Jay Jasper's Blog, page 21

How To Annoy god

“I think it annoys God Purple Rainif you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” Purple Rain
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– Alice Walker, ‘The Color Purple’

Do I have to set the world on fire to get your attention?

I wish you all a happy Earth Day 2022!

But is the Earth happy?

Last night at the Alchemist’s studio

We ushered in Earth Day with a late night raku firing. And yes, I literally did set the world on fire! You can see for yourself, in the short video below:

I had been thinking of doing a series of globes since last year.

And as another Earth Day approached I could not resist using the technique of raku, as a metaphor for the current state of the Earth.

For this particular piece

I imagined the world without our polar ice caps, because we are slowly losing them, or not so slowly as of late.

Now for a completely different take on this piece of raku pottery, watch out for the Chairman Meow‘s take on what he likes to call ‘Take Over the Earth Day’.

You might not want
to let your cats read it though. (They’re smarter than we think)

A Smile That Lasts Forever!

Part of the raku process involves scrubbing the pieces bit by bit to remove the residue left by the reduction. What this means is that after firing and a first go around with steel wool, our skulls will need a visit to the dentist to really get in to those
hard to reach places!

@thealchemistsstudio

Don’t forget to brush your teeth! #artistsoftiktok #sustainablebeauty #ecofriendly #smallbusiness

♬ Brush Your Teeth – Mother Goose Club

thankfully there were no cavities today! Is there a song that you like to sing when brushing your teeth?

Click here to see more of our already scrubbed raku pieces

On The Wheel Wednesday

“What happens when two
broken hearts meet? Then the road gets very bumpy, but sooner or later if the pieces fit, then the broken pieces from each heart will mend the other one.”

– Faye Hall Venus and Adonis

Transformation

Transformation Closeup of Skullis not possible More skulls to come!
Please contact if curious to learn morewithout putting in energy.Raku Firing Of 2 skulls and 2 vases“You’re always one decision away from a totally different life.”

– Anonymous

Mugshot Monday

“Three hundred years ago, during the Age of Enlightenment, the coffee house became the center of innovation.”

– Peter Diamonde Salmon Mug
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Where would you say The
“centers of innovation”
are now in our
quasi-hybrid on/offline world?

More mugs can be viewed here.

If you don’t see one for sale in the colour you like,
please contact us and we can work with you directly.

3 Magical Effects Of Raku

One of the things that I love about pottery is the magic of raku.

It is a real game changer.  The kinds of effects you can get from this process are unlike those you can get from conventional firing techniques. You can learn more about how we fire our raku pottery here!

As an added bonus, the effects are unique and one of a kind to each piece.  While you may be able to reproduce a general overall effect, you can not reproduce identical pieces.  You can click on any of the titles of these raku pottery vases for more information

Fractal Magic

The patterns of the cracking on the glaze is very magical and intrigues me.

Fractal Magic

Diana’s Hunt

I find that using certain reduction materials can cause some very interesting multi-coloured textural effects.

Diana’s Hunt

This vase has many things going on!  Hues of red, purple and blue that almost give this vase a landscape quality!

A Horse With No Name

You can check out more cool one of a kind raku effects on other vases here. 

Which of these raku pottery vases is your favourite?

This Week At The Studio In Photos

A diamond of water sits atop a growing lupin leaf The tide was very low this day Getting a start on an amphora.

This is round one! The leaves are just starting to come out Chairman Meow thinks he is a better Easter gift than a chocolate rabbitAnd 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.

For The Smallest Of Us

Not too long ago, I started creating urns to help out a friend whose pet had recently passed. From there I shared about it here on the pottery site, which is how I met Hank and Michelle.

Michelle selected this white urn to commemorate Hank.

Hank’s Urn. Thank you, Michelle, for the photo.

I understand what it is like to lose a furry family member and continue to offer these urns for any pets who need a resting place.

If you know of someone who has recently lost a pet (or you have lost one yourself), please know I am with you.

More urns are available for viewing here

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.”

– Vicki Harrison

May swimming become easier in time.

To The Lovers And Dreamers . . .

. . . Keep believing!“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.”
― Langston Hughes

“” was the November 2019 Name That Vase Winning name, as was submitted by David Redpath ! Congratulations, David!

Kermit the Vase – $98
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You can see much more of what we make here.