So, Friday night I spent some time reclaiming clay and incorporating it with some other,
stiffer clay. Then I threw a few pieces with that “new” clay. Well today I was back in the
studio trying to finish off everything I threw Friday night. First it was stamping & trimming….

Followed by adding some colored slip accents. The slips I used are special for firing
in the soda kiln atmosphere. They may look dull now, but once the soda hits them,
they will turn into saturated colors like orange & gold.

So you know how much I love “free” clay?! So tonight I went to make some new work…
but my bags of reclaim were a bit too wet & squishy. And new bag of soda clay I grabbed
was a bit too hard. What to do?… mix them together of course! Instead of power wedging”,
I find it a lot quicker & easier to layer the two. I start by piling up thin layers of each clay.
You can actually see the layers of the clay when I cut the pile in half.

After cutting, you take one half and slam it down on top of the other half. Press them down
together, slam if necessary, and cut in half again. Take one half and place it on top of the
other half. Press down and squish together again. Repeat. Every time you re-pile and squish,
the number of layers doubles. Thus making the layers thinner & thinner each time.

Cut in half. Restack. Press. Squish. Repeat…. and see how the layer are getting thinner???

After cutting & layering the clay several times, the two separate layers kind of disappeared
and were ready for some wedging to finish mixing the two. Not finished wedging… just some
quick wedging to mix it all up!!! And to start thinking about what I was going to make?

Once the clay was all incorporated, wedged and ready to go…
I cut up the clay into smaller chunks and wedged them into balls for throwing.

So I threw some more “replenishment” pieces… and threw.. and threw… and threw…

So now I’ve got to get them all stamped, slipped & trimmed…
and dried so they can make it into my next bisque kiln coming up VERY soon!!!

Hard to believe that the holidays are quickly bearing down on us…
but they are. And I’ve been working hard getting ready. Because just ONE MONTH
from today is the kick-off of my annual Holiday Home Show!!! So if you’re in the
Chicago area, or even looking for a quick road-trip, I’d love to have you stop by!

Mark your calendars…
“My Home For The Holidays” Home Show 2012
Saturday, November 17th & Sunday, November 18th.
10:00am-6:00pm both days. At my home, not the studio! For specific address
information, please send me an e-mail – gary@firewhenreadypottery.com.

Pottery in every room of my condo, food & drink in the kitchen. Plus the
ever-popular “Tired Of Shlepping Sale” on the back porch. It’s the perfect time
to kick-off your holiday shopping. I’m sure there’s something for everyone on your list…
including yourself!!! So mark your calendars and bring your friends!!!

This year, at ART DETOUR, we all decided it would be funny of we all did a challenge.
If we all made something with a theme. Something to push us to think outside the box.
So we all decided to “Put A Bird On It.” So each of decided to make a piece with a bird on it.
Pretty obvious, huh?! But why a bird?… click here to watch the video clip!

So I made three different pieces, each with a bird on it. I just wanted to make sure that
I would end up with at least one good one to take with for the challenge. And I took the
challenge quite literally. I made a piece as I normally would… then I put a bird on it!!!

This one “flew the coop” to one of Amy’s Northwoods friends…

This one came home with me… but will “migrate” to the Holiday Home Show!!!

This third one was part of the ART DETOUR Silent Auction. Each of the artists put their
challenge piece in a special tent for customers to bid on them. A portion of the proceeds
went to the Northwoods Wildlife Center. This piece “flew” all the way to Morton, Illinois
to the lucky high bidder!!!

After a dark drive up to the cabin, it was nice to see the beauty of the Northwoods
this morning… and to be greeted by a stunning sunrise over Moccasin Lake.

After the beautiful sunrise, Sarah, Julie & I drove back to Lake Tomahawk for the start
of ART DETOUR! Our tents were up, but we still needed to put out all of our products.
So there was a flurry of activity as we got ready for the start of Day One!

My booth full of fun pots… and some fun textures on the slab vases!

Little did we know then… but this was the position we would find ourselves in MANY times
over the course of the weekend. Wrapped up & huddled by the fire!

