Making magnets

We have 2 Australian friends staying at the moment in our little bed and breakfast (our 1 bedroom loft apartment). Today Catherine and Lisa are exploring the Aquarium and hoping to run into some raccoons in Stanley Park. Yesterday they visited the pottery studio with me where everyone was busy getting things ready for our big fundraiser which kicks off this Saturday night. Volunteer help is always appreciated, so they were quickly put to task, thanks girls!

I enjoyed making these magnets - pictured above to the left which are thin slabs of clay I cut out, fired, glazed, fired, put transfers onto, fired and then will add magnets to the back (this process happened over a number of days). I'd like to experiment with this some more! Idea c/o Robyn - thanks Robbo!

More of what's happening on the JustPotters blog.

A new project I have been working on

Remember the crosses I have been making in the pottery studio every Wednesday over the last few months? Part 1, Part 2. Well, Leigh, the lovely lady who co-ordinates JustPotters asked if I would like to help them update their blog (whose most recent post previously was in 2009...). I was glad to have a little project to work on so I would love you to have a look at the fruits of my labour.  The key reason for getting the blog up-to-date is to promote the lead up to a big 24-hour fundraiser coming up. JustPotters runs as a social enterprise to provide employment to people with barriers. All money raised will allow this great project to continue to provide meaningful work for local people.

What I love about this idea is that it is so local and practical. There are so many good causes worldwide and many not-for-profit organisations doing wonderful work, but many of them are so far removed from our life that we have little personal connection. What I love about JustWork is that it they operate in my current backyard - Vancouver. I have had the privelidge of getting to know 5 women who receive employment because of this project and I can attest to the power of this work in their lives.

More personally still, I can attest to the benefit that JustPotters has given me. As a new person to this city, with no friends, no job but with lots of time on my hands I started visiting the pottery studio on Wednesdays to see if I could help. While I was volunteering my time I actually became the recipient of so much more than I gave and I have seen first-hand the outworking of the values JustWork and JustPotters seek to espouse:

empowerment, interdependence, stewardship, transformation

• I have felt the empowerment of doing something meaningful with my time, of learning new pottery skills and making something with my own two hands.
• I have enjoyed the sense of community, the laughs, shared meals and the friendships I have made.
• I have learnt to appreciate resources and to work hard so that the 11am tea break comes by sooner :) and
• I have felt the transformative power of being involved in something bigger than myself. I am learning more and more the value of every individual, every story and every life. I am seeing God at work in the everyday aspects of peoples lives.

If you are interested there are a few ways you can help...

1. Donate safely online through Canada Helps on my giving page. I am aiming to raise $240 by having at least 10 people donate $1 per hour for the event (ie $24 total per person - but every dollar helps)
2. If this concept excites you, you also can become a connector and invite friends to sponsor you. Prizes involved for connectors...
3. If you're in Vancouver come along to the festivities 18-19th June, join in the celebrations, purchase beautiful pottery and maybe even have a go throwing on the wheel which will be going for 24 hours straight! This fundraiser is running in connection with Car-Free Day when Commercial Drive is blocked off and the whole street celebrates. It will be a lot of fun.
4. Spread the news through passing on the details for the JustPotters blog and like us on facebook for updates and more ways you can get involved (you don't have to be local to be a part of this).
5. All of the above!

Thanks friends!

Just Work part 2

Here are some of the finished crosses I have been making after they were fired, glazed and re-fired:

I was also able to glaze some others for firing in the near future. This was all new to me. The glaze colours as you can see them below are very misleading. Some of the pinkish looking ones will become browns, greens and blacks and some of the green looking ones will turn that lovely raspberry red you can see in the picture above. So much science involved in the art of clay and colours!

I have been digging in the garden all day today after Gareth helped Joshua and I pick up about 100KG of manure I had set aside after the sale the other day. It is beautiful and sunny and I love some good, hard physical labour, especially when the resulting garden will provide so much future joy. It is hard-work however so I am having a much needed coffee and halva break. Too nice of a day to eat inside so I'm going back out. Aurevoir!

Just Work

On Wednesdays I have been visiting a pottery studio in East Van to help out where I can. I have wanted to work with porcelain for a long time, and had looked into doing a short course in the past, so this has been an absolutely wonderful opportunity and I have learnt so much in a short time (there is SO much more to pottery and ceramics than I imagined). I have been making ceramic crosses which will be glazed and re-fired and sold to support the Just Work social enterprise - Just Potters. This such a fantastic initiative, born out of a desire to help the people of East Vancouver in a practical way - through employment opportunities. If you have 5 minutes this video explains it beautifully:



They have a facebook page and an etsy site where you can order the beautiful work online. I would love to get some garden markers for my new veggie plot and I am just trying to choose between all of the other mugs, bowls, even a fantastic "berry bowl" which is a gorgeous green and will be great in summer time when berries abound. (There is even more available for purchase in the studio than what is listen online... honey pots, an orange juicer...) Have a look and see for yourself!