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

Another batch of cylinders working their way towards becoming mugs! Too wet to stamp now… but I feel some “shamrock stamps” might just be headed their way!!!

Categories: mugs, process, production
Categories: mugs, process, production, wheelthrowing

So it’s Monday… and it feels great to be back in the studio being productive again! Getting back into the groove!!! It was a long break, so it feels great to have my hands back in the clay! And to “practice throwing” again… as the new session of classes starts tonight at Lillstreet!!! And I don’t want to look too “rusty” for my Intermediate Wheel students tonight!!!

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: glaze, holiday, process, production

Glazing is going well… just a few more trees to glaze before loading the kiln tonight! If everything goes well, these will all be out of the kiln & ready for this weekend’s MUD & METAL SHOW… My Second Holiday Home Show!

Categories: holiday, process, production

Just a few ceramic Christmas trees to get some glaze on! Getting ready for a full “Christmas Tree Farm” this weekend at my Second Holiday Home Show! But first I need to get these glazed and back into another kiln so they are fired & done for Saturday & Sunday at my place!

Categories: glaze, process, production

With my second Holiday Home Show coming quickly this weekend… I’m pretty sure I can squeeze in one more glaze kiln before then! Got some bottoms to wax… and then some glazing to do!!! Quick…

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: platters, process, production, stamped, stamps

Another night in the studio… and some more stamping done! I had a class demo platter under wraps in my studio that I kinda forgot about. So I was relieved that it was still wet enough to do some stamping on it tonight. One-by-one… by one… by one…

Categories: glaze, kiln firing, process, production

A great combination… an empty soda kiln & my studio cart FULL of glazed & wadded pots. Late Friday night I loaded the kiln with a LOT of pots to be soda-fired on Saturday. My rolling cart has to travel from my second floor studio down to the first floor kiln room… on a very rickety freight elevator. So I always add some “seat belt” straps of masking tape to help keep pots in their place on the trip down!