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

I’ve had a LOT of bowls under wraps waiting to get to the leatherhard stage.
Today was the day for detailing.
Stamping… stamping… attachments… and even more stamping!

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Bowl #5 –

Bowl #6 –

Bowl #7 –

Bowl #8 –

Bowl #9 –

Bowl #10 –

Bowl #11 –

Bowl #12 –

And here’s a few of the stamps that did all the work today…

And now the bowls are all stamped & detailed… and waiting to be trimmed.

As they dried up a bit more… I tackled each one and trimmed the bottoms of them all. So now they’re all drying and preparing for their upcoming bisque firing!

Categories: stamps

And therefore, a bunch of tiny pots needed a lot of tiny stamps!

Categories: bowls, classes, stamps

Tuesday night’s demos…
Fluted bowl. Lidded jars. Flower pot. Mini vase.
Stamped. Trimmed. Detailed. Done… Drying!

 

Categories: process, production, stamps

This morning I stamped & stamped & stamped… and stamped some more.
Round & round I went stamping the inner rings AND the outer rings!

Now they’re all stamped and laid out on a plastic grid to help them dry more evenly… and hopefully prevent them from warping. The idea is that they can dry from both sides at the same time – hence the lack of warping!

Categories: patterns, process, production, stamps, YouTube

Okay, you’ve asked for it… many times. And I just kept putting it off.

Well, today I FINALLY tackled my first stamping demo video.
While I’m no Steven Spielberg, but I’m fairly pleased for my first attempt.
And I’m pretty sure the next one will be better… or at least shot in a horizontal format?!
Let me know what you think.

Click here to watch my VERY FIRST demo video!!!… which is now also on YouTube!!!

Categories: movie, process, production, stamps

Anyone out there want to see how this class demo platter went from plain to fully stamped???
You’ve been asking… there’s a “very good chance” that there may be a video in the works?!

And the stamps that did most of the “magic”…

Categories: movie, process, stamps

Guess who is playing with iMovie???…
and might just have something fun to share later this evening???

Categories: bowls, process, production, stamps

Tonight I stamped… and stamped… and stamped…
All of the bowls I threw yesterday were “ready” to be stamped. Sure, again I might be rushing it. And sure, they might have been a bit squishier than I would like. And sure, maybe they weren’t as “ready” as I had hoped. But sometimes when it comes to stamping my pots – I JUST CAN’T WAIT.

So now they’re all stamped and ready to dry a bit more. Next up… trimming & drilling holes. And then I need to make small plates to go with each of the bowls before I can consider them berry bowls sets!

Categories: bowls, process, stamps

Tonight I did a little detailing of my class demo bowls from Tuesday night.
They’re still a bit too wet to trim, and al little too squishy to stamp… but what the heck…
I decided to go for it!!!

Stencil & Slip Bowl – now with a decoratively stamped rim.

Flared Flange Bowl – now with a stamped interior band.

Split & Pinched Rim Bowl – now with stamped dots on the pinches!

Super-Wide Flanged Bowl – now with a band of decorative stamping.

Fluted Rim Bowl – now with some graduated “beads” along the rim.

Flanged & Fluted Bowl – now with a ring of stamps!

 

Categories: mugs, process, production, stamps

Tonight I stamped… and stamped… and stamped some more!
My cylinders were still a little squishier than I would like them to be, yet I persevered.
It was a synchronized rotation of unwrapping some, moving some, re-wrapping some, rotating, testing, touching and stamping mugs as they were dry enough to stamp. Sometimes I like them on a little softer side so I can manipulate & move the clay more. Tonight was one of those times… plus, I just wanted to get them done!

So, after a well-orchestrated evening of stamping, I got them all done.
Ten per ware board. One ware board at a time.

Finally, all four trays of mug cylinders have been stamped. So it’s 40 mugs under wraps for the night while they dry up a bit more to a drier leatherhard. Hopefully, I can trim them all tomorrow… and then add handles to them all this weekend?!