Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: nature, seasons, textures

Fall is definitely here… and leaves there are a-fallin’!
Loving the colors & textures… so different on every leaf.

Categories: food, platters, stamped, textures

Yesterday was the last Andersonville Farmers Market of the season… and I had to swing by to “stock-up” on a few things that might last me awhile. Including some apples fresh from the orchard. My plan was to get one apple of several different varieties to try some new flavors. It wasn’t until I got home and put them out on this platter that I “realized” that I have no idea what kind each one is?! So if I do LOVE a new variety… I’ll have no idea what kind it is!!! ugh.

Categories: nature, textures

Beautiful colors & wonderful textures… perfect for Texture Tuesday!

Categories: surface decoration, textures, tools

A bit more carving with my favorite DiamondCore Tools … creating a fun texture covering the entire exterior of the bowl. For a hot-minute I considered carving the interior the same way… but didn’t… thought it might be too much to clean later?! But now I’m cautiously reconsidering…

Categories: platters, stamped, stamps, surface decoration, textures

And there it is… after “just a few” stampings! I’m always enamored by how the repetition of just one handmade stamp can transform a smooth platter into a crazy cool textured pattern. Each stamped pressed in one by one… by one… by one…

Categories: art fair, mugs, pottery, soda-fired, surface decoration, textures

Fresh out of the soda kiln… and packing them up for this weekend’s ART IN THE BARN! I have a double booth again this year… so it’s twice the shelves & twice the pottery!!! I can’t wait to send some of these hybrid mugs off to new homes this weekend in Barrington!

Categories: terra cotta, textures, The Ghouls Collection

After several hours of painting with underglazes, the textured hats are done & ready for a layer of clear glaze to finish them off. Then into a kiln later… hoping to get them cooled off before I bring them out to Barrington this weekend for ART IN THE BARN.

Categories: terra cotta, textures, The Ghouls Collection

So like I said… I’ve been busy-BUSY!!! I typically make a Limited Edition of forty Ghouls each year for ART IN THE BARN. But why not make my job harder than usual?… and so decide to make a two-parter Ghoul this year?! Yes, my new Ghoul will come with a hat. I mean, who doesn’t like a Ghoul who can accessorize?! Yet at the same time… now I need to make forty hats AND forty Ghouls! That’s EIGHTY pieces instead of the usual forty!!! Yikes! At least I finished assembling the hats over the weekend… which gave me a bit more time to focus on the Ghouls!

Categories: terra cotta, textures, tools

So it’s been a VERY busy past couple days… knowing that I’ve got to get my new Halloween Ghouls done by this weekend! I’ve spent a LOT of time in the studio over the weekend!!! So I’ve been handbuilding… adding parts & pieces to create the characters… and texturing as much as I can! And it’s so much easier with great textured handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools.

Categories: art fair, artists, collaborations, process, production, terra cotta, textures

Well, after all of the process posts… it’s finally time to show off our birdhouse collaborations for ART IN THE GARDEN. And I will say, I think this might be my favorite “Cory Collaboration” of all time!!! We’ve generally done separate parts & pieces that then go together or assemble later. This is the first time that we’ve actually “worked” on the exact same pieces passing them off part way through the process. I built all of the textured birdhouse.. and then Cory added on her pieces of whimsy!!! And I think that this “tighter” collaboration has really paid off. I can’t wait for people to see them this weekend at ART IN THE GARDEN. There are only ten of them… first come, first served… and sorry, no dibs ahead of time!

For more info – https://www.grassrootsartfair.com/