Jay Jasper's Blog, page 22

The Ultimate Easter Egg

I have a confession to make. 

I like eggs.  Scrambled, fried, eggs benedict and even the cosmic egg!  Maybe you have figured out what I had for breakfast!  You might be wondering what a cosmic egg is? 

The Brahmanda
Available – $138
Shipping Included In US and Canada

Click here to see more paintings like the one in the background of this photoThe cosmic egg

Or world egg is a common mythological component of many cultures and is usually involved in a creation story.  “The Brahmanda” is the name of this raku pottery vase.  The Sanskrit term Brahmanda is derived from two words – ‘Brahma’, the Hindu creator diety, and ‘anda’ which means egg.  Not only is the idea of a cosmic/world egg a part of Vedic mythology, it is common among many other cultures and civilizations like the Norse, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Egyptians and even among modern scientists.

Modern science has resurrected the concept of the cosmic egg.  Our version of this ancient myth is that all the mass of the universe was compressed into a gravitational singularity prior to the Big Bang.

I find that this vase has a very galactic feel to it, with it’s hues of blue and metallic, and textural components.  What story does this vase make you think of?  Or what does it remind you of? 

This vase, and many others, are featured in our first book
“A Potter’s Dream: Myths and Legends.”

You can see more of our vases here.

Lying In A Pit And Looking At The Sky

Pit firing is the first method that humans used to fire pottery almost 30,000 years ago.That’s a tremendously long time! Prepping the pit before the firing begins

Pottery was considered a great milestone in the development of civilization – in part because people were tired of drinking their wine out of wooden buckets.

Pit-fired pottery in particular fascinates me with its ethereal smokiness and small splashes of texture and depth.

$136
Shipping Included In US and Canada
$98
Shipping Included In US and Canada

I find looking at them is a relaxing experience akin to laying on my back and looking at shapes in the clouds.

It’s meditative. $125
Shipping Included In US and Canada
What is something you’ve seen when looking up at the clouds?

View our selection of pit fired pieces and see how it is made here.

Being Here And Now (Not Always Easy!)

“You’re only here for a short visit. Gooseberries, blueberries and raspberries from The Alchemist’s Studio gardenDon’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers
along the way.”– Walter Hagen A reminder of summer year round
Floral Owl – $75
Shipping Included In US and Canada
The garden is still quite wet, so as we wait for it to dry out before we can till and start planting,

I remind myself to be here now and that it is the impermanence of the seasons which makes them each even sweeter. Being here, now.so in that spirit,

i raise my mug of coffee for a
cheer for all seasons!

Click here to see more owls and here for mugs to cheers with!

What do you like to do to bring yourself back to the here and now?We hope you have a great week,
wherever and whenever
you are today!

To The Dragon Mothers

Motherhood is always challenging

But imagine trying to raise three wilful dragons. The daycare costs alone must cost a fortune and imagine trying to hire a nanny (though Arya may be a suitable candidate, and possible future sister-in-law.)

Mother of Dragons is named in honour of the Game of Throne’s Daenrys Targaryen, but is also here today to celebrate the full spectrum of motherhood, in all its colours.

Mother of Dragons
$240
Shipping Included in the US and Canada
This piece celebrates the magic of motherhood

You can see where the flames have touched this vase during the reduction process. This moment has been captured perfectly and I can see a correlation between where the flames kissed the vase and the patterns on the vase. It was like our dragon friend Viserion was present in spirit before his icy reanimation.

You can see more of our raku vases, here

Three cheers to all
the dragon mothers of the world!

On The Wheel Wednesday

“Empty yourself of everything – let the mind become still.” A Late Autumn Sunrise~ Lao Tzu

See finished pieces here

Metalogical

As we found out in the
Alchemist’s Studio Survey,
Metallic is one our readers’ Favourites!so let’s take a look at some Metallic vases! Mary J. Vase
$226
Shipping Included In US and Canada
metallic is great for any time of yearThe Nephelai
$118
Shipping Included In US and Canada
Brunhilde
$68
Shipping Included In US and Canada
it can be reflecctiveHippolyta’s Girdle
$140
Shipping Included In US and Canada
and shapelySurtsey
$98
Shipping Included In US and Canada
A Morning On Mars
$120
Shipping Included In US and Canada
and metallic can even
be calming!Abalone Sky
$64
Shipping Included In US and Canada
Echo
$112
Shipping Included In US and Canada
So what’s not to love about a little metal!The Eye Of Horus
$140
Shipping Included In US and Canada
So here is to metal!

