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

Last week in one of my pottery classes, we tackled some surface decoration using thick white slip for textures & patterns. Sure, I could have used colored slip… but I’m more intrigued by how the glazes might play well with these cool textures & grooves!

Categories: clay, process, studio

One of the “benefits” of being stuck in my studio all day yesterday while firing the soda kiln… is being able to get a lot of side odd projects done. Like turning out my latest batch of reclaimed clay… now sitting on a large plaster bat drying up until it’s good to wedge up and start over with some new “free” clay!!!

Categories: kiln firing, process, production

Finally finished stacking the kiln! Shelf by shelf. Post by post. Pot by pot. Tried to make some good choices as to which pot goes where for the best soda effects… in terms of air flow during the firing, as well as factors like clay type, glazed or not glazed, colored slips, etc. Hoping that the right pots in the right places will work out for the best in this firing tomorrow!!!

Categories: glaze, pottery, process, production

LOTS OF POTS!!!
Tons of mugs and so much more! All glazed, wadded & ready for a trip downstairs on the rickety Lillstreet freight elevator! Hence the masking tape “seat belts” so nothing hops off along the way!

Categories: glaze, pottery, process, production

Time to get some glaze going… luckily, I’m getting ready for a soda kiln firing, so it’s more about liner glazes, inlays & accents… and not fully glazing things. So it “might” go a little quicker?… but everything needs to be wadded too, so maybe not so much?!

Categories: kiln firing, process, production

When you’re in the final “mad-dash” preparing for this weekend’s soda kiln… you need that last bit of bisque… and you couldn’t quite fit it all in one kiln?!!! Okay, so maybe that “one last bit” was bigger than I expected… did I make to much?! Time to get to glazing… and we’ll find out!!!

Categories: kiln firing, process, production

Just loading a last-minute bisque kiln…just under the wire… as I will soon have a LOT Of glazing & wadding to do if I”m still planning on loading the soda kiln on Friday night. Maybe I can focus on getting my taxes finished while this kiln fires & cools??? Fingers crossed… ugh.

Layer One –

Layer Two –

Layer Three –

Layer Four –

Categories: mugs, process, production, stamped, surface decoration, textures

Just finished adding handles to my new batch of “hybrid mugs”… just in time to teach class tonight. Going to try to get these to dry & pack ’em into a bisque kiln quick… gotta get my glaze game going before I load for this weekend’s soda kiln firing.

But I also gotta get my taxes done… when?… not so sure… ugh!

Categories: process, production, tools

A perfect spiral while trimming with a perfect tool!

Trimming fun with DiamondCore Tools!

Categories: handbuilding, mugs, process, production, stamped, textures, wheelthrowing

Doing some trimming on my latest batch of hybrid mugs… making the “wheelthrown” part look even more like a nicely trimmed wheelthrown mug.

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE trimming?! It makes such a difference…