If you’re looking for something artsy to do today, I’ll be working
in my studio all day as part of the Ravenswood Artwalk 2012.
Many artist studios & galleries all along Ravenswood Avenue are open today
& tomorrow. Start your tour by stopping in my studio on the second floor of
Lillstreet Art Center – then follow the maps & signs for a full day of art fun!
I won’t be there tomorrow… ‘cuz it’s the Apple Cider Century!!!

Click here for more information – Ravenswood Artwalk 2012.

“Art In The Barn” was very successful. Which is always a good thing.
But sometimes in my head that also equates to “Oh my God, I need to make MORE!!!”
So tonight I was back in the studio getting back into production mode. I’ve got
another full soda kiln scheduled about three weeks form now. And I need to make
enough work to fill it… including replenishments after this weekend!!!

And yes, for those of you counting… that’s forty-four cylinders that will need to be
trimmed, stamped, pierced & slipped to become replenishment votive candle holders.

I really like making ovals. And I think people really like them too… maybe it’s
the weird confusion of how a round wheel can throw an oval. Never quite realizing
that they are “assembled” as an oval, not “thrown” as an oval. So I start by throwing
a lot of straight-sided cylinders without bottoms.

I let them set-up a bit overnight under a sheet of plastic, and then alter them into
oval shapes by simply squishing them very gently after wiring them of the bat.

By the time I had gone though and “ovaled” each of them, the first ones were already
“leather-hard” enough for stamping. So I started the process again, working my way through
all of them. Kind of an assembly line… working across the table from left to right.

Then it was time to add the bottoms. So I throw some slabs with the same clay body.
I attach the bottoms with a good amount of scoring & slipping… smoothing them out
so the “attachment” line doesn’t show up. I want them to look seamless.

And then, to finish them off, I added a few little highlights of colored slip on some of the
stamp impressions. And since I was in a hurry to get them dried and into a kiln, I dried them
all on top of plastic grids elevated on wooden sticks so the air can circulate under & around
the pots – drying them faster and more evenly!

Once they were dry, they went into my electric bisque kiln after class on Tuesday night.
These will wait to be glazed until I fire my next soda kiln… which at this point is just one
month away! And these are the first pieces I have to fill the kiln… uh oh, I definitely need
some more production weekends like this one!!!

With “Art In The Barn” coming up this weekend, I knew I had to make more ceramic
pumpkins to “cash in” on the seasonal festivities! So I started by throwing a bunch of
terra cotta cylinders. Trying not to get overwhelmed by the “mess” of terra cotta!!!

The next day, after they had stiffened up a bit, I trimmed the bottoms a little bit.
Then, with the edge of a square chopstick, I added some pumpkin lines and fluted the top
a bit to make it look as though the top was removed.

Then it was time to give them a face… and a little personality. I decided to just press the
details into the pumpkins instead of carving through like a Jack O’Lantern. I figure people
might rather use them for holding Halloween treats… like my favorite… plain M&M’s!!!

After the faces, I also added little “balls” for feet on the bottom to raise them up a bit.
Plus a few little “warts” to make each pumpkin a bit more “authentic.”

I let them dry overnight – and then painted them the next night with colored underglazes
to really bring them to life. I did some with orange underglaze, but decided to leave a few
of them “plain” terra cotta color.

They dried again overnight, and then were painted with low-fire clear glaze the next night.
Which for some strange reason, is this funky shade of green?! Luckily, it transforms
to a nice clear glaze during the firing. Also making the underglaze colors really pop.

Then it was into the kiln for a quick 12-hour firing to cone 04. A day of cooling and they finally
came out of the kiln this evening. Just in time to go to Barrington for set-up tomorrow!

It seems so long ago that I had my big “debut” on HGTV.
Three months to be exact. It was the same weekend of the Hinsdale Art Fair.

It was fun working the host in my studio. Meg and I had a good time playing
in the clay learning how to make the textured cabinet knobs that she would use
in the kitchen renovation. I just wish more of our footage would have made it
into the episode. Instead of the minute-forty-seconds that was my “edited” footage.
I’d really love to get my hands on those out-takes!!! Trust me, I was hysterical!!!

Anyway, a friend of mine found a very abridged online video version of the episode.
Click on the link and see “everything” in about 3 minutes.
Which includes about 6 seconds of me about a quarter of the way into the video.

Video link : Gary Jackson on HGTV Meg’s Great Rooms

As part of today’s “must-clean-studio-while-firing-kiln” program, I just plopped
out another huge pile of reclaim clay onto my plaster bat. This is the second half
of the scraps that Amy bequeathed to me earlier this year. Yippee – more free clay!!!

After a very short overnight “nap,” I was back to the studio quite early
this morning to get my kiln started. It’s a ful day of firing… which sort of
makes me “trapped” here at Lillstreet all day. It’s a perfect chance to get
caught up on things – like cleaning my studio! It is such a mess from the
past couple days of glazing. It needs some serious help.

So here’s my “inspiration ” for the day…
Wouldn’t it be nice in if my studio looked a little more like this?!

There are still far too many naked pots in my studio.
I just unloaded my second bisque kiln.  I now officially have a LOT OF POTS
to glaze & wad before I can ever start loading tomorrow night. Yikes!!!
Not quite sure how & when this is all going to get done?!

When you make a big batch of mugs…
at some point, you’ve got to glaze a big batch of mugs!

Same mugs… just a different, possibly cooler perspective…

There was a fresh “harvest” of gourds in my studio today!