Pottery @ MindSay 
There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful
antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both
liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never
seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't
understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was
just a lump of red clay.
My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and
I yelled out, "Don't do that." "I don't like it!" "Let me alone," but He
only smiled, and gently said; "Not yet!"
Then. WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun
around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going
to be sick" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly
'Not yet.'
He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit
himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I
yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!"
I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips, as he
shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet.'
When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He
carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh,
that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought. But, after I
cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes
were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it; Stop I
cried. He only shook his head and said. 'Not yet!'.
Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the
first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I
begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never
make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and h e took
me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and
waited, wondering "What's he going to do to me next?"
An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.' And I
did. I said, "That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm
beautiful!"
Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it
hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone,
you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the
wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and
it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there,
you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and
painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have
hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put
you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long
because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished
product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you."
The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of
us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us,
and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we
may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing
and perfect will.
So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed
almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of
control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when
life seems unbearable, try this . .
Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest teacup, sit down and
think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter
Animation discovered on 5,200-year-old pottery
The wild goat motif can be seen on Iranian pottery dating back to the 4th millennium BCE, as well as jewellery pieces especially among Cassite tribes of ancient Luristan. However, the oldest wild goat representation in Iran was discovered in Negaran Valley in Sardast region, 37 kilometers from Nahok village near Saravan back in 1999. The engraved painting of wild goat is part of an important collection of lithoglyphs dating back to 8000 BCE. However, wild goat representation with a tree is associated with Murkum, a mother goddess who was worshipped by all the Indo-Iranian women of the Haramosh valley in modern Pakistan, which culturally had closer ties with Indus and subsequently the Burnt City civilisations, than Mesopotamia, which could had influenced the ancient potter who made this unique piece. Source:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/animation-discovered.html
This is the cup I just bought from my lovely friend RPM
Isn't it beautiful? I saw it and said I MUST HAVE YOU FOR MY OWN.
So without another thought, I bought it.
Heck the price was reasonable anyway.
I am going to get it in my hands by the end of the week.
It makes me feel all placid like a pool of still water.
Put me on your wheel and spin me
shape me to your desire
slip me score me
let me dry
and trim me fare
Put me in and fire me off
glaze me gloss me
add more heat
take me out
I'm yours
There is a good chance I will become a 4-H leader! The local extension agent and I met during a substitute teaching day, and I told her I teach Art out of my home studio. She was impressed and then a week later, her associate calls me in for an interview. They need an Art Club in our county. I really don't need another "volunteer position" on my plate, but this may be something that brings in more students to my Studio.
I just found out about a position at St. Patricks north of here and sent my resume. This is a Science Teacher position, so I hope I at least get an interview. It is only a 40 minute drive so it would be great to land this. Say a prayer for this opportunity to come for me. It would be so good to just have a full time teaching position during the school year and to just teach art out of my studio during the summers. I am so DONE with substitute teaching. You
I am planning on re-scheduling this grouping of Art classes I had posted here to start in March - if no body calls to sign up by tomorrow. Art Class description sheets can be picked up at Jamie's Crafts downtown, for those of you who have been personally invited here. I really do not mind right now, because I just threw four rather nice pots on my pottery wheel. It is giving me a chance to use up some old clay and get my new wedging table broken in. I also have some painting ideas for lesson plans to paint out in advance.
There is also a possibility that I will be returning to Detroit in the Spring for a short mural job! I am getting excited about this. I will keep you informed about this as it comes about.
See my Detroit murals. Just take this link http://photobucket.com/albums/c136/tiger-croc/?sc=1&multi=8 to my Photobucket Album.
If you would like to see even more of my art work, there is another bloggy site that I upload to. It is called DeviantArt. http://tiger-croc.deviantart.com/ You can go there and just click on my gallery. No need to take time to join or comment there though. I have a difficult time sending and answering messages when I could be creating something instead. I think that's a common thing, so forgive me if I don't answer here or there right away. .
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]