Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: flower pots, flowers, garden

I’ve been busy setting up shelves all over the place for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW… including in the dining room where several of my orchids live. So they’ve been enjoying some new lighting & clean space to spread-out more! At least until the shelves get covered with pottery in a couple days!!! Pack ’em tight… make room for the POTTERY!!!

Categories: classes, food, platters, pottery, stamped

Tonight was the last class for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class… celebrating again with a potluck & a “trading-stealing-exchanging” game. Category for the trade was a “not-so-basic bowl”. While the theme for our potluck was “Dips And The Vehicle To Get Them In Your Mouth .”

I decided to up-my-game, and yet stay brand loyal… with Hot Cocoa OREO’s and a fluffy Hot Cocoa Dip!!! A double whammy of yummy goodness!!!

Categories: flowers, nature

After our “freakish” Halloween snowstorm, I thought that flowers on my back porch were done for! But lookey here… a few more red gerber daisies blooming! Sure, they might be a little worse-for-wear from the weather… but still a pretty splash of color!

Categories: nature, seasons

A beautiful splash of Fall colors… colorful clusters of red berries on autumn trees as Fall continues to hang on a few days longer. And here for it!!!

Categories: Chicago, sunrise

Another morning of perfectly clear skies. A nice orange ombre’ as the sun slowly crested the horizon. A bit chillier than yesterday, but it’s supposed to warm up this afternoon.

Categories: classes, color, food

By the end of class tonight, I came away with this beautiful pie plate made by Christine… a former student who just wanted to be part of our game!!! And the last of Martin’s tart cherry pie-lets?… pocket pie?… fold-over… ??? Well, whatever you call them… they were AMAZING!!! And look pretty amazing in Christine’s retro striped pie plate too!!! Great game, great potluck & such talented students this session!!!

Categories: Uncategorized

For our final class tonight, my students had a challenge… to make a functional pie dish in class to “trade, exchange & steal” as part of our White Elephant game. Sadly, one of them didn’t get glazed in time… so it turned into a pitcher for the game. And sadly I missed getting photos of a couple as they got wrapped to go pretty darn quick!

Categories: classes, food

And there it is… hot out of the oven & just in time for the potluck at tonight’s Wheelthrowing class!!! A fun pie that tastes, smells & looks like apple pie… with absolutely NO APPLES!!! No apples, no apple juice, no applesauce… nothing!!! Just a bunch of boiled crackers!!! Go figure… but in a handmade pie dish to make it look a little nicer!

You gotta know the pressure I was under… knowing the Martin our “Top Baker” would be judging my efforts. I figured I could never win with a “real” pie… but maybe some bonus points for this quirky throwback recipe?!

Categories: classes, food

Tonight was the last class for my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… with a potluck to celebrate!
So I had to step-up and throw something together quick before class!!!

Still boiling… it’s coming together. Soon to be pie filling!!!

Categories: garden

With sun streaming through the window, it looks like a great time for a Monstera Monday!