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

Playing with porcelain this gray, overcast & rainy morning…
doing my best to stay away from the overly crowded lakefront today!!!

Categories: glaze, summer camp

So I guess when I told my Summer Campers to NOT get any glaze on the bottoms of their cups… something got lost in translation? Good thing they know how to use a sponge… start wiping!!!

Categories: bike, sunrise

Nice clouds. Sunrise colors. Shimmering ripples. Another beautiful morning along the lakefront… as long as you can ignore all of the sponsor tents, vendor tents & people flocking with their lawn chairs to watch the practice runs for this weekend’s Chicago Air & Water Show.

Mental note to self…
avoid the crowded lakefront this weekend.. pedal north instead!!!

Categories: sunrise

Dramatic sunrise this morning as the winds blew in off the lake. Dark clouds & cool breezes with the sun peeking out & hiding throughout the morning!

Categories: bike, sunrise

What a difference a day makes. After days of dark & clouded mornings, this morning was bright & clear without a cloud in the sky. Sure, the waves were still crashing in… but it seems like the weather might be calming down a bit, and getting a little back to normal.

Categories: bike, sunrise

A layer of fluffy clouds flying low on the horizon this morning… offering up a beautiful sky show in the early hours. Peaceful & serene, it was great to see the lake so nice & calm again.

Categories: lidded jars, surface decoration, textures, tools

Boy, these class demo pieces sure seem to dry out fast?!…
even though it was under plastic, this lidded jar demo piece was surprisingly dry when I checked on it. Too dry to stamp!!! So I resorted once again to carving some patterns on the lid with my DiamondCore Tools. Sure they work best on leatherhard clay, but still work great on drier clay too!

Categories: summer camp, tools

Today my Summer Campers switch from wheelthrowing to trimming… and carving, decorating, stamping, adding handles & a lot more to make their pots more special… and thinner! No plain paperweights this week – HA!!!

Categories: summer camp, tools

Another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp…
bring on the kids, bring out the sponges!!!

Categories: sculpture, summer camp

Last week at Summer Camp, we had an other week of large sculptures… and a great Sculpture Gallery Show on Friday! So much fun watching my campers build & paint these large pieces during the week… as well as memorizing fifty famous artists & sculptors along the way!