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

Another one of the benefits of Lillstreet postponing the start of our Winter session by a week… the overflowing buckets of reclaim clay from last session should be taken care of! Fresh new reclaimed clay for everyone!!! Hopefully.

And let me just say…
This pile of overflowing clay would NEVER have happened if my Summer Campers were still around! They love pushing it through the grate… breaking it down into smaller pieces as intended! This pile-up would never have happened in my camp!!!

Categories: clay, process, studio

Goopey-gloppy fun! Another wonderful pile of reclaimed clay. Lots of scraps, trimmings & dried clay reconstituted into new clay!!! Now I just need to let it sit here on my plaster bat for a few days to help suck out the extra moisture… and then it’s just a LOT of wedging until it’s back to good re-usable FREE CLAY!

Categories: clay, process, production

Well, we’ve finally made it to the end of the month… and I can’t believe tomorrow is already October!!! How did THAT happen??? Anyway, the end of the month also means another CHAIN for the Monthly Chain Challenge! I started awhile back… with this little pile of extruded fun!!!

Categories: clay, process, production, terra cotta, The Ghouls Collection

Another batch of balls… another batch of Ghouls!!!
Next weekend is ART IN THE BARN… after a long year’s hiatus… so it’s time to introduce a new member into The Ghouls Collection!

Giddy-up Ghouls!!!

Categories: clay, lillstreet, process, summer camp, terra cotta

Starting out the morning with clean reclaim buckets… as Nate volunteered to press all of the dried reclaim terra cotta through the grate on top… as intended. I love when my Summer Campers just start volunteering to do projects around the studio making it a better place for everyone. As though they’re part of the community. Taking one for the team. Now if we could just get some more of the adult students to follow Nate’s lead… wouldn’t THAT be great?!

Categories: clay, summer camp

So it’s another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp… and another week of “covered” CUTENESS!!! I mean, really… pretty darn cute even with hands covered with a gloppy-goopey mess & half of her face covered with her yellow mask!!!

Categories: clay, summer camp

When new clay meets “graveyard” reclaimed clay during Summer Camp!!! So my wheelthrowing campers “recycle” their bad & shmooshed pots by slightly drying them out on plaster bats and then wedging them back together with some new clay! Looks like it might be another Marbled Monday!

Categories: classes, clay

And apparently THIS is something new?… I guess the class last night thought it was a good idea to dry their clay in front of a fan??? Too bad it was still there this morning with the fan still going!!!! My campers would never let this happen! Just sayin’…

Categories: clay, lillstreet, process, summer camp

Well, we’re finishing up another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp… and what better way than by having the kids clean-up after themselves… and after some of the adults too! Once again they decided to push the reclaim clay through the grid & wash down the bucket.

Something I’ve NEVER seen an adult student do…
and never with such a cute face involved!!!

Categories: bowls, clay, process

Trimming off the ribbons from this bowl thrown with marbled clay. I love trimming with my DiamondCore Tools … especially when shaving off the outer “skin” of the blurred clay to reveal the stark contrast of the marbled clay inside. Looks like it’s MARBLED MONDAY… spinning & trimming on my wheel!