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

Solving the mystery of the “missing” cone pack! Remember when I was firing my kiln, a couple hours into it I finally took out the top peep to look at the cone pack… only to find that it was just plain GONE!!! So it turns out that the top cone pack literally exploded at some point. It must have still been damp inside or too thick. My concern was that the shrapnel would end up inside some of my pots!!! Luckily, none of the pots were affected. The cone pack “parts & pieces” ended up on the shelf next to it… and a few pieces fell all the way down to the kiln floor. The unexpected hazards of firing a kiln!

Categories: kiln firing, process, production, soda-fired

It’s a rainy & windy day… perfect for sharing some more photos from my recent soda firing! Lots of pots ready for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW in two weeks! So now I just need to prep & price them all… as well as setting up all the shelves & decorating my place! The pottery party is in just two weeks!!!

Categories: art fair, pottery

Hard to believe we’re just two weeks away from my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!!… ‘cuz In my head, it should still be summer!? So mark your calendars now, make your holiday shopping lists & get ready to bring a friend! This is the biggest pottery show I do all year… with pottery in every room of my condo, all decked out for Christmas, food & drink in the kitchen and the ever-popular TIRED OF SHLEPPING SALE on the back porch!

Categories: garden, nature

I’ve always loved sumac bushes… the shapes of the leaves, the structure of the bushes, and most importantly the wonderful color they turn in the Fall. Like this little sumac growing in my front yard!

Categories: flowers, soda-fired, stamped, vases

Looks like some last minute flowers are being pulled in from the chilly nights up north… filling some small stamped & soda-fired bud vases. Even the cat seems to be liking them!!! Thanks for sharing the photos!

Categories: platters, process, production, stamped, stamps

Another night in the studio… and some more stamping done! I had a class demo platter under wraps in my studio that I kinda forgot about. So I was relieved that it was still wet enough to do some stamping on it tonight. One-by-one… by one… by one…

Categories: color, nature
Categories: soda-fired, stamped, vases

I’ve always know it was bound to happen… finding one of my older pieces in a local Thrift Shop! Well, kinda. I didn’t find it… but one of my Facebook Followers found this in a local shop and checked in to see if I could confirm that it was indeed one of mine! And it was… so I hope she swooped back to snatch it up!!! Thanks for fulfilling one of my “dreams” Marsha!

I “kinda” want to know how much it was priced in the Thrift Store???… but then again, kinda not too!!!

Categories: bowls, food

An apple a daykeeps something in the bowl!
A small class demo bowl with sprigged textures, instead of stamped!!!

Categories: flowers

A wonderful splash of colorful mums!!!