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

With a late start to today’s gallery show at Space 900, I had some extra time to enjoy the morning sunrise. Not the most stunning… I prefer more dramatic clouds… but still the best way to start the day.

Categories: art fair, artists, collaborations, seasons

Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. As seen through the eyes of the “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS.” So much fun to work on a large collaboration project with your Talented Friends! Each interpreting the theme in their own way using their own mediums & talents. Always exciting when a good plan comes together!

Categories: art fair, artists, collaborations, friends, My Talented Friends

Today was the opening of “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” in Evanston. Thanks to everyone who stopped by today to chat & buy some art. We always love seeing art enthusiasts, collectors, hobbyists, students, friends & more! We’re looking forward to two more days of fun… hoping you can stop by! I’ll be there with my talented friends Sarah, Darlys & Robin! What could be better than hanging out with friends all day surrounded by great art & good snacks?! C’mon by…

Categories: art fair, artists

Look… we made it into the Evanston Made advertising!!! Yes, lots of art events & gallery shows all around Evanston on the first Saturday of every month… which just happens to be TOMORROW!!! Be sure to swing by… and then feel free to see the rest of the art shows in Evanston. But come to see us first… just sayin’…

Categories: soda-fired, stamped, textures, tiles

I posted pictures of these tiles a couple days ago… but from the backside as I was stitching them together with copper wire. The pictures got a good amount of lovin’ as the backsides have some great soda flashing marks! But I’m hoping that people like the front side as much or more! I love how the textured tiles came together kinda like a cathedral window quilt. This one-of-a-kind wall piece will also be at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS”… and there’s just one… so it might go fast?!

Categories: art fair, artists, collaborations, My Talented Friends, tiles

Enough of the teasers… here’s a quick look of the big collaboration project we’ve all been working on! The “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” have been busy “making”… four tiles each for the four seasons! So sixteen tiles total in one large installation… but first we need to get it up on the wall?! The show opens at 2:00pm today, so we gotta get going quick!

Categories: mugs, stamped, surface decoration, textures

Some of the newest “hybrid mugs” fresh from the kiln! Loving the textures & patterns – and how the soda-firing really makes them POP!!! All of these will be at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” this weekend. I’m guessing they might go fast… so you may want to come early!

Or at least I hope they do…

Categories: soda-fired, surface decoration, textures

So here’s a quick peek at another wall installation I made for our “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” gallery show. Each piece is handmade, stamped, glaze-inlaid & soda-fired. I love how a random “constellation” cluster like this can fill a wall so beautifully! Smaller wall?… fewer pieces!!! Easy-peezy!

Categories: art fair, artists, collaborations, soda-fired, tiles

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall.

And here are the same tiles after soda-firing… framed & ready to be hung on the gallery wall. A fun collaboration challenge for each of us… making thematic tiles using our usual medium & techniques. So some are metal, some are glass, and mine are clay! We’ll have sixteen tiles in the collaboration wall installation. We’re pretty excited to see how it’s coming together… and we hope you can come see it in person this weekend in Evanston!

Categories: collaborations, soda-fired

Okay, so a couple weeks back I made four tiles… as part of the “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS” collaboration project based on the four seasons.

Truth be told… these were made for the soda kiln… shown here glazed & stained ready to go into the kiln. But with the randomness & occasional “tragic” results of a soda firing, I knew that I had to have a back-up plan… or two. So this was Plan A : soda fired. But to hedge my bets, I also made Plan B : glazed. And just in case… Plan C : plain tiles with some separate parts & pieces I could stack & add-on to the base tiles. Luckily, Plan A seems to have worked out fine. So I’m going with the Plan A ones for the show!!!