Jay Jasper's Blog, page 5

Earth Day 2023

Earth inspired pieces
created from earth (clay) This is a globe I’ve created. I love how the glazes react and meet AnD a second Globe, a much more sombre piece called

“Meltdown”

(in video)A much more serious take on the day.

You can read more about “Meltdown” here

What does Earth Day mean to you?

Take Some Time To Create

Was fortunate to get a little studio time in yesterday evening, and this was the result! Hope your day/week has had a
little creative twist too!

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

Mary Lou Cook

Weekendery

out in the studio later today to get some work on the pottery wheel in! Putting the finishing touches on a vase.Below, is a piece from a raku firing last summer and I will be firing some new pieces soon! What are you up to this weekend?(I Hope it might include
time for creativity and building joy!)

Star-Stuff

Space.The final frontier. These are the chronicles
of an alchemist potter.They’re continuing work To seek out new glaze effects
and new finishes To boldly create things
no one has created before. When the stars are your subject, with their infinite possibilities, the raku firing process is a perfect fit, as no two pieces end up exactly alike.

“The cosmos is within us.

We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”

― Carl Sagan

We Are One

Part of what inspires my work is a deep connection with the wonders of nature and this amazing world we live on. Working with the earth, literally, through clay, deepens my connection, wonder and peace with this interconnectedness. Vase of DreamsWe are one with the Earth, so let’s take good care of it, and each other.

Volatility

The beauty of raku for me is that because of the volatility of the firing process, every piece is unique! Unlimited possibilities coalescing into a singular point. “There is a certain beauty in chaos, magnificence in the uncontrollable.”

― Hafsah Faizal

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 is returning this year! Covered in snow again this morning, but things are getting started!

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!

Intergalactic!

When an earth bound potter tries to capture the celestial on the terrestrial, this is the result. It’s not exactly what I hoped for, but I’m getting closer!

Big World

When the world feels BIG Get Curious about the small May your day be filled with wonder!

See more raku vases here

Getting Better With Age

Raku is a pottery technique that goes back 500 years and is steeped in history and tradition. Each piece is entirely unique due to the many variables in the firing process. All pots in raku are placed in a bin of organic materials while red hot and starved of oxygen. This piece has many complex and beautiful effects, hard to capture them all.

See more raku vases here.