Jay Jasper's Blog, page 98

It’s getting hygge in here

Hygge is the Danish concept of being cozy. And it can be made where you are.

There is nothing quite like being cozy inside when the outside world is wrapped in a blanket of fresh snow.

Hot chocolate and waffles are on the menu for dinner today!

What is your coziest memory or favourite way to be cozy?

Transitions

One of the More curious times in the creation of raku pottery

Is the change that occurs during a glaze firing. Beforehand, we set up the firing scenario to be in the best possible situation to reach a certain result, but once the kiln and reduction containers are closed

it is up to the fates.

It is with this in mind,
that we bring you “Transitions.”Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to make sure you don’t miss any of our videos!“A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you’re in and take advantage of it.”– Nikki Giovanni

Announcing the winner!

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support for the studio.

It’s been an amazing ride to my dream of setting up my pottery studio so far. That would not be possible without those of you who read my blog, like my posts, share what we are doing, and last but not least, those who have been kind enough to purchase pottery.

As part of that, the end of 2020 involved a contest to guess the number of ornaments on our tree (see below) and the winner closest would win an ornament from the tree!

Guess the number of handmade ornaments on the tree and win!

Yes, the tree has been down for awhile but we of course did not want to miss out on announcing our winner with a guess of 73 ornaments: dumbestblogger!

Turns out he was pretty smart after all!

Our next contest is live!

Once we hit 500 newsletter subscribers, we will be drawing for a prize that will include a copy of our book ‘A Potters Dream: Myths & Legends’ and a beautiful handmade ornament! You can subscribe to our Newsletter by going to https://rakupottery.ca/newsletter/

Don’t worry, if you are already a subscriber, you are automatically entered. Share on Twitter or Facebook to help the draw come even sooner!

You can also see more orn ments here if you are curious

Mugshot Monday

How to drink hot tea1.Make cup of tea2. Sip tea3. Tea is too hot4. Let tea cool5. Forget you have a cup of tea Mug 10 $35

Shipping Included in US and Canada

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.

A ‘Great Pottery Gift Basket’ For You

We are doing one BIG give away this year!

And not only can you win, but you can help determine how many things go in the prize basket! To participate, all you need to do is sign up for our newsletter here:

As our newsletter audience grows, so will the number of pieces of pottery I add to the basket!

One lucky winner will receive what I hope to be a grand haul of pottery!

We will start things off small, with this tiny piece below:

Starting off with a tortoise in the race may seem to be a foolish strategy, but remember, in the end
they were the one who won

And maybe you will too! Sign up for our newsletter today for your chance, and you may win this gift basket, with which your help will be full of great items!

Submit a form.

Don’t worry if you’ve already signed up – you are already entered! Please feel free to follow us on our social media (top right of page) and share the contest so we can add even more pieces of pottery to the gift basket.

How Pottery Helped My PTSD

I have a confession to make. This blog is, after all, Confessions of a Pot-a-holic.

This is a case where I have given everything away in the headline. I mean why not? I am going to get a little vulnerable here.

My confession is that I have PTSD.

Now my intention is not to get into the reasons behind this, or how much PTSD sucks sometimes. I want to talk about the one thing that has made the biggest difference in helping my journey of healing.

Throwing pottery on a wheel.

Putting the finishing touches on a vase.

Probably not the answer you were expecting. And I stumbled upon this quite by accident.

It was never my intention to learn to throw on a potter’s wheel to help my PTSD. In fact, learning how to center clay on a potter’s wheel may have made it slightly worse some days! But yet there was something about it that kept me coming back.

Was I under the spell of the clay? Or was I looking to create some order inside me?

It took me awhile to find out. I was not a natural. To be honest, I kind of sucked. I was also not in a place of order.

Like the un-centered clay I was slightly off kilter. Some days, more so than others. But, I was determined.

I would center that clay. And one day I did. Perfectly.

And beyond my joy at actually doing it I felt something else. A calmness. A peace. And maybe a little bit of serenity.

And also fear. The fear that I would never be able to do it again. That maybe it was just a fluke. That maybe it was just a lucky coincidence.

Click to view slideshow.

But it wasn’t. I may have not centered the clay every time perfectly. But that became a more frequent occurrence. And then it became easier and easier, until eventually I could center the clay perfectly. Every time. And it became easy.

And as I progressed, I also felt a lot more centered. It felt like being in the flow, going with the tide, floating down a gentle stream.

I have yet to master the art of levitation, but have some pretty zen days!

Was the clay a metaphor for my own journey?

I believe it was more than that.

