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

This week at our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, my students brought back their set of four matching cylinders… now turned into matching mugs! Well kinda. Their week-long challenge was to convert their matching cylinders to matching mugs in terms of construction. And then to decorate them to be a good “matching” set where the cups don’t actually match, but have a great continuity of design that ties them all together. And oh, but wait there’s more… they also had to utilize at least four out of the five patterns… * spirals * stripes * polka dots * plaids * paisley.  With an added contingency that all four cups could NOT be identical in design. Just how I like it…. vaguely specific! And open to a lot of interpretation… as longs as they made their decoration “creative, thoughtful, deliberate & beautiful.”

So here we go… quite a few exciting & creative  entries into this week’s THROWDOWN challenge!

Taylor’s tall mugs with carved details…

Melanie’s “petticoat-inspired” colorful mugs with perfectly matching round handles.

Helen’s short stoneware mugs with carved accents…

Dana’s tall cylinders… whoops, no handles?… with beautifully carved patterns.

Jen’s cuties with carved “diagonal” details…

Molly’s colorful animal-inspired mugs… where each animal is based on one of the patterns!

Stacey went for a more “business” look with patterned ties on each cup!

Jacob went for detailed texture on his set which is destined for the soda kiln…
during the Soda-Firing Workshop I’ll be teaching next month at Lillstreet Art Center.

Coming in at second place, these beautifully layered patterned cups by Tracy.
Carved patterns with layers of underglaze patterns.

And our BIG WINNER this week… Christine with these amazing “cartoon” cups.
AMAZING CREATIVITY!!!… and great craftsmanship. Each cup tells its own story utilizing the designated patterns, as well as some of the actual verbiage from the challenge itself!

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Categories: artists, creativity, inspiration, sculpture

Now if only we had a little more snow…
I could totally get outside to make one of these “tasty” snow sculptures! HA!!!
Thanks to Snow Art Zone for the inspiration!

Categories: Chicago, creativity, inspiration, sculpture

Okay, so who else remembers these?!… or maybe it’s just a Chicago-thing???
Automatic plastic molded sculptures while you wait!!! Who doesn’t want that?!

The sound of the machine cranking.
The clear bubble to let you see it working.
The smell of the molten plastic.
Pulling them out of the slot while they’re still hot.
Having to carry them upside-down while the plastic cools & solidifies!!!
Whenever we went to the Zoo or a Museum, we would get to choose which ONE of these little statues we wanted as a souvenir.

And every time I smell that melted plastic… I’m eight years old again!!!

For even more about the MOLD-A-RAMA… click here!

I’d like to add a little side note… maybe a little bit of a “Spoiler Alert”???

While I was in the Primate House, the Mold-A-Rama technician was there cleaning the machine and putting any of the errant plastic back into the reservoir. I mentioned how much I loved the Mold-A-Rama as a kid… and how the smell was such a childhood flashback. Then he mentioned that they’ve been working on trying to make a candle that actually has that classic Mold-A-Rama scent!!! Yes, please!!!

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Categories: color, creativity, patterns

Okay, so I have this odd “fascination” with ugly hotel & theater carpets!!!
They’re always crazy colors, patterns & designs that go with NOTHING ELSE!!!
So imagine my surprise when I found this one to be not so terrible… uh oh…
sure, nothing I would want in my house… but it caught me off guard,
and now I’m a bit concerned my taste-level might be in question?!

Categories: creativity

Even though we didn’t dress up, several others did for the HOT CHOCOLATE RUN yesterday!

Categories: creativity, murals

Another photo category in the challenge!
Murals along the route in downtown Chicago.

Categories: creativity, friends

Everyone’s smiling down on the farm…
including the machinery & my friend Rosene!

Categories: artists, creativity, inspiration

Here’s “THE SHIP OF TOLERANCE” by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov that has been “docked” down on Navy Pier for the past month or so as part of EXPO Chicago. A wonderful art installation that utilizes a sail hand-painted by local schoolkids to highlight tolerance & inclusiveness. A wonderful concept for the kids to discuss & embrace. Sadly, today is the final day of the Ship’s tour of Chicago… as it will now sail off to its next destination.

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Categories: artists, creativity

Rockin’ a new squirrel… ‘cuz I’m “nuts” for this new t-shirt from Hooey Batiks!

Categories: creativity, food, platters, stamped

So much fun to see this pop-up in my INSTAGRAM feed… thanks to Ria V. Ceramics for sharing her “yummy masterpiece” on one of my stamped & glazed platters! Seriously?… you can only smile when you see this!!! SIMPLY BRILLIANT!!!

Direct from her INSTA feed…
My @firewhenreadypottery platter came in handy today when I was looking for
something to use for my fruit platter. The design didn’t quite turn out the way
I wanted it to… but it was still eaten!

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