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

Morning geometry.
Taking a step in the right direction with the color of the day!

Categories: bowls, food

Another healthy & yummy meal…
always looking better & tasting even better on handmade pottery! Thanks for sharing Kristy!

Categories: textures, tiles

Working on something a little newer & a little bigger… playing with textures again! Looking forward & hoping that these are done & fired before “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS”… my next gallery art show the first weekend of March in Evanston, Illinois. More details to come… and more photos if this “plan” works out?!

Categories: process

I just took the new hybrid mugs & dipped the sides of them into some colored flashing slip. So much easier & cleaner than trying to plaint it on, while not messing up the textures & patterns. And if all goes as planned, the slips will change to some fun colors with cool flashing effects after being soda-fired!

Categories: friends, mugs, My Talented Friends, photography

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY… with a nice post my friend & talented photographer who posted this on Instagram. Great photos, great eye, great guy. You should definitely check out his work on Instagram @ericcraigstudios

You can also check-out his work on his website… www.ericcraigstudioscom

Categories: process, production

Just pulled some handles for my latest bath of hybrid mugs. These will set-up for awhile before I start attaching them to the mugs. But not too much… because if they were to dry too much they might crack as I refine the final curves of the handle after attaching… and that would be bad.

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

Bottoms trimmed… one step closer to becoming “hybrid mugs”!
We just need to add some handles tomorrow!

Categories: bowls, stamped, surface decoration

Just some closer looks at the detailing that happened up in my studio after this week’s class demo. I figured if I was showing off how to make a “not-so-basic-bowl”… why not go all the way?! MORE IS MORE, right?!

Categories: bowls, classes, stamped, surface decoration

After some time under the plastic, these class demo bowls were brought out in my studio for a little more detailing. A little stamping here, a little rim indenting there. Here they are side-by-side in my studio! Just a few super bowls for “Super Bowl Sunday.”

Before…

After…

Categories: challenge, wheelthrowing

Seemed to be the theme for this week’s GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN challenge… and there was plenty of laughing all night! They started at the wheel with a directive to “throw their own most perfect shape” in just 15 minutes. I think some people panicked & rushed too fast at the beginning, while others had extra soft clay that didn’t work in their favor. So many of their “most perfect” pieces were not-so-perfect. But who cares?… it’s just clay!

Also because the “real challenge” was for everyone who followed to re-create that exact “perfect” prototype as they had to move one wheel to the right and recreate the piece in front of them. Again… and again… and again. Realizing how hard it is to throw with intention… but even worse, to have to copy someone else’s intention… or in this case… “flop-tention”?? The winners were those people who “copied” the prototypes the best. “NAILED IT.”