It’s been a little while since my last video… so I decided it’s about time!!!
This platter was made with B-Clay, and was a little bit softer than I would normally like for stamping. But with my busy schedule this week, I knew that I had limited time in the studio. So… go for it now?… or wait and run the chance of it drying up too much?

Of course I decided to go for it!!!
You just need to be a bit more careful, use more even pressure on both sides…
and hope that the stamp doesn’t “stick” when it gets a little damp.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

And here’s the set of tools that did all of the work…
one handmade stamp, two wooden tools and a thin sgraffito loop tool.

Click here for my latest Platter Stamping Demo on YouTube.

Soon to be part of a few collaboration pieces I’m working on with my friend Cory McCrory!!!
Parts & pieces are coming together… mark your calendar for “Art In The Garden”
if you want to see the finished “Limited Edition” pieces. August 30th & 31st.

Okay, so I’ve been gone for three weeks. And that’s a LONG time.
So I haven’t been in the studio, or even touched clay in three LONG weeks!!!
But now that I’m back, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Including teaching my Beginning Wheelthrowing Tuesday night class. Last night was my first week back, but it was my students’ third class of the new session. I feel like I’ve missed out.. even though I know my teaching assistant Susan did a great job getting them started.

Last night we tackled pulling handles and attaching them onto some of the cylinders that had made & trimmed… without me!

And we followed that up with some stamp-making… you know it’s my favorite. And I always try to get through this demo early on on the session so they will have some of their own stamps to work with later in the session.

Let me just say… it felt great to be back. Great to meet my new students. And even better to touch clay again!!! It’s been too long…

Fresh out of the kiln… soda-fired slab vases! Each with a different texture “picture” on each side. Here’s a few quick glimpses of the latest textures & finishes…

Not quite ready to give up… and since today was my “last day” to throw wet, I decided to make one last batch of miniature vases. Thrown off the hump, left to set-up a bit and stamped. I’d love to trim them tonight too… but I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow?!

And in case you’re wondering… smaller pots need smaller stamps!

Today I finished another batch of textured wall pillows. I’ve been putting off making them longer than I should. They’re a special order and I’ve known about them for a long time. Knowing that they’ve got to get into my soda kiln next weekend finally became a “good” deadline for me to get my act together!!! So I’ve made more than I need for the special order… hoping that they all turn out well.

I love when I hear from blog readers…. and hear their stories of how my little blog,
or my pottery, has somehow impacted their lives. Here’s one such case…

Your website was my inspiration.  Don’t know how I happened on to it
but my students were fired up after I presented the lesson.  I teach
high school art at Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia.
I have 120 – Art 1 students; mostly freshmen.  First we made stamps
and then we made plates (slump mold into plastic picnic plates).
Then we used the stamps to imprint the plates.  The project was a very
fun success.  Thanks so much for sharing your ideas.     – Barbara

I just posted my SECOND pottery video on YouTube!!! Whoo-hoo!!!
And let me just say for the record, this one went a LOT faster in iMovie… and I remembered to shoot the footage in landscape mode so it fills the screen this time!

Click here for the YouTube video : Bowl Stamping by Gary Jackson.

Today I continued working on my latest batch of flower pots. I trimmed all of the bottoms on the flower pots… AND threw all of the drip plates to go with them! And again, by the time I finished throwing the last one, the first ones were ready for fluting, stamping & detailing. I love when a plan comes together.

If all goes well, I hope to finish up the flower pots by drilling drainage holes and then letting them dry. As for these drip plates, they all need to be trimmed with a good “deep” foot. When this batch is done, I’m hoping to make another batch… a little shorter & wider! Similar, yet different. Might be cute as a twosome of flower pots?!!!