And yes, Julie was “supposed to be” doing her grad school homework. Glad we could be
a fun diversion for her! Bring on the marshmallows!!!

Mental note to self… take off the gloves BEFORE you get a gooey s’more in your hands!

While others were a bit more serious with their s’mores… not to mention any names…
Katlyn Koester & Kathy Furda!

In between selling pots, it was always fun to walk around and enjoy the Fall scenery.
And thanks to Amy’s cousin Rob’s wife Kirsten, we were also treated to some wonderful
homemade treats. Sure we were making s’mores…but not just regular s’mores. Oh no.
We were making gourmet s’mores! Kirsten made us homemade marshmallows, chocolate
mocha marshmallows & peppermint chocolate marshmallows… plus, homemade plain &
chocolate graham crackers!!! And we had a wide range of chocolate options to boot!!!

Sometimes all we could do is stand there and shiver… luckily, the campfire was always
going! A central warming place for the four of us stuck outside. Put another log on the
fire… pull up a chair…make a gourmet s’more… and try to stay warm!!!

After a full day outside in the cold… you can always count on another warm s’more. Cheers!

I love when my pots find a good home. And look, one of my tall stamped vases
found a great place to hang out surrounded by monsters & tiles! Add some candles
and we’re pretty darn close to a Gary shrine?! I’m just sayin’…

Over the years, many people enjoyed some tasty treats at City Olive in Andersonville.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond her control, the owner Karen decided to
move her business to Roscoe Village. Be sure to stop by for quality olive oils and other
culinary treats from around the world. You can even taste-test many of the oils before
you buy them. Don’t know much about oils?… her staff is there to teach you!

But it’s not just olive oil’s healthful properties, including high levels of beneficial
fatty acids and antioxidants, which delight City Olive’s customers time and again.
It’s also the taste, the old world allure and the bounty of delightful products that grace
City Olive’s shelves. Carrying the finest selection of olive oils from countries such as
Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Portugal, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Chile
and the United States, as well as vinegars, spices, mustards, tapenades and other gourmet
items, City Olive’s charming boutique offers the culinary best of the old & new worlds.

City Olive – Roscoe Village
2236 West Roscoe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60618 – (773) 687-9980

And very soon, City Olive will be returning to their roots in Andersonville
with a second store location just in time for the holidays!
City Olive – Andersonville
5644 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60660 – (773) 942-6424

Plus, City Olive also carries an assortment of ceramic oil pourers made by yours truly!
Luckily, they sell out pretty quickly… so I’ve got to keep making more! Especially with
the holidays coming so quickly! Stop in soon to snatch one up!

It’s Barrington Day Two… it’s already sunnier, already warmer, already less windy…
and my shelves are all replenished and ready for another fun day in the Lower Barn!
C’mon out to play – we’re here from 10:00am-5:00pm again today!

Well, after a leisurely set-up yesterday, my booth was all ready to go this morning for Day One
of “Art In The Barn.” You gotta love a good Friday set-up. It takes all of the rush & pressure
out of doing all on Saturday before the show opens. The shelves were full in my double-booth
ready for the early onslaught of customers. Unfortunately, the morning skies were dark &
blustery threatening rain… and threatening all of the tents out in the yards. Luckily, I’m
protected inside the Main Barn, so I wasn’t too concerned about the weather. But I do think
it made the show have a slow start – as it seemed like many waited for the weather to clear
before coming out to shop at the art fair. But eventually… they still came out to shop!

Yep… that’s my red ribbon to celebrate being one of last year’s Top Ten Sellers!!!
And never too soon to kick-off a little holiday cheer with some Christmas ornaments.
Right along with my whimsical take on the traditional Jack O’Lanterns.

Plus, the squared off bowls with the split rim that I showed on the blog awhile back
made their debut at the Barrington show. I was very pleased with the bowls… and even
more pleased that this set of aqua blue bowls went home with a family who really seemed
to appreciate them, noticed all of the subtle details and guaranteed me that they would
give them a good home! Always good to know your work went to good people!!!