While in Omaha, it was a great surprise to stop in to see the swimming pool for the Olympic Swim Team Trials. The smell of chlorine was a great hint… but seeing the actual pool was amazing! Especially because it is built inside the Convention Center!!! For just one week!!! Nine-feet deep & built on top of the concrete show floor… that’s one really large “above-ground” pool, right?! So cool.

With corona numbers going down & vaccinations going up, it finally felt like it might be time to do a little traveling. Staying safe & staying masked… I tackled the airport again and made it to Omaha last week for another quick business trip. It felt great to finally get back on an airplane again… cautious, hopeful & vaccinated.

Tomorrow is the big kick-off of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! Check-out the website for information, artist links & to register for FREE POTTERY DEMOS!!!

We have twenty-one potters on The Tour, many of which will be doing free demos. I will be in my studio tomorrow night doing a demo on how I uses handmade stamps to add texture to my pottery. If you would like to join me in my studio, you just need to register online to get the ZOOM link for all of the demos… plus, you’ll also be registered in a drawing for some free pottery by our Tour Hosts!!!

GARY JACKSON : STAMPED POTTERY DEMO
FRIDAY, JUNE 18th, 2021 @ 8:00pm CSTMore info at www.northernilpotterytour.com

So while Chandler has always been my favorite on FRIENDS…
could he BE any funnier?… or should we say Miss Chanandler Bong???

I will say that a VERY close second place goes to Chandler’s girlfriend Janice! I was so excited that she made her way onto the FRIENDS REUNION special too! Love her… and that annoying nasal laugh!

It was so great to see so many friends today at the HINSDALE FINE ARTS FAIR. Its been far too long… my artists friends, my customer friends, my “regular” friends! So great to finally see smiling faces and not just eyes & foreheads. So it seemed only fitting that tonight I should watch THE FRIENDS REUNION while I relaxed at home & had dinner. We’ve waited a long time to see this come together… and I LOVED it. Well worth the wait. So sweet. Very touching. True friends. Funny moments. Great memories.

So here’s my question… Who was your favorite FRIEND and why??

Just finished my First Aid & CPR Training course while in my studio… getting ready for the start of Summer Camp in a couple weeks! These crazy times mean ZOOM Training with no demo access to “Resusi-Annie”?! We just listened & learned while our trainer did the demos for us. I’m glad that I was just renewing my certification, and not getting it for the first time. It felt a little weird NOT doing the demos along with the trainer. But now I’m good for another two years!!!

Finishing off the month… just in time… with my May entry in the 2021 CHAIN CHALLENGE. A collection of handmade & soda-fired beads with copper wire work to string them all together!

#2021chainchallenge
#handmadechain
#chainlinks2021

Celebrated MEMORIAL DAY with a bike ride up to Fort Sheridan National Cemetery. Such a striking reminder of those who gave everything for their country so we could live free. The rows & rows of matching headstones are always so somber at a national cemetery for the fallen military members.

After fifteen months of being stuck at home… it felt so good to finally get away for the weekend! Sure, it may have been work-related… but it felt great to fly again now that I’m fully vaccinated. It felt almost “normal” even though I was still masked & taking extra safety precautions along the way. Oh, how I’ve missed flying!!!

Well lookie here… there’s a lot of great potters getting together to put on a brand new NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! Many of them I already know as “My Talented Friends”… the others I can’t wait to add to that list! So many potters, so many pots, so much talent all in one Pottery Tour. Going virtual this year June 18-20th… but looking forward to a full on-location Pottery Tour in 2022. More details to come… and check us out at www.northernilpotterytour.com