Jay Jasper's Blog, page 19

Sibling Rivalry A Problem At Your House? Try This!

It’s Brothers and Sisters Day and to celebrate we are taking a look at raku vase Louwala-Clough.

The Aboriginal people in the north west of the United States told early explorers a tale about a mountain called Louwala-Clough, which is also the name of our raku pottery vase shown here.

You may know this mountain as Mount St. Helens.

According to legend, this mountain used to be a beautiful woman who was named Loowit. There were two braves, who happened to be brothers that were vying for her love. These were not just any two braves, for they were the sons of the Great Spirit, Sahale.

Unfortunately, Loowit spoiled by choice, could not decide which of these brothers to choose.

This only intensified the rivalry between the two brothers Wyeast and Klickitat. They fought intensely, leaving a fiery trail of destruction around them, throwing rocks and liquid fire at one another, burning villages and forest alike.

Their father, the Great Spirit, Sahale grew weary of the destruction caused by his battling sons and the indecisive beauty Loowit. In a move that would be frowned upon by any of today’s authorities on parenting, but probably very much appreciated by the locals of the time, he decided to smite all three of them.

Louwala-Clough $98
Shipping Included in US and Canada

In their place he erected three mountain peaks, Loowit was turned to a beautiful snow covered peak (Mount St. Helens), Wyeast (Mount Hood) with his head raised in pride, and Klickitat (Mount Adams) with his gaze fixed on Loowit for all of eternity – or until erosion ultimately gets the better of the three.

Now due to her indecisiveness Loowit gets to spend what will seem like an eternity with two rock solid men and is spared the anguish of choice.

Mugshot Monday – The Magician

From our Tarot mugs series. “The world is full of magic things, The Magician Tarot Mug
$44
Includes Shipping in US and Canada
patiently waiting for our SENSES to grow sharper.” ― W.B. Yeats what is some everyday magic that
you have seen in your life?

Click here to win a mug before the year is out
as part of the Great Pottery Gift Basket!

When the creative juices are flowing

This has been a powerful
week of me creating.

My heart has been filled with the joy of exploration without boundaries.

New things are emerging:

My mind and my notebook is filling with more ideas,
and I can’t wait to share more with you as things evolve!

For now, here are a few whispers

Wishing you all a
wonderful day/evening/night!

We Are Ever New

“Welcome the spring,
the summer rain
Softly turned to sing again Welcome the bud,
the summer blooming flower Welcome the child whose hand I hold
Welcome to you both young and old We are ever new, we are ever new.”– Beverly Glenn Copeland

This Week At The Studio In Photos

New work prototyping.

Change is coming.

Sign up for our newsletter to read about it first. First egg of the year! Lupin Diamonds 4 dead trees A little turtle protects the forest Spring moss is a brilliant greenAnd That’s been the week here.

How has your week been?

If you like the weekly photos, you will likely enjoy our new twitter account

Life With Trees

We hope you may consider joining us there.

Finding My Zen Place

I am on a healing journey, and I think many of us are in one way or another.

I have heard it said that it is useful to think of one’s self as a tree. Grounded by roots, with a firm centre/core and flexible branches that can bend with the wind.

In the last year, as part of my healing journey, I have taken up yoga, which I believe helps us to become more tree-like.

Yoga is not for everyone, and rest assured I am not the most flexible person, but I have already noticed a slight improvement. I have also noticed that as easy as yoga may ‘appear’ to the casual observer that it is also provides a really good work out with lots of health benefits, both mental and physical.

I have not become a yoga expert quite yet, but fortunately I have a great teacher to help me master my downward dog posture.

The Puppy Angel

I have found that yoga is a great way to relax, de-stress and unwind in create some peace of mind. I feel fortunate to have found an additional activity that helps me deal with my PTSD, like throwing on the pottery wheel does. You can read more about that in my blog post ‘How Pottery Helped my PTSD.

