Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: glaze, kiln firing, platters, stamped, textures

A pretty little purple platter fresh out of last night’s kiln… before & after. It’s amazing what a little kiln magic can do to some powdered glaze chemicals!!!

Categories: kiln firing

A good sign to start the day… my favorite 4-letter word!!!

Categories: glaze, holiday, kiln firing, process, production

Glazed, loaded & ready to go! Just need to shut the lid, cross my fingers & turn the kiln on! A big batch of glazed Christmas Trees coming soon for this weekend’s Second Holiday Home Show!!!

Categories: kiln firing

Right on schedule…
one last kiln to unload before this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

Categories: kiln firing

Solving the mystery of the “missing” cone pack! Remember when I was firing my kiln, a couple hours into it I finally took out the top peep to look at the cone pack… only to find that it was just plain GONE!!! So it turns out that the top cone pack literally exploded at some point. It must have still been damp inside or too thick. My concern was that the shrapnel would end up inside some of my pots!!! Luckily, none of the pots were affected. The cone pack “parts & pieces” ended up on the shelf next to it… and a few pieces fell all the way down to the kiln floor. The unexpected hazards of firing a kiln!

Categories: kiln firing, process, production, soda-fired

It’s a rainy & windy day… perfect for sharing some more photos from my recent soda firing! Lots of pots ready for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW in two weeks! So now I just need to prep & price them all… as well as setting up all the shelves & decorating my place! The pottery party is in just two weeks!!!

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

Well, here it is… my soda kiln full of pots!

Plenty of shelves covered with pots of all shapes & sizes! Looks like it was a good firing… even without a top cone pack! Plenty of vibrant colors & good soda “glaze” coverage. Gearing up for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW which is just a couple weeks away! How can that be?… it still feels like summer!!! More photos to come…

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

Another layer closer to the “big reveal”…
and already loving the bright colors!!!

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

The first sneak peeks… so far, so good!

Categories: kiln firing

First layer of bricks taken out…