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

And don’t forget the HOLIDAY HOME SHOW bargains on the back porch!!! It’s my annual “Tired of Shlepping Sale”!!! Lots of class demos, seconds & things I’m just tired of shlepping around to the art fairs! Big discounts while they last!!!

Categories: art fair, holiday, pottery

Morning light streaming through the dining room windows… shedding light on lots of pottery all prepped & ready for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW. And that’s just one wall… it’s everywhere in every room! So stop by my condo today or tomorrow from 10:00am-6:00pm! Time to start your holiday gift shopping!!!

Categories: classes, food, platters, pottery, stamped

Tonight was the last class for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class… celebrating again with a potluck & a “trading-stealing-exchanging” game. Category for the trade was a “not-so-basic bowl”. While the theme for our potluck was “Dips And The Vehicle To Get Them In Your Mouth .”

I decided to up-my-game, and yet stay brand loyal… with Hot Cocoa OREO’s and a fluffy Hot Cocoa Dip!!! A double whammy of yummy goodness!!!

Categories: art fair, holiday, pottery, special events

Time to start making your lists.. .and checking them twice! Hard to believe that next weekend is already my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! With pottery in every room of my condo all decked-out for Christmas, food & drink in the kitchen… and the ever-popular “Tired Of Schlepping Sale” on the back porch! So mark your calendars… while I’m busy in the studio & at home getting everything ready for another BIG Holiday Home Show!!! And bring your festive friends…

Categories: art fair, pottery

Count them if you don’t believe me! Even scarier… it’s just TWO FRIDAYS until my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! Yes, my annual pottery sale that is the perfect chance to kick-off your holiday gift shopping! I’ve got a lot to do in the studio before then, let alone setting it all up in my condo! Mark your calendars now… Saturday, November 18th & Sunday, November 19th from 10:00am-6:00pm. Start making your gift list, check it twice.. and bring a friend!!!

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!!!

Categories: food, holiday, pottery

Celebrating one of my favorite national holidays all-year long… today is NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY!!! You know, it’s one of my all-time favorites and it comes in so many varieties!!! How could I ever be expected to pick just one??? Tonight just happened to be CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! Celebrate!!!

Categories: food, mugs, pottery

But oddly, Taylor wasn’t the only “surprise visitor” in my art fair booth last weekend. So… I stopped & bought some grocery store cookies on my way to the fair for a snack. But when Taylor showed up with HOMEMADE cookies… the store-bought ones went to the side. I set them in a crate that had a couple overstock mugs & my t-shirt inside… and promptly forgot all about them.

So imagine my surprise when I showed up Sunday morning to find some cookies scattered around my booth… and a broken hybrid mug from the now toppled-over crate! I’m guessing that I might have had a little raccoon friend visiting overnight. At least he didn’t find Taylor’s cookies!!!

And… I guess the up-side of broken pottery is you get to analyze your own pottery skills a bit. My wall thickness looks pretty thin & even! Not bad… especially for a “hybrid” wheelthrown & handbuilt combo mug!!!

Categories: art fair, pottery

Another beautiful morning in the Lower Barn! My double booth is all set & restocked for Day Two of ART IN THE BARN… so be sure to stop for some pottery, chit-chat & art fair fun! We’re here until 5:00pm!

Categories: art fair, mugs, pottery, soda-fired, surface decoration, textures

Fresh out of the soda kiln… and packing them up for this weekend’s ART IN THE BARN! I have a double booth again this year… so it’s twice the shelves & twice the pottery!!! I can’t wait to send some of these hybrid mugs off to new homes this weekend in Barrington!