With just a low-flying layer of clouds on the horizon, it was a chilly start to the morning today. Quiet & serene… but I kinda wish I had added some long sleeves for my morning ride?! HA!














Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play |
With just a low-flying layer of clouds on the horizon, it was a chilly start to the morning today. Quiet & serene… but I kinda wish I had added some long sleeves for my morning ride?! HA!















After a trip to the Andersonville Farmer’s Market on Wednesday, this collection of beautiful dahlias is now looking quite comfortable in one of my stamped & soda-fired oval vases. Beautiful blooms from Vangie’s Farm… including crazy cool & crazy huge curly burgundy dahlia! Perfect for a beautiful Floral Friday!










After a quick summer camp demo, Colette took on a fun carving texture challenge… using one of my favorite DiamondCore Tools! Even the older kids appreciate using nicer tools for finer line carvings. And Colette rocked it!!!



Just finished another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp… and they cranked out a ton of cool pieces this week! All trimmed & decorated with colored slips. Now just waiting to be bisqued, clear glazed & fired again. Not too shabby for a bunch of 10-11 year olds, right?!




I came into my summer camp room to find that some adult student from last night left us a little “present” in the splash pan of one of the wheels! And yet somehow the kids always get blamed for leaving a mess? They don’t even use that kind of clay!!!

Plus, I have confidence… and I would easily bank on my summer campers cleaning better than most!!! They’re great when it comes to clean-up. I just wish everyone followed Gary’s Summer Camp Rule #3… “Whatever mess you make, you WILL be cleaning up!” Adults included…
The waves are still acting up, while the sunrise was dappled through some low-flying clouds. Another beautiful morning with cool temps & chilled breezes.





















So here they are for now… lots of new mugs with some of them “destined” to be part of our class trading & exchanging game for the final night of my Intermediate Wheel class. Still gotta lot to do… drying, bisque firing, glazing & firing again… with the deadline quickly approaching… giddy-up!


We also had another birthday in camp today! So of course we needed a birthday cake… and two campers jumped right in!!! Aaron threw the cake on the wheel… and then Ophelia decorated it. So cute!!! Birthday boy Colin was very pleased with his first-ever clay birthday cake!!!




Another day of gloopy-gloppy fun at Summer Camp. This group’s third & final day of wheelthrowing… for tomorrow we start trimming, carving, stamping & adding handles. And then Friday they’ll paint all of their masterpieces with colored slip. They will then be fired, glazed in clear & fired again after they’re gone. So the campers will need to come back to pick up their pottery treasures in a couple weeks!





Pulling handles… getting ready to turn my “stamped cylinders” into stamped MUGS!!! Yes, I’m a firm believer that a “mug” must have a handle. If not, it’s just a cup!

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Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
Lillstreet Studios ∙ 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois 60640 ∙ 773-307-8664 gary@firewhenreadypottery.com |