And more metal vases (and other colours too!)

Do you have a favourite
of these metallic vases? What is something metal that you love?

Plant A Flower Today For All Of Our Tomorrows

The wind is picking up and the heavy April rains are on the way. The first crocus

And while it may be too early still to plant annuals
(frost is still likely until at least mid-May)

Busy at work

The perennials are well on their way to getting things started!

As the saying goes:

“All the flowers Floral Owl
$75
Shipping Included In US and Canada
of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” Purple Rain
$ 122
Shipping Included In US and Canada
– Indian Proverbare the flowers coming out where you are?

Have you been able to plant
some new ones this year?

National Pet (Chairman Meow) Day

Today is National Pet (Chairman Meow) Day!

and local Kitty Dictator Chairman Meow has told us we are celebrating!

So what could be better than sharing a collection of photos of

the Lovable Chairman Meow.

(Especially since that is all he will allow)

His New Kinder Profile Photo (note: not pronounced like “kind”) Nude and Presenting Gifts this past Christmas
(you can read this year’s Christmas Eve Message from Chairman Meow here) A very tough lion. BE careful A few cat mugs he has us working onCelebrating himself on our TikTokDo you have any pet/s?

What do you like to do to celebrate them?

Are they also making you do this?

Eep! Here he comes! I better get back to petting him on
National Pet Chairman Meow Day!

(yes, he’s renamed it too)

fur real though, Don’t forget to give your pet/s lots of love today

(and every day)!

Mugshot Monday – Stardust

‘Unknowingly,

we plow the dust of stars, Cosmic Mug 3
$50
blown about us by the wind, and drink the universe in a glass of rain’

– Ihab Hassa

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.

Spring Is Back. But She Had to go Through Hell To Get Us Here.

Our raku pottery vase this week, ‘Elysium‘, tells the tale of the magical realm of the underworld, a place filled with beauty, it’s Queen, a mother’s love, and an abduction that literally took our heroine to hell and back. Over and over again!

And you better think twice before eating those pomegranate seeds! Elysium – $128
Shipping Included In US and Canada

Persephone was once a carefree goddess of spring bounty. That is, until one day, Hades, god of the underworld decided he needed a new bride, so he kidnapped her as she frolicked with some nymphs in a meadow.

No one was truly happy about this turn of events, not even Hades.

Though the mythology is not clear, it is suspected that Persephone was not a big fan of the underworld. And it wasn’t just that she was kidnapped. As the goddess of spring’s bounty, an endless parade of the dead souls left her uninspired.

And Persephone wasn’t the only one who was unhappy with these turn of events. Her mother Demeter, searched the corners of the Earth for her, but it was a fruitless endeavour. One day she discovered her own husband Zeus had been complicit with Hades in her daughters abduction.

She was furious.

Which may not have mattered, except for the fact that Demeter was pretty much responsible for all the food that people ate, being the goddess of fertility, agriculture and the harvest. So Demeter gave Zeus an ultimatum: “Bring back my daughter – or no grain or fruit for you. Or anyone else.”

Meanwhile in the underworld …

Persephone was unhappy that she was kidnapped by her uncle Hades and forced to be his bride. She was missing her old life, and though the mythology is not clear, I like to think that she pressured Hades into creating Elysium in the underworld – which has been described as a beautiful meadow (after all, it was going to take more than a bouquet to fix such an unhappy start).

Why not a field of them you may ask? Either way – Hades, you’re still a jerk.

With people starving, Zeus had no choice but to give into Demeter’s demands. But Persephone had already eaten the pomegranate – the fruit of the underworld! Still think those seeds are worth it?

And so it was

That each spring Persephone would return to the land of the living, bringing with her the flowering of plants and foods for the year. Then when she would return each winter to the underworld, these plants would die back, bring autumn.

Thankfully, it looks like Persephone has returned this year!

What do you think of today’s story and how do you like Elysium?

What plants are blooming around your part of the world?

Let us know in the comments below!