Jay Jasper's Blog, page 7

A Pre-Fiona Flower Friday

as we await a visit from Hurricane Fiona,

I wanted to capture the flowers, fruit, fungi and foliage around the studio before the wind potentially blows them around/away.

Enjoying them while I still can.

The morning before Fiona came for a visit. Asters Fungi high in the air. Fern Forest Looking up Colours The Alchemist’s Studio Garden What’s blooming, changing or fruiting near you Today?

Stay safe out there!

Thorsty Thorsday

Thor’s Fight With The Giants
by Mårten Eskil Winge

The word Thursday is derived from Old English Þūnresdæg and Middle English Thuresday (with loss of -n-, first in northern dialects, from influence of Old Norse Þórsdagr) meaning “Thor’s Day”. It was named after the Norse god of Thunder, Thor.

And so we have Thor’s Day.

So what day could be better day than that of Thor to reminisce about ‘Thor’s Veil,” which happens to be the name for this vase.

Thor’s Veil
$148
Includes Shipping In US and Canada

“Thor’s Veil” tells the curious tale of cross dressing gods, an attempted force marriage, a missing hammer, giants and a wedding you will be happy you missed. Thrym, a giant, stole Thor’s hammer and would not return it unless he was allowed to marry Freyja. What was Thor to do? Dress up as a bride of course with Loki the trickster in tow as his handmaiden. Giants must have bad eyesight as they bought the disguise regardless of the many jokes from Loki alluding to the brides manliness.

I guess Thor was no RuPaul.

Our story ends with Thor killing his groom and all the guests in attendance.
Good thing he did not have to go through his wedding night with a giant.

Ouch. That would probably hurt.

A number of these vases are also written about in our first book, “A Potter’s Dream: Myths and Legends” which collects stories across cultures and centuries, adapting them to our pottery with wit, love, compassion and joy. “A Potter’s Dream: Myths and Legends” is a decidedly modern take (as seen above) on the traditional topics of pottery, healing, community – and what it means to be human – all interwoven with the magic of raku and stunning pottery.

Thanks for reading and we hope you have a Thriving and Thunderproof Thursday!

On The Wheel Wednesday

Everything You can imagine Is real ~ Pablo Picasso this is either
a wonderful or terrifying idea
(or both and more!)

What do you think of what Picasso said?

What Do You Offer The Woman Who Has Everything, Including A Foot Fetish?

‘Njord’s Fjord‘ tells the tale an intriguing and cautionary tale of murder, retribution, the follies of choosing a partner by their feet, two possible foot fetishists, and a complicated marriage where their souls just aren’t in it. Today’s story comes from Norse mythology.

Njord’s Fjord
$ 124
Shipping Included In US and Canada
Skadi was a giantess

And she was eagerly awaiting the return of her father Thiazi. After all he had only gone to retrieve the apples of immortality from the gods, who were no match for the prowess of giants.

How long could that actually take, really?

As time passed, she became more and more concerned that her father had not yet returned to their alpine mountain home, but soon that concern became rage as she became convinced that the gods must have somehow killed her father. She put on her powersuit of armor, and also grabbed her father’s sword, and stormed down her mountain to pay those gods a visit.

The guards of Asgard could see Skadi approaching

Because of the flaming sword she carried: the sword prophesized to help end the world. The gods quickly convened and decided it might be better to negotiate with Skadi.

But what largesse can you offer the giantess who has everything? She laughed at their offer of gold, as she had mountains full of gold. But something, or someone, rather caught her eye.

Baldur Dash

Skadi told the gods she’d be willing to forgo her need for revenge in exchange for a husband, and it was the god Baldur who had caught her eye.. Odin agreed to her request, but only under one condition – that she chose her husband by his feet. An odd request to say the least. But Skadi was not one to back down from a challenge.

Odin had noticed Skadi checking out Baldur, and he wanted to protect him from having to marry a giant. But how was Odin so familiar with the feet of these male gods to know how this might influence Skadi’s choice? Maybe Odin should look the gods in the eyes when he is talking to them instead of checking out their feet.

Skadi of course picked the god with the most beautiful feet, thinking they would belong to Baldur. But nay! She was quite disappointed to find out they belonged to Njord.

Njord was the god of the sea and lived in a shipyard, or as I like to call it – Njord’s Fjord.

This was to prove a constant source of tension between the couple as Skadi loved her mountain home and could not abide living by the sea, and Njord absolutely hated life on the mountain. They tried compromising by not staying ‘sole -ly’ in either of their respective locations, but this ‘flip flopping’ of locations only made them both miserable. All that walking was also probably pretty hard on the feet!

So what do you get when you cross a beautiful giantess and a sea man?

Apparently no children.

Skadi would have to wait to have children until after the relationship failed (which did not take long, much like most mass produced shoes today) and she gave Njord the boot.

What did you think of this vase story? And what do you think about ‘Njord’s Fjord’?

Please let us know in the comments below – and have an amazing day!

Thanks for checking out our pottery! You can see more raku vases here.

Morning In The Frost Forest

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.” from an area just slightly lower in elevation to The Alchemist’s Studio garden– J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the RingThis morning it was 2C/35.6F.