If you are looking for a little wearable talisman to bring a little more zen into your life, be sure to check out our jewelry pieces like the ones below here.

Intergalactic YodaNeed a little more zen in your life? Check out our raku Buddha pendants!Jade YodaIntergalactic Buddha – $25
Includes Free Shipping in the US and Canada
What kind of activities do you find beneficial for your self care/fostering greater inner peace?

The Hottest Kiss You will Ever See (TSFW) – Totally Safe For Work

the tale of a random kiss so hot it could have happened on Venus.

The kind of kiss that burns so hot, it leaves a mark! So break out your chapstick and sun screen, because thinks are about to get steamy, as we tell the tale of this raku pottery vase pairing ‘Venus & Adonis‘.

This kiss was so hot, it could have only happened between two vases in a raku fired reduction. As many of you know, we specialize in raku pottery, and part of that process involves removing vases from the kiln at around 1000 degrees, while the glaze is still molten.

$ 90
Price includes shipping in US and Canada
$ 90
Price includes shipping in US and Canada
When things are as hot as that

One needs protection from the heat, and even still I’ve singed the hair off my knuckles. Estheticians every where must be jealous of my secret trick for hair removal.

Pieces are then placed in a reduction bin, and everything needs to happen at a steady, yet frantic pace. In my last firing, two vases made contact during this process. Fortunately, I realized my mistake, and was able to separate ‘Venus & Adonis‘ before they were locked in a permanent embrace.

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who has experienced a kiss so hot that it is etched on yourself, much like this mythological vase pairing
‘Venus & Adonis’. Venus and Adonis
$170
Price includes shipping in US and Canada
Have you ever had a kiss with someone that you could never forget?

An Ode To Cone And Canopy

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”

― John Muir

Trees have always meant
a great deal to me. From climbing them as a kid, to seeking solace beneath them,

@thealchemistsstudio Storms happen. I choose to stop – and lay on the forest floor #meditation #letgo #observer #nature #plantok #treetok ♬ original sound – The Alchemist

to honouring them in glass ‘Tree of Life’ – Beach Glass Windowor clay Raku Sculpture – Tree of Life
From my first exhibit at the Oxford Riverside GalleryTrees are home Meltdown

“Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive.

Can we ever forget that?

Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.”

― Munia Khan

What do trees
mean to you?

Vases for Dancing To

Today is international Dance Day!

Which means it’s time to get our dancing shoes laced up! Let’s take a look at some vases all about dancing!

Largely misunderstood And tucked away in some corner of the dance floor of history

Are a series of small plagues/pandemics that occurred in Europe from 7th century to the 17th century. One of the most well known of these took place in 1518 in France!

Footloose tells the tale of a pandemic that is now long forgotten – which is a good thing, for we’d all be envious that we got stuck living through covid instead of the Dancing Pandemic!

Footloose AKA A Vase All About The Dancing Pandemic
$138
Includes Shipping in US and Canada
Lastly, “Flora’s Hope” celebrates a very special Roman goddess.

Flora was not only the goddess of flowers and spring, but she was also the goddess of youth and her initiates really knew how to throw a great party.

Read more about Flora and her LEGENDARY parties here.

Flora’s Hope
$120
Includes Shipping in US and Canada
We all have bodies
So Let’s create some joy and dance!This Dance class does a great job!What song do you love to dance to?

Please share a link!

New Work Incoming!

New Follower?

We are very excited to share a video with you that we’ve created as a short promotional piece to highlight our process and work! This video is also on the front page of our website, but often blog readers may only see the blog entries, so we thought we would share it here as well.

If you have a spare minute and change, you can see the video below, we also invite you to check us out on youtube and subscribe to our channel!

Not a New Follower?

We think you’ll like this too if you haven’t seen it.

Or if you have.

We just hope you like it!

We would love to hear your impressions and thoughts on this video!

new work is upcoming shortly!

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