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

Homemade food always tastes better on handmade pottery!
And I’m sure Matthew’s pear tart was AMAZING!!!

Categories: challenge, friends

Looks like the hunt has begun! Allison has found her first fortune cookie of 2024… perched high in a tree!!! There are plenty more out there… gotta keep searchin’ searchin’… cue the song by Del Shannon!

Categories: food, friends, holiday, platters, pottery, stamped

Looks like I wasn’t the only one who made homemade chocolate chip cookies for New Years Eve! My friends Mike & Patty also made a batch… and served them on one of my stamped platters! As everyone knows that homemade food tastes even better on handmade pottery! Even Casey their boxer had his eye on them!

Categories: friends, holiday

Celebrating a beautiful night showing off a beautiful collection of ceramic Christmas Trees… in a beautiful display cabinet. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday weekend. And thanks to Keith & Julie for sharing their collections with us.

But wait… what is that?… a red & white peppermint-striped tree?…
perhaps some festive inspiration for next year???

Categories: art fair, friends, My Talented Friends

I’ve always said how much I LOVE having talented friends! Like metalsmith Sarah Chapman who made all of these beauties… which you can come see tomorrow in person at the ONE OF A KIND SHOW at the Merchandise Mart downtown. I’ll be there helping her again tomorrow in Booth 2118 until 5:00pm. Be sure to stop by… her work is AMAZING!

Categories: food, friends, platters

And what better way to celebrate than with some yummy cookies
on a pretty green platter?! One of my green, stamped platters with my friend Kristen’s cookies!!!
A perfect combination!

Categories: food, friends, platters, pottery

For Kristen’s “First Dibs” Pottery Sale & Open House last night, she sent out electronic invitations… and reminders. But then she tempted me… err, I mean taunted me… with this photo. Yummy brownies on one of my platters!!! So… I had to go now, right?! It would have “rude” not to!!! HA!!!

Categories: artists, friends, My Talented Friends, pottery, surface decoration

So last night my longtime friend & pottery student Kristen had a little “First Dibs” party before launching her pottery website today! As a former metalsmith, it’s been fun watching her work in clay instead of metal. And seeing her skills & designs grow & evolve so quickly. You can tell she’s been listening to my lessons… especially my “More Is More” mantra! Congrats Kristen… so proud of you!!!

I came home with this little brown cup. Which was actually a class demo… that I offered for someone else to finish. Kristen was the first to claim it… and look what she did to my “plain” demo cylinder!!!

Categories: art fair, friends, pottery

And a special THANK YOU shout-out to my friend Sharon who made a great Instagram post about her trip to my place! She’s a real estate agent showing off her photography skills. Capturing a lot of my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW… as I didn’t quite have the time to do it myself!!! Thanks Sharon!

And if you didn’t make it… see what you missed?!!! HA!!!

Categories: friends, platters, pottery

My friend Kristen who is currently a pottery collector, pottery lover & pottery student in my Monday night class… put together this wonderful stack of plates! The bottom “charger” plate is by my studio neighbor Karen Patinkin, my stamped green dinner plate in the middle… and then Kristen’s own blue spiraled salad plate on top! Not at all planned that way… but a BEAUTIFUL collection of plates. Different colors, different styles, from different times. And yet they look like they were meant to be this way!!!