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

Without the sun, with plenty of clouds instead!

Categories: architecture

Not every often do you get to see Navy Pier’s Festival Hall with nothing in it. Usually it’s filled with trade shows, garden shows, the SOFA art show, Winter WonderFest… err, well this year… LIGHT UP THE LAKE! A fun new illuminated holiday event sure to come back again next year!

Categories: architecture, Chicago, theater

Masked & triple-vaxxed… it felt so great to be back to live theater last night! It has been FAR too long. Sure, some last minute free tickets helped too! We went to see the new “revival” of OKLAHOMA! An updated twist on the original Rodger’s & Hammerstein musical.

While there were a lot of talented performers onstage, I think there were also a “few” bad choices along the way. I understand trying to update it a bit… but I was “confused” by the lack of scene changes, the IKEA furniture, the total black-out dialogues, the video close-up projections & the dream dance scene… which honestly, is a little much in the movie too?!

But again, the talent was there… and it felt so great to back in a beautifully classic theater again! One step closer to a small bit of “normal” again.

Categories: architecture, color

Blue skies & gridded girders making geodesic geometry in the Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier.

Categories: architecture, Chicago, garden, sunrise

Morning sunrise through the palm trees of Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier. Not quite a tropical getaway… but if you imagine really hard…

Categories: architecture, photography

Rural road trip barn… my favorite along Route 55.

Categories: architecture, sunrise

Gotta love a good morning road trip!!!

Categories: architecture, flowers, nature

Sometimes a simple weed is so much more. I love the way that nature always finds its own way… even when there’s just a crack of dirt, a slice of sun and a lot of architectural structure all around.

Categories: architecture, bike

While riding without a plan, my bike ride down Old Route 66 took me back to my alma mater last Sunday… Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. It was weird being back… so much has changed… and yet everything was still the same?! The trees were bigger. The buildings seemed closer together. The classic buildings are still there… but they’re now mixed with newer & larger buildings. It was a great turn-around rest stop for my bike ride, but a little eerie with no one wandering around the Quad… as it was Summer, a Sunday & and holiday! A great stop with some great memories!

Categories: architecture, bike, flowers, nature

Another beautiful Spring day perfect for another bike ride! Not a cloud in the sky as I pedaled north… past Northwestern University, the Gross Point Lighthouse, the Baha’i Temple, the huge houses in the fancy suburbs, Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, Fort Sheridan and finally turned around at the Great Lakes Naval Base. Blue skies & spring flowers the entire way… and a gentle headwind on the way back!