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

Topping off a trio of lidded jars with stamps, knobs & colored flashing slip accents. Just finishing up a few of last week’s class demos… with a couple extra lids “just in case!”

Categories: process, production, stamped, textures

Just sitting around the studio stamping another platter
while waiting for the cones to go down in the soda kiln!

And the stamp that did most of the work…

Categories: glaze, mugs, process, production, stamped

Getting ready for soda-firing, so I’m not glazing the exterior of the mugs. The soda kiln atmosphere will do most of the work by adding some shiny glaze surfaces, flashing marks & will also make the colored flashing slips pop in color! But I do glaze the interior of each mug… this time with a simple tenmoku glaze to “visually connect” with the color inside the stamps.

Categories: platters, process, production, stamped, stamps

Did a little quick stamping on this platter tonight. Kinda minimal… not the full blown stamped flange. This platter has a gentle, smooth curve all the way through. So I decided to do a single “simple” border pattern around the rim. Kinda hoping that when it gets glazed, maybe some of the glaze will run and create some cool rivulets coming down from each stamped points?!

Categories: friends, mugs, soda-fired, stamped, textures

Love the morning sun shining in on Allison’s mug… looks like Spring sunshine to me!!! This is one of my “wheelthrown-handbulit-combo” mugs… which I’m in the process of making more of right now!!! Thanks for sharing your morning ritual with us Allison!

Categories: Chicago, platters, stamped

Just a quick reminder that the Chicago Public Art Group “A TIME TO UNITE” Fundraiser is still going on! The Silent Auction ends tomorrow 3/4/21 at 12:00pm CST. My stamped plate is part of the fundraiser… so click here if you want to support Chicago’s public art AND get a pretty sweet plate at the same time! – https://chicagopublicartgroup.betterworld.org/auctions/time-unite/items/gary-jackson

Categories: mugs, soda-fired, stamped

Well, it’s another Monday, so I guess it’s time for another Mugshot… or eight?! Just a few more mugs hanging out on my back porch on a Monday afternoon!

Categories: friends, mugs, pottery, stamped

POTTERY FLASHBACK! So my good friends wanted to get their granddaughter some new pottery. Apparently, Sarah has been “complaining” that everyone else in the family has “nice Gary pottery” and all she got stuck with was “The Ugly Mug”!!! It was this stamped amber mug that Sarah had at home… while everyone else thought it was a different “ugly” mug?!!!

Turns out a different family member had the original “Ugly Mug”… from early on in my pottery career even before stamping!!!

Either way, “ugly” or not… Sarah ended up with some new bright blue pottery to add to her collection thanks to Rosene & Gerry. Hopefully overshadowing & wiping away the memory of Sarah’s original “ugly” pottery!!!

Categories: food, friends, platters, stamped, textures

Pretty perfect puffed & powdered pastries
on a pinkish-purple patterned pottery platter!

Now say THAT ten times fast!!!
Thanks for sharing your yummy treats with all of us Julie!

Categories: mugs, process, production, stamped

Well here’s the latest batch of mugs. All assembled & slip painted… some with orange, some mustard, some robin’s egg, and a few more colors of slip! All of which should show up better & more colorful after soda-firing!