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

“I swear it just jumped off my ware board!!!”
Sometimes gravity does NOT work in your favor!

It was one of my class demo mugs last night…
and it didn’t quite make it back to my studio?!

Luckily… IT’S JUST CLAY!

Categories: classes, mugs

Last night in class, my Beginning Wheel students tackled trimming & pulling handles… making their first MUGS of the new session! Not too shabby for their second class, right???!

Categories: mugs, process, production, wheelthrowing

Another Monday for making more mugs!!! Yep, after a busy weekend at ART IN THE GARDEN… there’s no rest for the weary! Gotta make more… more… more! I have another soda kiln to fill in a week and a half… yikes! Making more stuff for ART IN THE BARN!!!

Categories: art fair, mugs

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend. We had perfect weather & great surroundings. I mean, could the background for my booth have been any greener?! So much fun hanging out & chatting with so many fun people! Thanks for coming!!

Also a big thanks to Amy & Tom for hosting the event every year…
as well as our merry band of talented artists who never cease to amaze me!
So great to play with you all this weekend!

Categories: animals, art fair, hybrid mugs, mugs, soda-fired

Plus, it looks like I may have had an overnight critter visiting my booth… ever-so-gently “admiring” some of my hybrid mugs. Luckily they were on the top shelf… so no harm, no foul.

Categories: glaze, mugs, textures, tools

Doing some glazing tonight for my soda kiln firing this weekend. Like these “hybrid mugs” that have been dipped in a flashing slip & now have a layer of tenmoku glaze rubbed in to highlight the textures. You know how I love making mugs… and I love these textures made with MKM Pottery Tools. The perfect combination!

Categories: classes, mugs

It was a REAL Mugshot Monday in my Intermediate Wheel class this week. It was our final class of the session, and we ended with a great “trading-exchanging-stealing-white elephant” kind of game! With a category of four MATCHING MUGS!!! Almost everyone played along… even one student who didn’t quite get them glazed in time! And that is the set I got in the trade… with a promise from Kathy that she will glaze them for me soon!!! But she likes glazing almost as much as I do… NOT!!!

Christine’s Mugs

Darcy’s Mugs

Stephanie’s Mugs

Abena’s Mugs … which also STACK!!!

Maryana’s Mugs

D’s Mugs

Kathy’s UNGLAZED Mugs

And MY stamped mugs… and a brand new reveal “chambray blue” glaze!

Categories: flowers, hybrid mugs, mugs, soda-fired, vases

Celebrating another Mugshot Monday with a splash of color! As someone who does not drink coffee or tea, I don’t use many mugs. Ironically, the mug is my all-time favorite thing to make… and I make a LOT of them! So for those non-caffeine drinkers… mugs make great vases too!

Categories: glaze, mugs, stamped

Fresh from the kiln… for another Mugshot Monday! For tonight’s final night of the session for my Intermediate Wheel class, our “white elephant trading stealing exchanging game” was a set of four matching mugs! Of course I had to play along… and I made two sets! Giving myself options to pick out my favorite set of four… with a few “extras” to choose from.

And wait… what is that? A new glaze color??? Yes!!! The very first pieces out of the kiln in the new chambray blue color. I’m not quite sure yet. I like the green so much better… but the blue might grow on me?!

You tell me… Do we like it or not???

Categories: mugs, production, stamped

So here they are for now… lots of new mugs with some of them “destined” to be part of our class trading & exchanging game for the final night of my Intermediate Wheel class. Still gotta lot to do… drying, bisque firing, glazing & firing again… with the deadline quickly approaching… giddy-up!