Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: kiln firing, mugs, soda-fired

Just got a little busy… and now realizing that I didn’t post many photos from my recent soda kiln! So here are a few more photos of the front stack before I started to unload everything. It’s always like Christmas opening the door to reveal all of the presents inside!

Categories: mugs, soda-fired, stamped

Unloaded my soda kiln yesterday. The anticipation & surprise of opening a kiln never gets old. Such a treat. And I always love to see some bright colors… proving that soda-fired pots don’t always need to be gray or brown!!!

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

Gotta love when you pull the kiln door away… and it reveals a lot of “soda-shiny” & colorful pots!!!
Big sigh of relief to see beautiful pots… another successful soda firing!

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

After about three hours last night, I finally had my pots carefully stacked in the kiln. Trying hard to get as many pots squeezed in… while not packing it too tight. There needs to be some “space” between the pots for the soda atmosphere to work its way through to “glaze” the pots with soda build-up.

Categories: kiln firing, soda-fired

Last night I was greeted with an empty kiln… full of possibilities…
ready to be filled with pots for another soda firing!

Categories: soda-fired, stamped

Wondering what to put on your new wall sconce-shelfy-thing?
Looks like Beth figured it out… “Put a bird on it.”

Categories: soda-fired, stamped, tiles

Continuing the celebration of NATIONAL TILE DAY today!!! With another post… this time showing a commission piece I made for Diane & Jim over the past couple months. They brought in a cool wood-carved wall piece they had purchased during a vacation. They decided to augment it with some of my handmade tiles in the form of a ClayQuilt. We discussed some options… and we landed on this triptych design. With my pieces flanking their wood piece for a little more emphasis on their dining room wall. Along with their commissioned tiles… I also made a few “custom” tiles with some initials & significant dates “hidden” amongst the textures!!

Categories: holiday, soda-fired, tiles

Just a “few” textured & soda-fired tiles on my condo wall. If you’ve ever been to my “Holiday Home Show” you’ve already seen ‘em, touched ‘em, loved ‘em… just a couple thousand tile squares!

Perfect to celebrate NATIONAL TILE DAY today!

Categories: soda-fired, stamped, surface decoration

Just some fun soda-fired colors to brighten this gray & dreary Thursday afternoon. Enjoy!

Categories: bowls, food, soda-fired, stamped

Enjoying the heat of the oven yesterday as I baked a batch of brownies to share with friends!
I figured a dinner party with friends can always use some homemade brownies…
and the hostess “might just” get to keep the bowl too!!!