Jay Jasper's Blog, page 31

Carpe Diem Day

Today, I learned, is Carpe Diem Day.

Carpe Diem is Latin for “Seize the Day” and so in English that makes today Seize The Day….Day.

And yes, while Seize The Day Day is seemingly redundant, I think having a specific day for we humans to be reminded to Carpe our Diems is helpful.

What do you think?

And so I share this video clip from the film Dead Poets Society (starring the incredible -and now passed – Robin Williams) as a reminder for myself (and for you if it resonates).

carpe diem.

A Desert Morn

We love getting names and stories sent in from you!

This vase was named as part of by winner !

Thank you, Tish, for your name and write-up!

A new Name That Vase is on now,

A Desert Morn

Reflected sunlight hails a new dawn.

The desert waits,
knowing the sun will bake it hot
as a kiln before darkness
descends once again.

SOLD

Looking forward to reading your entry and hope you have an awesome weekend!

A Joyful Jamboree!

Today is The traditional start of Carnival in Brazil! (moved to april this year)

Either way it means it’s time to get our dancing shoes on!

So press play on the video below and let’s take a look at some vases all about dancing while listening to some samba!

Delphinus’ Light honours the entrancing dancing of Amphirite

Which put a spell on Poseidon and which inevitably led to Poseidon turning Delphinus into a constellation in the sky!

You can read more about Amphirite’s sweet moves here.

Delphinus’ LightLargely 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
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“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
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so with the samba playing and a bit of art to go with it, let’s move our bodies together and
dance our way to a great day!If you were making a happy dance playlist, What song/s would you put on it?

She Saw The Beginning, She Saw The End, But She Didn’t See This

Völuspá‘ and tells the tale from the dawn of creation to the end of the world, of an oracle known as a volva, who saw it all, and her audience with Odin, the god of wisdom, poetry, death, magic and divination.

$148
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If you are a god of poetry, magic and divination

And a volva/seeress tempts you with ancient and future knowledge, you’d be sure to grant her an audience and see her. That’s just what Odin did.

How could he resist after the seeress flaunted that she was raised by giants.

It certainly seemed like she was a big deal.

The seeress related the creation myth of the Earth, and the appearance of Ymir, a primeval being, whom the gods, including Odin would make the Earth from. His body would become the Earth itself, his blood the oceans, and his brains the clouds. It seems that our friend Ymir (that we are walking all over) was a bit of an airhead.

And for that we should all be grateful- since essentially we live on them. Close-up of Völuspá. She sure looks primordial soupy!We humans often think we are a big deal

But just as a reminder of how small we really are in the grand scheme of things, we came after the gods, the giants, various other mythical beasts and the dwarves.

Seers for Tears

The seeress then went on to tell the tale of the Yggdrasil, which some of our readers who’ve been with us for awhile, or anyone who has purchased our book, cough cough, may remember this piece.

You can see more photos of this delicate piece that defied the odds and survived a raku firing and read the story of this mythical tree here.

YggdrasilThe seeress then goes on

To speak of Ragnarok – the end of the world – where all the gods meet their end. Including Odin.

That’s what you get Odin for your giant sized curiosity and being charmed by a volva!

But fear not!

After Ragnarok, a new world is born, more abundant then ever.

Thus the cycle continues. $148
Shipping Included In US and Canada

What did you think of the seeress’ prophecy, and Odin discovering that he too was mortal? And how did you like our this raku pottery vase? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading and
have a wonderful week!

Greetings And Salutations!

from my whole heart for all those for whom this resonates, thank you

This video comes from our tiktok.
We hope it may resonate with you, whether you have your own tiktok or not -but if you do, we invite you to join us here for a different way of engaging with us

“This is a wonderful day,
I have never seen this one before.”

– Maya Angelou Buddha Bustsmay you have
a wonderful and joyful day!

God is a Woman

This vase tells the tale of an exceptional deity among the pantheons of ancient gods. Amaterasu is one of the few female solar gods. Her full name means ‘Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven’ and she is one of the principal gods in the Shinto religion. You can check out another vase inspired by a sun god here.

Amaterasu – Raku Pottery Vase

You can see more images of the raku pottery vase Amaterasu here.

Here we tell one of the more interesting stories of this great beauty that involve her petulant and mischievous brother, Susanoo, a defiled crafting room, a goddess in hiding, 800 plotting gods, more roosters than Colonel Saunders would know what to do with, a partial strip tease and a clever trick.

Susanoo must have been going through his teenager years in this story, because he was out of control, messing with the rice fields, and his sister’s home. Amaterasu had finally had enough when he decided to throw a flayed horse into her weaving hall. Apparently she took her craft pretty seriously, so she decided to hide in a cave.

This of course presented a problem. I did mention that Amaterasu was the Shinto sun god. Things got pretty dark at this point in the story, with the world being plunged into darkness and all. This was such a big problem that 800 myriads of gods got together to sort out a solution to coax Amaterasu out of the cave.