The frost just missed us. The Garden is safe for another day. Frosty Mug
$44
Time to warm up!

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.

When do you usually get frost (if you do)?

This Week At The Studio In Photos

A View on the world from here A friendly hello from a dragonfly Fall colours are coming on stronger by the day! A close-up of Argus from earlier this week A rose with leaves getting ready to drop A raccoon caught purple-handed eating grapes! Apples and a few plums from around the yard A Fungi bouquet for you Asters and webs to send you off for a lovely new week!And That’s been the world from here.

How has your week been?

Timing

In September, we harvest grapes for wine so we can once again fill our cups. Gentle Red Goblet
$68
Includes Shipping in US and Canada
Whatever the fruit,
It is always about timing. When are the grapes ripe?
Usually the birds tell us.

But this year,
hiding in the grape vines. it is This raccoon what natural signs do you watch for to tell you things are ready for harvest?

Click here to see more goblet colours!

Whatever the fruit,
we Hope your life’s harvest
is going well today!

Flower Friday

cooler nights mean It’s nearly fall here on
Canada’s east coast

And one of my favourite parts of this time of year are all the flowers, fruit, fungi and foliage around the studio, so I wanted to share them with you, my readers!

“Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower.”

– Albert Camus Fall colours in a nearby tree Asters growing wild What’s blooming, changing or fruiting near you Today?

A Universe Of Us

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” White Pedestal Buddha Bust
$148
Shipping Included In US and Canada
– Buddha

See more Buddha Busts of assorted colours here

What is something that you
love about yourself?

🤢! This Milk Is Sour! 🤢

Our Prologue

‘Argus‘ tells a story that could have been a script for the Real Housewives of Olympus! It tells the tale of betrayal, a jealous goddess, a many eyed monster, a beautiful reward and livestock. Okay, maybe livestock is not be a common feature on the ‘real’ housewives … YET!

$225
Shipping Included In US and Canada
A Humble Priestess

When your father is a cult leader and you’re a woman in the ancient world, your career paths are very limited. It seemed almost natural that Io would end up as a priestess in her father’s cult in Argos dedicated to Hera. She may have thought she was in the land of milk and honey, but all that would change when she was the one producing the milk.

A lustful God

When you’re an ancient god there’s so much to keep you busy. Watching down on everyone, maybe paying a little extra attention to the younger and prettier women, can sure get the hormones flowing. And Zeus wasn’t just any god. He was THE god. And when he saw young priestess named Io in a temple dedicated to his wife he knew he must have her.

You Know Your wife is My Boss, right?

We often think of workplace harassment as a fairly modern development, but Io would have valid reason to disagree. Io worked as a devoted priestess at Hera’s temple. Zeus was Hera’s husband. Do you see where this is going?

It must have been no easy task to say no to the head honcho god, but Io did. She refused him over and over again. Of course Zeus grew tired of this, so he convinced her father to throw her out through his Oracles.

Meanwhile, Back at Olympus

No one knows exactly how Hera found out that her husband was once again lusting and chasing after someone else. A mortal no less! I’d imagine she was sitting around with some of the other goddesses and one of them ‘let it slip’ that her husband was up to his old tricks.

Whichever goddess let the news slip, must have known that Hera could become viciously jealous. #frenemies.

This ain’t the county fair!

Right then and there Hera would have summoned Zeus immediately. And knowing Zeus, he would take his time getting there, he must have had some idea what was in store. You know the other goddesses would wait, glued to their seats for the impending events about to unfold.

Straight away, Hera wasted no time once Zeus arrived. She demanded Io be brought before them. And once she was? Hera immediately turned her into a cow. Talk about Hera ‘milking’ the situation.

Rightfully concerned that her husband would not let this end here, she had her loyal servant Argus keep an eye or a hundred on the now bovine Io. Argus was literally a monster with 100 eyes, and the namesake of our vase.

If goddesses wore hair extensions, this is when Hera would flip her hair satisfyingly.

A womanizer gets a case of conscience

Hera was not wrong about Zeus not letting go of the mortal of his desire. Perhaps his role in the transformation of poor Io into a cow impacted his conscience. Or maybe it was he still hadn’t gotten the girl after all this trouble?

Zeus decided to send messenger god Hermes to kill Argus, which he did by enchanting him into a deep sleep by playing his flute and then smiting him.

But Hera knew! And prior to the smiting she had all of Argus’ eyes transferred to the tail of a peacock. She told all her friends it was to honour his loyalty and thank her friend.

Did I mention she had a chariot pulled by peacocks?

Next time on ‘As the Pottery Wheel Turns’

What is going to happen to our bovine friend wandering around trying to find her way back to Greece? Will she be able to retake her human form, or will she be relegated to a life making ice cream for the gods? And what of our Greek ‘adonis’ (no not that Adonis) Zeus? Will he help poor Io to restore her form and finally get the girl?

What do you think of this vase and the story that goes with it? Next time, Io gets her own vase, so be sure to stay tuned! And if you want to read more vase stories, be sure to check out our raku vase gallery! It’s full of them.