Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: summer camp

Another week of Summer Camp coming to an end today. A lot of painting with colored slips to make their mini masterpieces really come to life! So fun to see some additional creativity present itself when they start painting… too cute!!!

Categories: summer camp

“Whatever mess you make, YOU will be cleaning it up.”

And they do willingly… even cleaning the floor if they spill water or slip. My campers learn the very first day that cleaning up after themselves is all part of the process. Now if we could just get a few more of the adult students to do the same?!

Categories: challenge, summer camp, wheelthrowing

As if Wheelthrowing Summer Camp weren’t fun enough… I challenged my pre-teen campers to do a little blindfolded throwing!!! And they LOVED it!!! After just two-and-a-half days of learning to throw on a pottery wheel, I think they did an AMAZING JOB… and the giggles were absolutely contagious!!!

Categories: mugs, summer camp

HAPPY MUGSHOT MONDAY… celebrating with this sweet little Summer Camper mug!!! Sure, a little rough around the edges, but it shows promise… and they were only 9-years old!!!

Categories: summer camp

My newest mantra… “Paint your POTS, not your hands!!!”

Categories: summer camp

This year at summer camp, the kids are decorating with colored slips on Fridays… instead of rushing through the process & glazing hot pots fresh from the bisque kiln on Friday. It makes for a much “calmer” Friday & gives the kids a bit more time to focus om making their pots a mini masterpiece!!! After they leave, their pots will be bisqued, glazed with clear, and fired again by Lillstreet “monitors” before the campers come back to pick-up their pots.

Categories: handbuilding, mugs, summer camp

Summer Camp with a younger group : 8-10 year olds… wheelthrowing on Monday & Tuesday, trimming & handles on Wednesday, handbilding (sp) on Thursday… and then slip painting on Friday! This group was a lot of fun… especially on Thursday when we tackled textured mugs. They threw their own slabs by hand with no rolling pins or slab rollers! Then they pressed in a texture & constructed their own mugs all by themselves! Amazing work!

Categories: creativity, summer camp

Not only did I have great kids making great pots this week at summer camp…
but I also had Eva who made me this amazing little origami dragon from a single sheet of paper!!

Categories: summer camp

Another great week of Summer Camp done! This week I had 10-13 year olds throwing on the wheel… two groups, morning camp & afternoon camp. Lots of dirty hands, lots of pots, lots of giggles!

Categories: summer camp, wheelthrowing

It was already Day Three of my Wheelthrowing Camp this week… and the kids are having a great time getting all gloopy & gloppy! And I must admit… I am too… as I LOVE SUMMER CAMP!!!