Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: soda-fired, textures, tiles

Here’s a quick glimpse at the textured tile wall in my condo. Just under 3,000 tiles on the wall… each one handmade, textured & soda-fired. I love the wall and how the highlights & shadows play over the textures… (2,894 tiles in case you’re wondering.)

The best part of the story was when I was getting ready to install the tiles…

My Dad’s concern was what would happen if the weight of the tiles literally pulled the wall off the studs?! I innocently said “We put a new one back up?!”

And then my Mom’s question was how I was planning on cleaning the wall. To which my response was ‘Who cleans wall?”

 

Categories: food, tiles

A huge thanks to Allison and her family for sharing their breakfast with me… err, us!!!
Too bad they didn’t share the yummy muffins too?!!! Just the photos of them cooling on a fun trivet tray of textured tiles.

Categories: soda-fired, textures, tiles

Great to be home after another long weekend of holiday celebrations with family & friends. Whew…

Just a glimpse of the tile wall in my condo… just short of three thousand tiles on my wall.

Categories: clay, textures, tiles

Once a piece of pottery leaves my hands I always kind of wonder where it ends up. So it’s been so much fun to see some photos of their final homes. Like these in JoAnn’s house… two tiled mirrors and three textured wall pillows. Perfectly framing the doorway. Perfectly lit to help accentuate the textures.

Categories: holiday, ornaments, pottery, soda-fired, tiles

More holiday snacks… I’m “sure” they taste a LOT better when served in Fire When Ready Pottery!!! Oval casserole filled with chips, tiled trivet, candle votive and a wheelthrown ornament. Happy Holidays… and thanks for sharing your pottery-filled family gatherings with me!

If you have any photos from your holiday gatherings using my pottery, please e-mail them to me so I can share your pictures too. gary@firewhenreadypottery.com

Categories: family, tiles

My cousins in Minnesota are gearing up for the holidays. Three adorable kids looking forward to the Big Day. Oh yeah… and look at those great mirrors over the fireplace! Huh, pretty shnazzy, right?! I love how they’ve decorated my tiled mirrors for the holidays!!! Wish I could come up there to celebrate with my Minnesota cousins!

Merry Christmas Caroline, Christopher & Mitchell.

Categories: artists, friends, patterns, soda-fired, textures, tiles

That Amy Taylor is such a tease!!! We can “almost” see what she’s been doing on our collaboration project. Remember, the BIG REVEAL is this Saturday at my place for our annual MUD & METAL Collaborative Holiday Home Show from 10:00am-6:00pm. She’s only making a few… so come early to snatch one up!!!

Categories: tiles

Early morning gluing of tiles to make a few new ClayQuilts
for this weekend’s Holiday Home Show. Squeeze, squish, align, dry. Repeat.

Categories: tiles, travel

Merry floor mosaic while I’m sitting waiting for my delayed flight home.
Lots of tile for a lot of weary travelers.

Categories: artists, friends, tiles

Just one more Halloween pumpkin. This one from the talented hands of Mike Skiercsh . It’s the first in a new annual Limited Edition series of Jack-O-Lantern tiles. A very cute addition to my Halloween decor… and I can’t wait to add to the collection every year!!! This one is #13 of 50. I hope to collect “lucky number 13” every year!!!

For more on Mike and his beautiful handmade tiles & installations,
click here for the Skiersch Studio website.