Jay Jasper's Blog, page 137

Blowing & Throwing

The snow is blowing and this potter will be throwing!

Snow days are perfect for creating. Snowed in? There is only one verb I am interested in knowing and it isn’t shoveling!

A warm cup of coffee is fuel for this snowy day. I may need an extra cup when it comes time to clear the driveway!

What would you do if you had a snow day?

Libraries Make Shhh! Happen!

It’s been a bit of a crazy week here, so my apologies for my tardy responses to your comments! The theme for this week has been snow, lots to shovel and shovel again thanks to the blowing wind! Not snow much fun.

I’ll get to it later….

ISBN thinking about you and wanted to share some exciting news with everyone. My first book, ‘A Potter’s Dream: Myths & Legends‘ was just purchased by the Strathcona County Library! Thanks to the staff at the library for adding my book to your hallowed halls!

Thinking about this geeky kid who hid in the library and got lost in the stacks. That kid never imagined their book would be in one! One library today, who knows how many in the future! No holds bard!

If you’re not booked with too much other reading and want to get your hands on a copy of my book, you can do so here! But if you are just here for the puns that is okay too! You can subscribe to our newsletter here for more of them and to keep up to date on all the goings on in the studio, special events and offers.

And if you want to encourage your local library to get a copy, send them this link!

A big thank you to libraries everywhere!

Name That Vase – January 2020 Edition

Hello and happy new year! Welcome to a new decade and also to my monthly feature – ‘Name that Vase’.

For those who are new to this feature, ‘Name that Vase’ is where you can suggest a name, create a story, poem or prose for this raku pottery vase. Consider this your chance to be inspired, a writing prompt or a creative cue. You can, or if you are feeling nostalgic,that started what has now become a monthly tradition for our blog and readers.

This month we have a very special vase for your naming, but first we must announce last month’s winner (and two runner’s up!) So without further ado, the winner is Zakarrie with the name “
Congratulations, Zakarrie!

Runners up include Stroke Survivor UK for “” and MJ Seal for ““

And now for our January vase which is without a name! What do you think this one should be called?

Season of Loooooove

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we are doing something special to celebrate! From now until January 28th, 2020 you can customize a raku vase for someone you love!

Maybe that is a spouse, partner, family member, best friend, or even yourself!

We have 4 vases, currently unglazed. You can choose the glaze and shape! Let Cupid lead you to a vase and colour combination of your choice. Each is available – made as you like, for $70/USD. This includes shipping to Canada and The Unites States. The vases are all 5.5 inches tall, except the tallest which is 8 inches.

If you want to write a companion poem or story for the piece to dedicate to your special someone, we will include it in our gallery of vases!

Direct link if you are ready to purchase: https://rakupottery.ca/valentines-special/

Choose anyone of these four vases for your special Valentine!

On the Valentine Special page, you can choose from one of the four vases above. We have a few colour options as well, which you can learn more about below.

Each link opens a new window for easier viewing.

Your glaze choice similar to (but not exactly like as it’s raku, so still unpredictable!) to:

Mother of Dragons
Pillar of Atlas
Gaia’s Dream
Sunny Day

Draught of Peace
Original Twin
Mount Vesuvius
also available in raku red, pink or lavender

With your glaze in mind, head on over to our Valentine’s Special page and pick a shape and glaze combo! There are ONLY FOUR VASES available as part of this VDAY special!

Let’s celebrate love!

Looking for something for your love to wear rather than display? Check out our line of handmade jewelry here. Pieces start at $23/USD (includes shipping to Canada or the USA). Or perhaps something a little different? Raku owls are on sale until January 14th and can be purchased here!

Stay up to date on all of our specials, our creative adventures and receive exclusive offerings by subscribing to our newsletter here.

Which of these 4 vases would you choose for your special someone and why?

A Winter Sunset

Around here, winters are often grey and snowy, so when the sun breaks through the clouds, it makes it all the more special.

This painting is to celebrate those moments.

You can see more of my paintings here! If you want to follow my creative adventures and stay up to date on my new creations and goings on at the studio, you can subscribe to my newsletter here!

Reading is Fundamental

I was a voracious reader as a child and continue to love reading. It was an escape as well as a true pleasure to learn and have fun on my own terms. Reading was – and still is – a very special activity for me.

Serious Business

The world expands through reading and it is an activity that I would not trade for the world.

Been there…

Which is why I am especially excited to share with you that as I have now completed my first book, I was able to claim a profile on goodreads.com as an author! If you are on goodreads and would like to connect with me there, please do! Here is my Author Profile link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/19829560.Jay_Jasper

It’s a perfect place if you are a reader like me who finds joy in a good book and wants to share it with others. And as any reader knows – you can always use more books to read!

Nooo not me!

So if you love reading like I do, consider connecting with me on goodreads.

You can also get a copy of my book right from our website here.

It’s A Wonderful Life

I start writing this particular blog post with self doubt and perhaps some shame. I often find it a challenge to write openly about my own challenges and struggles, even though this is what makes me human.

I was blessed to have a wonderful Christmas season, surrounded by people who love and care for me, but in there was a misty moment. This was my first Christmas as an orphan, and no matter how I tried to pack my schedule to keep busy, my thoughts would turn to this.

The moment that really got me was watching a movie that was a long standing Christmas tradition in my biological family of origin – ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’. Perhaps I should have known better than watching this movie, but in retrospect, I feel there was a part of me that longed for connection to moments long gone by.

“Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings”

Contrary to the message of the movie, I was not feeling up to the task of being surrounded by people (regardless of how lovely they are), when I could barely hold back my own tears. So needless to stay I did not go to the Christmas dinner I had planned to. Grief seems to have a nasty habit of coming up when it is least convenient.

Ironically, ham was on the dinner menu for the Christmas meal I missed.

Moving through the days since Christmas has been a challenge where sometimes my emotions come from nowhere and overtake me, but I have decided to try to give myself the space to feel whatever is coming up.

I have been thinking that there must be something wrong with me and what I am feeling. That somehow I must be broken for having feelings of depression so many months later. Shouldn’t it be time for me to get over it by now? Am I just weak? Broken? And what is up with these tears that well up in my eyes and don’t want to come out?

In the last few days I have been taking some time to reflect on my experience and the different stages of grief and to do a little research to make sure I am not totally losing it. I was not surprised to learn that depression is a part of grief, and often it does occur many months later after such things as shock, guilt, pain and anger.

Sadly I could not get my cat Chairman Meow into all of these poses during our photo shoot.

It is also interesting that grief does not follow some predictable path. Among my experiences I have also been working through my grief and pain, planning for the future and have experienced moments of hope and acceptance. I am realizing that experiencing and feeling depression is a part of the healing process. The human ability to heal and my own journey reminds me that ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and my greatest gift this holiday season was my own resilience. Even though I am no angel, I am still looking for my wings. It will be time to fly again soon. Maybe they are under the disco ball:

Was there someone that your thoughts turned to this holiday season that you lost? How did you deal with the experience?

Living the Hygge Life

Hygge is the Danish concept of being cozy. And it can be made where you are.

There is nothing quite like being cozy inside when the outside world is wrapped in a blanket of fresh snow. Hot chocolate and waffles are on the menu for dinner today!

What is your coziest memory or favourite way to be cozy?

Oh pine tree, oh pine tree, you’re a noble twig!

And THAT is a direct translation of O Tannenbaum from German to English!

Christmas is now over and it is that strange time between it and when the tree comes down where it stands in the corner of the room, and seems to know it’s End is Nigh.

Tempting…



Post-Christmas sale

The other fun part of this in between time is sales on Christmas things, which brings us to this post. For a limited time (ie from when this is published until January 14th, 2020 at 1159ET) you can purchase a raku Christmas tree as seen here for the steal price of $65 with shipping included in North America!

If you are brave, in the mean time while the sale is on, you can always leave your tree up!

We usually wait until after

the first week of January.

When do you usually

take your noble twig down?

Can’t get your head around buying a Christmas Tree in January? Our raku pottery owls are still on sale. Find out the details here.

You can also subscribe to our newsletter here, to keep on top of all the happenings at the studio, new creations and special offers.

Top 5 Creations of 2019

2019 has drawn to a close and it has been a challenging year in many ways, but I have done my best to harness those challenges and use that energy to make beautiful things.

Among the challenges, there were many bright spots to my year both personally and creatively. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my top five creative achievements with you!

One: My first book ever! ‘A Potter’s Dream: Myths and Legends’



The books are finally here!

‘A Potter’s Dream: Myths & Legends’ pairs my pottery creations with myths and legends from around the world retold with my own quirky spin.

You can get your own copy of this book here. It makes a great gift for those who love pottery, mythology or both!

Two: ‘The Healing Vase Project’:

was born out of my personal grief and that of others who shared their experiences with me. It was the most meaningful and special project that I completed this year. You can learn more about this project by watching the video below.

The Healing Vase‘Healing Vase’ – Our Fall community art project,





Be sure to subscribe to our fledgling youtube channel here, and help us reach 100 subscribers so I can finally give the channel a name of my choice.



Three: Mother of Dragons – Raku Vase

2019 was the year that the television show ‘Game of Thrones’ ended. The ending was a disappointment to many of the fans, including me. But one thing I was not disappointed in was how my ‘Game of Thrones’ inspired vase turned out.

You can see more images of the raku pottery vase ‘Mother of Dragons’ and read the story behind the vase here.



Four: ‘The Myth of Family’ – My first solo art show for my pottery.

In this month long solo exhibition, the Alchemist’s Studio explored family from a spiritual, cultural, emotional, and personal perspective through the use of sculpture, vases and mythology. Each piece tells part of the interwoven story that explores our collective roots and the twisted branches that tell the tale of our human family and experience through myths and stories from around the world and throughout time.

See the exhibit at Oxford Riverside Gallery as highlighted in the video below:

Five: Completed my first ‘Pit Firing’ of pottery.

One of the goals I set for myself last year was to explore alternative firing techniques. Firing pottery in a pit, or pit firing is an ancient practice that dates back to 25,000 – 29,000 BCE. Learn more about the process here and you can find some more of my examples of pit fired pottery in this gallery.

I guess it was a busier year than I thought! I would also give honourable mentions to a few other accomplishments in 2019. This was the first year that I was able to throw vases that reached the maximum height of my kiln, like this piece here.

There was also much work done on my studio. There is still much more work, but the progress was quite substantial as you can see below:

What pieces or projects of 2019 at the Alchemist’s Studio did you enjoy the most? You can stay current on all of our upcoming projects, news and special offers by subscribing to our newsletter here.