Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: classes, food, platters, pottery, stamped

Tonight was the last class for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class… celebrating again with a potluck & a “trading-stealing-exchanging” game. Category for the trade was a “not-so-basic bowl”. While the theme for our potluck was “Dips And The Vehicle To Get Them In Your Mouth .”

I decided to up-my-game, and yet stay brand loyal… with Hot Cocoa OREO’s and a fluffy Hot Cocoa Dip!!! A double whammy of yummy goodness!!!

Categories: classes, color, food

By the end of class tonight, I came away with this beautiful pie plate made by Christine… a former student who just wanted to be part of our game!!! And the last of Martin’s tart cherry pie-lets?… pocket pie?… fold-over… ??? Well, whatever you call them… they were AMAZING!!! And look pretty amazing in Christine’s retro striped pie plate too!!! Great game, great potluck & such talented students this session!!!

Categories: classes, food

And there it is… hot out of the oven & just in time for the potluck at tonight’s Wheelthrowing class!!! A fun pie that tastes, smells & looks like apple pie… with absolutely NO APPLES!!! No apples, no apple juice, no applesauce… nothing!!! Just a bunch of boiled crackers!!! Go figure… but in a handmade pie dish to make it look a little nicer!

You gotta know the pressure I was under… knowing the Martin our “Top Baker” would be judging my efforts. I figured I could never win with a “real” pie… but maybe some bonus points for this quirky throwback recipe?!

Categories: classes, food

Tonight was the last class for my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… with a potluck to celebrate!
So I had to step-up and throw something together quick before class!!!

Still boiling… it’s coming together. Soon to be pie filling!!!

Categories: classes, food, platters, stamped

While we do get some pottery done in my classes, we do like our sweet treats too! And last night Jen brought a huge bag of “freshly-picked-that-morning” apples to class for all of us! Heirloom & organic from her family’s farm… two varieties… and so many we all left with a bag full! So nice, so yummy… thanks Jen!!! They might just wash down some of the cookies & candies we’ve been eating in class lately! HA!

Categories: classes, food

Last night in class we had some pre-Halloween sweet treats! Yummy mummies from our own “Star Baker” Martin… lemon verbena shortbread complete with his own homegrown lemon verbena!!!

Plus the creamiest-ever peanut-butter buckeyes by Barclay!
A yummy way to kick-off our on-going holiday of Halloween treats!!!

Categories: classes, food

Last night in my pottery class we had some sweet treats again! One of my students made these AMAZING cupcakes as a “test run” for a Halloween Party next week. She was being so hard on herself as she hated how the chocolate ganache & white piping didn’t drag together with a toothpick to form cute spiderweb designs as planned. However… they were full of ooey-gooey chocolatey yumminess! And it didn’t hurt any that there was a hidden marshmallow frosting center inside!!! She hated them so much that she asked me not to mention her name in connection with said cupcakes?! Okay… but her name starts with a P… and rhymes with Riya! HA!!!

Categories: classes, food

Well, it looks like “Birthday Week” may have continued into “Birthday Two-Weeks”?! Tonight in my pottery class, one of my students Laury brought in “belated” birthday sweets… homemade OREO Rice Krispie Treats! While another student Katie found some imported mini-OREOs as a belated gift! Thanks you two… I have the BEST students ever!!!

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: 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.