More pots

Sunday spiritual seconds

Karmen talked about contemplative prayer on her blog the other day which got me to thinking about a prayer retreat I went to a couple of years ago. Artistic prayer was brought up. The picture is what I did with crayons while meditating on scripture. It's a different form but related to Praying in Color (check out this book if you haven't already). We also were able to do fingerpainting.

The following is the Circle or Caim prayer from St. Patrick. It was recited aloud, generally each morning before facing the day, while drawing a circle in the air by slowly spinning from east to west.

The Mighty Three,
My protection be,
Encircling me,
O Sacred Three,
The Mighty Three.

1. Consider what you want to seek from God. Do you need courage, protection, health? What do you want God to do within the circle, and what is it that you want God to keep outside the circle?

2. When you have an idea about what you're praying, begin by standing and closing your eyes in order to center yourself. Listen to your breathing.

3. Raise your arms shoulder height, and with your index finger point either toward heaven or earth.

4. Pray a caim of your choosing as you slowly draw a circle of God's protection around you.

5. See in your mind's eye the boundary of the circle being drawn and God's protection being given.

6. You may also pray a caim for someone else. Instead of drawing a circle around yourself, imagine yourself drawing around the person you are praying for.











p.s. Good job, Chloe, on wrapping me up as a mummy last night!

Greta's sketchbook

Greta's sketchbook
Originally uploaded by kim from kansas

Greta is in my Saturday pottery class. Her personality is so inspiring to me. She shrugs off failures and focuses on the "learning experience" instead of the failure. Oh, and she's very talented (but humble), spiritual, and really cool! She's into tribal art and Picasso, and her and her partner have saved up to travel to places like Africa and the Amazon. They have their priorities straight in my book.

She let me photograph one of her sketchbooks the other day. I love her style!

p.s. To make your own mosaic, click on the "flickr toys" link on the left.

Pay it forward exchange

Chill24 is going to be making me something handmade, and I am offering the same little exchange---Here are the rules:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

now, whose in?

p.s. Have been busy, so I'm betting you'll get your handmade gift after Christmas. It might be pottery; it might be a hemp bracelet...it might be a lapel pin.

From China

My precious friend is back from China, and she brought me back this clay pipe flute thingy! It's the perfect gift! THANK YOU!!!

Bike ride

Went for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon with some friends...We had a nice time. The guys, of course, had to go down the big hill at the park. The only casualty was Ethan who ran down the hill and said he "cracked his knee". Then in the evening he had an allergic reaction to either a dog or ate something with peanuts...poor guy.

Why I'm not at all ready for selling my pottery

On picture #1, the glaze turned out fine, but there's a significant problem...a pinhole in the bottom so it won't hold water. Might make a nice pencil holder. On picture #2, I had to learn that when I low-fire that particular clay it doesn't come out as dark as when it is high-fired. This is all the same color of clay, so I'm still experimenting. On picture #3, the mug does hold water. My husband claimed that one for himself.

Anyways, this hobby is all a big experiment and learning experience for right now. I'm still loving it! I just might sell to Calana, but for very low prices...

I like this one

Clay

Did you know that clay shrinks at least 11% by the time a pot is glazed and finished? I did. Was expecting these to come out bigger. One of these days I'm going to buy one of those rulers that has the shrinkage percentage marked on it.















The form of a pot is its spiritual substance. Its outline, its proportions, the finger marks impressed on its wall, are the simple statement of its creator, spontaneous and personal as his handwriting. The same pot does not happen twice. --Otto Natzler

Corn maze

Went to a corn maze after church last night. It was fun!!! We did the 2-mile route and were supposed to find checkpoints #7 through 12. Guess we missed checkpoints #9 and 10, but didn't use the map. If we got lost, we could've used Chanda's I-Phone to google up our GPS or something. "Not all who wander are lost, just having fun." I downloaded more pictures on my flickr account, but may add more here later. You may click on my flicker logo on the right-hand side to get to it. Thanks, Moni, for getting the tickets!

p.s. My husband was there, but he would be very mad at me if I posted his picture on my blog.

p.p.s. Think my friends Melly and Cody are in Hong Kong sleeping right now. Miss you! You can check out their trip schedule at Melanie-Pearl.

Facts

I've been searching through Cox Cable's On Demand Free Zone lately while I've been on the treadmill. Here's a couple of random facts I remember from watching Inside the Living Body from the National Geographic Channel.

--The average human grows seven miles of hair in their lifetime.
--The average human produces a half a gallon of saliva a day.

Watching the show (Part I and Part II) made me think of this verse--- I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14

The show also made me ponder on what kind of research they had to do to come up with their data. How long did they actually collect the saliva? Just wondering...

Butterflies

There is a contemplative
in all of us,
almost strangled
but still alive,
who craves quiet
enjoyment of the Now,
and longs to touch
the seamless
garment of silence which makes whole.

Alan P. Tory

Got this quote from here.