Jamaica part 3

The ceramics workshop was held at the pottery studio located on the Good Hope Estate/Plantation inland in the Cockpit Mountains. I will embellish more on the artists, studio, gallery, and kilns in a later post.

The Good Hope Plantation was first built in 1755 and mainly raised sugar cane. Today they mainly raise citrus, and there is a citrus-packing plant on the grounds. Yes, we did get fresh-squeezed orange juice every morning along with fresh mango and papaya. Yum! The only thing looming to ruin the feeling of perfect paradise on the plantation is its history of slavery.

Here are some bowls I made in Jamaica. There are various momentos in the first one including a tamarind seed that was in a pocket of my dirty shorts--oops, sorry customs.

Jamaica part 2

Here are some pictures from the airport in Montego Bay (what the locals call Mo' Bay) to Good Hope. When I stepped off the plane, it was warm and humid.








Yes, those are bougainvilleas.




The next photo is where Usain Bolt went to high school.




Here are some vases thrown and fired in Jamaica.






Stay tuned for scenes from Good Hope Plantation!

Jamaica part 1

I had an amazing time in Jamaica and learned a lot! The first pictures include someone helping me pack.

Beef patties--My first meal in Jamaica outside the airport, kind of like fleischkechla without the saurkraut.


I will post pictures of the scenery soon.


Here are the bottles that I made in Kansas and bisque-fired and then fired in Jamaica.

Update

What's been going on? Well on April 9th, one of my clay hangouts had an opening reception for a student pottery art show. I had a charcoal drawing up in an art show in junior college, but this was the first time my pottery has ever been in a show. I was so happy to have my some of my friends and family come. It was fun to see my pieces in a gallery setting along with those of fellow classmates.

















I've also been making clay stamps to use on pots, inspired by this DVD!



I hope to take
one of her workshops in person some day and just love her work!











Below are a few bisqued pieces that I will take to wood or soda fire at a workshop that starts this weekend. Where's the workshop, you ask? I'll give you a hint: I need a passport to get there and am pretty sure they will be serving jerk chicken. Hope they have some Blue Mountain coffee, too.

I made a couple of llama stamps and used them on the box and mug.










Please check back for pictures in a couple of weeks!

Raku firing, Spring 2010

Raku firing, Spring of 2010 = Good times, good friends, good food, good mojitos, good weather, and one Jehovah's Witness who didn't get any converts.






FYI Mr. Jehovah's Witness Guy, we thought it was very insulting when you told us our pieces looked like ashtrays. Thanks for the extra fuel (pamphlets) for the kiln, though.

p.s. The first piece I plan on using as a remote control holder, as raku is not food-safe. The third piece is a wall hanging which I like very much!

Lenten rose, lenten link, and church-free lent

This first picture is a Lenten rose. It's usually one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring! Have tried growing them myself, but wasn't successful. These are pictures from the local public gardens.

Please click here to check out my friend's 'Zine(art magazine) regarding lent.



I'm sitting here trying to write this post like I usually do when writing to friends..."Would that sound weird? Should I share that? How do I word that?", etc. All I know is that I gave up church for lent this year. Spring is my favorite time of the year, and that doesn't coincide well with the practice of self-reflection or deprivation or the addition of anything that I don't feel like doing. After surviving the long winter, I don't want to dwell on death and the cross right now.

In the back of my mind, I've had a recurring self-conflicting feeling about trying to get people to conform to my beliefs and telling them that "I have the life, you need to get it, too". I'm not saying the unconventional church I go to is like that, I'm actually wrestling with parts of the Bible. I've been feeling more like I want to keep my ever-changing beliefs personal lately. We don't talk to other people about our sex life, so why are we told we need to share this as well? If we doubt, can we accept some parts and not others?

Maybe the bottom line is that I don't feel like my faith helped me enough through the hardest year of my life (so far) last year and am dealing with the disappointment and wondering if it will help me in the future. Did I not believe or trust enough? Did I not pray enough? Is God mad at me? I don't think so. I do think God loves me even if I don't go to church. And yes, I miss my church friends. I don't want to pretend or try to sing words that I'm not comfortable singing right now.

So for now, I'm taking a break and trying to enjoy the sunny days and emerging daffodils. I'll contemplate the days when my faith did help me through rough times and ponder on what and why it has changed. It's okay if you might not understand this; I don't even understand it myself.

I'll close this with a quote my neighbor-friend Cody shared with me the other day. It's something to think about:

Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with. His mind was created for his own thoughts, not yours or mine. - Henry S. Haskins

p.s. Maybe next post I'll talk about my sex life...or NOT!

Wordless Non-Wednesday (only other bloggers will probably understand this title...or not)