Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: glaze, platters, surface decoration

Here’s one of my class demos on carving & surface decoration that I finally got around to glazing… been a while. The platter has white slip on the flange rim that I dried a bit before carving the leaf pattern. And then I added little “berries” using a darker clay body. A rich green glaze makes it perfect for the holidays! Kinda now wish I had carved holly leaves instead?… ah, next time!!!

Anyway… this platter will be there for one lucky customer this weekend
at my SECOND HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

Categories: glaze, platters, surface decoration
Categories: food, holiday, platters, stamped, surface decoration

All ready for our Thanksgiving Feast!!!
My contribution for the best part of the meal… DESSERT!!!

I made a Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake with a gingersnap cookie crust!
Always fun to have a nice platter to present my dessert on… I hope everyone likes it?!!!

Categories: food, platters, process, stamped, surface decoration

Just doing a little “slip trailing” with melted chocolate!!! Decorating my dessert contribution to today’s Thanksgiving feast. And I wanted a smaller circle to create the ring of dots around… so why not use a smaller bowl upside-down as the “stencil”???

Categories: mugs, stamped, surface decoration

The holiday lights are now “illuminated” with assorted colored slips. Some multicolored, some limited color assortments. Just trying to get them all ready for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW… always the weekend before Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 22nd & Sunday, November 23rd. 10:00am-6:00pm.
Mark your calendars!!!

Categories: bowls, stamped, surface decoration, textures

Just a little early morning stamping in the studio!
Some sweet little bowls… now even sweeter with some textured patterns!

Categories: mugs, process, production, stamped, surface decoration, textures

All stamped for some fun textural surface decoration. Fun places for the glaze to play with when they eventually get fired… in time for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!

Categories: mugs, process, production, stamps, surface decoration

Getting ready to add some stamped textures & patterns on these mugs! But the real question is “which” of the stamps should I use??? Too many choices as I have literally hundreds… maybe even thousands?.. of my own handmade stamps!!!

Categories: bowls, sgraffito, surface decoration, tools

Just a little Saturday carving session. This green slip ombré bowl has been under wraps for awhile… finally found some time to finish it up. Carving a detailed pattern using my favorite P1 carving tool from DiamondCore Tools.

Categories: platters, surface decoration, tools

What started out as a class demo on decorative carving… while sharing some of my favorite DiamondCore Tools… turned into this large decorative platter!!! With a thick band of white slip, carvings through the slip to reveal the clay body contrast… and little “berries” of clay on top. Sometimes deciding when to stop is the hardest part!!!