED!!!
But the weather this afternoon was so nice that I couldn’t let a little “closed” sign deter me too much! But a lot of the bike trail and its surrounding areas were flooded… new ponds & streams where they’re not supposed to be! Still a great ride if you know how to work around the floods… and always fun to see the deer hanging out along the way!
Another wonderful sculpture on the Loyola campus. More of that wonderful patina color & texture I love so much… plus cool angles & lines!
And for the record…
YES there are elk in Elk Grove Village!!!
Okay, so let’s not get crazy. I grew up in Elk Grove Village so it is no surprise to me. However, they’re all “contained” in a fenced-in area of the Busse Woods Forest Preserve. It’s not like I just happened upon him in a clearing while hiking… which would have been SO much cooler & such a better story to share!!! Still very majestic and always to cool to spend time playing out in nature.
After playing at Morgan Farm, Chris & I got back on our bikes and pedaled our way up to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Where we were greeted by hoards of butterflies all over the place… both Painted Ladies & Monarchs! They were swarming a large sage-salvia plant, just in case you were wondering.
Many of us have been fans of Brett Kern and his amazing ceramic sculptures of blown-up dinosaurs… including his tell-tale gold-plated valves! So imagine my surprise & disgust when I saw his work being blatantly plagiarized at BLICK ART SUPPLY!!! A place where you would assume they support artists and their livelihoods. Show your support by NOT buying these at Blick, but instead follow him on Instagram @brettkernart.
Blue skies. Clear skies… and a couple geese! Could it get any more BEAUTIFUL?!!!
It was a very HOT day today… 101-degrees after nearly 101-miles through the rural farms in “the land past DeKalb”. Very hot & sweaty, with salt stains on my shorts, what felt like gallons of Gatorade and a few four-legged friends along the way. A very steamy & satisfying Century bike ride!!! Thank you to all of the Beanzie volunteers who kept us well-hydrated today!
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Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
Lillstreet Studios ∙ 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois 60640 ∙ 773-307-8664 gary@firewhenreadypottery.com |
