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

When cleaning out a shelving unit to take down Christmas decorations, and switch to her next “theme”… Rosene found these two mugs that she had been coveting… but resisted & didn’t buy for herself.

Instead, they “may have” just been left behind one day “hidden” in the shelves for her to find. It took a couple months… but she finally found these two surprise gifts hidden amongst some Christmas decorations!!!

Categories: platters, stamped

Celebrating a little TEXTURE TUESDAY with a quick-pick of Rosene’s platter… with more than a few stamped impressions! Pretty enough… but always prettier with a big chocolate cake on top!!! Just sayin’… hint, hint…

Categories: mugs, soda-fired, stamped

When bad things happen to good mugs… looks like Bill’s favorite mug went for a tumble. It was apparently his favorite mug… so he’s already looking for a good replacement. Gravity can be a terrible thing!

Categories: food, friends, holiday, platters, pottery, stamped

Looks like I wasn’t the only one who made homemade chocolate chip cookies for New Years Eve! My friends Mike & Patty also made a batch… and served them on one of my stamped platters! As everyone knows that homemade food tastes even better on handmade pottery! Even Casey their boxer had his eye on them!

Categories: bowls, holiday, soda-fired, stamped, surface decoration

Wishing you all a wonderful 2024.
Thank you for making my 2023 so much fun & so successful.
I’m looking forward to another year full of adventures, art fairs & pottery…
and most likely a sunrise here & there along the way!

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay fun!!!

Categories: food, Mom, platters, stamped, Taylor

It’s the end of the year and I’m busy making a big batch of chocolate chip cookies for tonight’s festivities. Reminiscing about yummy cookies… how my Mom used to bake them for my art fairs… how my niece Taylor has occasionally taken over “cookie duty”… and so many other end-of-the-year thoughts. Seems like the perfect time for cookies!

Categories: books, bowls, soda-fired, stamped

Imagine my surprise a few weeks back when I got a Facebook Message from Patty… a pottery friend & fellow Lillstreet teacher… who was visiting her daughter in Brooklyn and stopped by a small bookstore. She was excited to find that the bookstore featured a LOT of pottery books. Patty found this one that she thought would be good to show some new techniques to her beginner classes.

Flipping through… she found THIS photo that looked a bit familiar to her! So funny for her to find a book “out in nature” that features one of my pieces on page 61… under the category of “Impressing” as it is a British publication. Special THANKS to Patty for bringing another copy home for me too!!!

And yes, I was aware of it…
but it was published several years ago, so I had kinda forgotten about it?!
So it was a great “photo-refresher” from Patty!!!

Categories: family, food, pottery, soda-fired, stamped

On a dark & rainy night, this homemade french onion soup looks AMAZING… baked in handmade pottery with ooey-gooey cheese melting all over the place. Thanks to my cousin Kim for sharing her homemade gooey-goodness with us!

Categories: holiday, pottery, soda-fired, stamped, textures, vases

Not a 100% sure what I’m “celebrating” today…
But I’ll be “boxing up” the remains of my Holiday Home Shows today! I’ve been “living in a store” in my condo for two months now. I can’t wait to start putting it all away to reclaim my space.

And again, with a HUGE “Thank You” to everyone who stopped by and made it a little easier for me to pack up now with a LOT less pottery on the shelves!!!

Categories: art fair, platters, pottery, stamped