Can you imagine 800 myriads of gods searching for roosters? The gods assembled all the cocks they could find in front of the cave and propped up a mirror and some jewelry in front of the cave. Another goddess, Amenouzume wanted to get the crowd of gods going, so she turned over a tub to act as her impromptu stage, partially disrobed and started dancing.

Amaterasu – Raku Pottery Vase, Details

The gods were delighted to see the show and were laughing and having a good time, and Amaterasu was puzzled as to how everyone could be so happy while the world was in darkness.

To complete their plan, the gods told Amaterasu that there was a god more illustrious and beautiful than she was outside of the cave. Both shocked and curious, she peaked outside of the cave and is if on cue, all those roosters started to crow, and then she saw her reflection in the mirror and was thus lured out of the cave.

Amaterasu – Raku Pottery Vase

Amaterasu, there is no god or vase more beautiful than you. If you want to find out and check out more vases and their stories, you can do so here. What do you think of this vase and story?

On The Wheel Wednesday

Opening up Creates more space From the inside out are we so different?

How-To: Make Peace With Your Mother-In-Law Instead Of Making Babies In A Never Ending Competition Of Fertility That You Will Never Win (And Don’t Actually Want To Anyway)

‘Nereus & Doris‘ focuses on the virtuous power couple of the sea, known for their fertility and general good nature. If you know anything about Greek mythology, which is a lot like reality television, this could only mean one thing.

They would be replaced. Nereus & Doris – $150
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Nereus, son of Gaia, was an honest man, known for never lying. But there was something fishy about him, and I don’t just mean his scales and tail. Maybe it was his shapeshifting ways, or his prophetic visions.

Doris was the daughter of Oceanus, and was known for the fertility of the oceans and her womb, for it is not every goddess who has the strength and tenacity to birth more than 50 children. There is even a cove named after her in Antarctica. Unfortunately her mother in law Gaia was always at her to have more children.

Nereus – $38
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Doris – $ 124
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While it’s true that this couple had over 50 children together

It was never enough for Nereus, who was a bit of a momma’s boy. Add to that his ability to never lie, and we have a real problem.

Outwardly, no one even realized to ask if there was anything wrong with this watery super couple, which is a good thing, or Nereus would have to tell the truth. But behind the scenes, the tell tale signs of problems were almost there from the start.

Doris was pretty happy to end up with Nereus. She wasn’t wet behind the ears when it came to god like status, and she seized the chance to marry up-and-comer Nereus, who would eventually replace her own father as god of the sea.

She hadn’t anticipated the impact of her new mother in law who also happened to be her grandmother. In almost an instant her grandma Gaia had gone from a largely absentee grandma how sent the occasional birthday card to a mother in law who only cared about one thing: Doris making more babies.

At first Doris took this in stride, and maintained her composure

But eventually after birthing 50 children she had enough. She decided to talk to her honest husband, who could not lie.

Nereus, who took after his mother, wanted more children. As the god of the sea he felt the need to constantly have more children, and poor Doris was left to care for all her children.

Doris knew that in order for their love to continue and for her to have a break from labour pains that something needed to change. She not only resisted the pressure of mother-in-law Gaia to have more children, but she prepared her daughter Amphitrite to take over for her.

Doris then set her up with another up-and-comer in the ocean, Poseidon, who would eventually become the new god and king of the sea, thereby freeing herself from the chains of constant labour.

But unlike other dethroned old gods, Nereus was able to fade into obscurity with Doris, where they lie deep below the murky depths.

This was finally Doris’ Day. Doris – $ 124
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You can check out more of our raku pottery vases (and their stories) here

Keep Peace And Compassion Close To Your Heart In These Trying Times

It’s only a Month Until the spring equinox

And while we look back on the year so far, it may be helpful to have a bit more inner peace. One way to do that is by bringing a little raku Buddha close to your heart.

Each has been lovingly handmade and fired at the Alchemist’s Studio and has it’s own unique raku effects.

From now until the equinox, our raku buddha necklaces –regularly priced for $28 are $25

and that includes shipping anywhere in the US and Canada

(please contact if you are outside of this area).

So if you have had one of these pendants in mind, now is a great time to get it

You can also see a selection of our non-Buddha jewelry here

Also did you ever notice compassion has “compass” in it?

I was today years old when I realized it!

The Myth of Family (Day)

In 2019, before COVID would stop these sorts of things, I had my first solo pottery show “The Myth of Family” at Oxford Riverside Gallery.

On this Family Day holiday, I wanted to give those who were unable to attend the opportunity to have an inside look at the show. Below is a short video that highlights some of the pieces in this exhibit, and will give you a feel for the gallery.

Art Exhibit – ‘The Myth of Family‘ – A Showcase of Raku PotteryI am pleased to be able to say that the night was a great success, and a number of these pieces have sold!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the lovely souls who took the time to attend and view my pieces. You helped make this moment special for me!

I would also like to acknowledge the professionalism and hard work of Mathew at the Oxford Riverside Gallery for the opportunity to show my work. Your knowledge, insights and help were incredibly appreciated!

Please let me know what you think of the video and which piece was your favourite in the show in the comments below.

You can also view more of my vase creations here.

May your Family Day
(and every day!)
be filled with love!