There is a moment, just before centering clay on a potters wheel, where everything goes from chaos to order. Where the clay glides effortlessly through your hands. There is a certain stillness in that moment. Not only for the hands, but also for the mind.

There is a stillness in the clay once it is centered. And for some reason it cultivates a stillness within me and as I open up the pot, raise the walls and shape it, I am in the flow.

Things don’t always go how I plan. Sometimes I pull the walls too thin. Sometimes I react too quickly and the pot gets bumped. Sometimes I stretch the clay too much when shaping it. Sometimes the pot collapses.

But do you know what the beautiful thing about clay is?

You can wedge it back together. And get it back on the wheel.

The wheel still moves, but eventually, the clay is centered.

And somehow, so am I.

Wishing you all inner peace,

The Alchemist

**Photo Credit: Peter Reid Photography**

This Week At The Studio In Photos

Turquoise Sunrise was sent off to it’s new home! The forest on a clear day reminds of looking up close
at the retina of a blue eye New owls were added to the Raku Owl page, including this
Floral Owl – $75
Shipping Included In US and Canada
Cozy and warm inside the Alchemist’s Studio Hooray! Our first Pit-Fired Vase sold and will be shipped off this week!That’s been the week here.

How’s your week been?

Born To Be Wise

“A wise old owl sat on an oak;
The more he saw the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he heard;
Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?” —Unknown

The Raku Owl page has been updated with new pictures, and new owls!

Dark Blue Owl – $75
Shipping Included In US and Canada

Click here to take a look at the new owls!

When You Just Want To Relax But The Babbling Brook Isn’t The Only Thing Talking

‘Gossip Girl‘ pays tribute to a nymph renowned for her beauty named Larunda. Larunda was also known for another trait. She talked a lot. Her parents, try as they might, could not curb this trait and her love of gossip.

Jupiter would provide an answer to solve this dilemma. $120
Free Shipping In US and Canada

As seen at my art exhibit ‘The Myth of Family’

During one of her many gossip sessions, Larunda could not hang onto a very juicy tidbit of information: she ended up revealing Jupiter’s affair with fellow nymph Juturna to Jupiter’s wife Juno. She could not keep such a juicy tidbit of information to herself. So much for the girl code.

That proved to be a very bad idea.

Jupiter was king of the gods in Rome. You mess with Jupiter, you better don’t mess with Jupiter.

His answer? Cut out her tongue and order her escorted by Mercury to Avernus, the gateway to the underworld.

Extreme perhaps, but effective.

You can see more images of the raku pottery vase ‘Gossip Girl’ here.

Our story does not end here.

You know the pretty people who can talk their way out of a speeding ticket? Even without her tongue Larunda managed to weasel her way out of the trip to the Underworld. Mercury fell in love with her and she had two babies.

It was a real labour for her to avoid the Underworld. Literally!

To keep herself safe, she had to remain hidden in a cottage in the woods. That combined without having a tongue, may have been a worse punishment than a trip to the Underworld.

It’s a good thing there was no Facebook or WIFI back then! Larunda might have lost her fingers too!

Let me know what you thought of my vase ‘Gossip Girl’? Have you ever known someone like Larunda? What do you do when confronted with gossip?

You can check out more of my raku vases here, and their stories!

What It’s Like To Dream Together And Create Something Beautiful

You may recollect the Vase of Dreams.

Essentially, it is a project that incorporates your dreams for the world into a piece of raku pottery. The project was interrupted by COVID-19s impact on life around here (read more on that here) but I can happily share that it is now complete and I am very excited to share it with you.

You are an integral part of this piece

The Vase of Dreams was fired in a similar manner to the Healing Vase. This firing included strips of paper as fuel for the reduction and on those strips of paper were the dreams that you have submitted in the comments.

Here are a few of them.

To remember that we are not alone in this world – that we all learn to be considerate of what others are going through instead of glorying in our own misery.

we humans are causing untold damage through deforestation. The world needs to become greener, in more ways than one. To heal the divisions in this country. To find a more equitable future where all are equal and heal the pain of our oppressive past. To embrace the change that comes and unite for a better future.

Just love one another! Let all that we do be done in love.

I hope for healing of every kind needed for each person on this planet. Some need physical healing, some emotional and yet others spiritual.

I would wish that it were possible to heal the minds, bodies and souls of everyone so that the peoples of the world could live together in love and harmony. Raku dreams in fire Await a heated process To bring hope for all

I wish for the world to bravely embrace the strength inside their souls to breed unity so that all life on earth could become whole.Your dreams were the fuel
for firing this vase.