{"id":96,"date":"2011-03-13T13:10:31","date_gmt":"2011-03-13T18:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lablanchepoterie.com\/?p=96"},"modified":"2011-03-13T13:10:31","modified_gmt":"2011-03-13T18:10:31","slug":"may-you-never-hunger-may-you-never-thirst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/?p=96","title":{"rendered":"“May You Never Hunger. May You Never Thirst.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been working hard these past few weeks against a deadline. In mid-April I’ve promised to deliver 10 commemorative plates to the Ottawa Food Bank<\/a> for their awards Luncheon. The plates are being given to do-gooders in the community who help the Food Bank in many ways.\u00a0I feel extremely honoured to be doing this job.<\/p>\n

I got involved with the Food Bank when I started working with the organization in 2005. There is an\u00a0event that the Ottawa Guild of Potters<\/a> puts on each year to raise money for the Ottawa Food Bank called\u00a0Great Bowls of Fire. <\/em>It\u00a0was something that I’d started with the Guild in 2005 and I must say that I’m very proud to have done so. \u00a0It’s meant a lot to the potters, the city and to the Food Bank.<\/p>\n

Great Bowls of Fire <\/em>was inspired by a program started in the U.S. called Empty Bowls<\/a>. <\/em>A potter from Perth by the name of Jackie Seaton<\/a> also started an Empty Bowls project years ago and I was inspired by the idea so much so that I resigned from my vice presidency with the guild in order to devote all of my energies to getting Great Bowls of Fire <\/em>off the ground.<\/p>\n

The flagship event is always the most difficult one. \u00a0You just never know what can happen, what you’ll need, how many hours you have to put into it. Well I discovered soon enough and I worked many long hours on making that event a success, as did a handful of other potters from the guild in addition to the many talented craftspeople who donated bowls, the 10 restaurants that came with delicious soups (donated) and the dozens of other businesses who donated bread and beverages and the musicians who donated their time and talent to make the event a huge success. \u00a0Imagine that! \u00a0We sold out our first year. \u00a0I was so surprised to see the line up of people in The Glebe Community Centre. \u00a0I really didn’t know what would happen, but something great happened that night and continues every year!<\/p>\n

The name Great Bowls of Fire <\/em>came from one of our past presidents – Chandler Swain<\/a>. \u00a0I thought it was such a great name to call our event. \u00a0I googled it and found only references to chili cook-offs in the southern U.S., so we just went with it!<\/p>\n

Since then the event has run with a rotating list of potters’ guild volunteers who step up to the plate each year to lend a hand. \u00a0We have raised in total, since the beginning, probably close to (if not more than) $75,000 for the Ottawa Food Bank. \u00a0The Food Bank not only services Ottawa but also the Gatineau area.<\/p>\n

That first year I was invited to the Appreciation Lunch and the guild was honoured with a plaque and as Peter Tilly, the director of the Food Bank, took the stage to announce the donations that came in that year, he said that because of the potters guild and the $10,000 we’d raised we had, in effect, paid off the insurance on all of their vehicles. \u00a0What a rewarding experience!<\/p>\n

Many years ago I met a woman who told me an old Celtic prayer:
\n“May You Never Hunger. \u00a0May You Never Thirst.” \u00a0I fell in love with that prayer and have carved it into many pieces of pottery since. \u00a0The first one was an oval platter that I gave to a good friend for her birthday. \u00a0Then I began carving it on the edges of bowls and about two years ago and started donating those bowls to Great Bowls of Fire. <\/em><\/p>\n

Last year I was chosen to make and donate 30 bowls to Great Bowls of Fire <\/em>and about 10 of the bowls I made had the Celtic prayer carved in to the bowl’s lip. \u00a0Honestly it’s tough carving that many words into leather hard clay. \u00a0I got a semi-permanent dent in my writing hand fingers, but it was worth it.<\/p>\n

Imagine my surprise when I was called by our most recent past president, Colette Beardall<\/a> who’d asked me to make commemorative plates for the Food Bank’s Appreciatation Lunch and that the Food Bank wanted “May You Never Hunger. \u00a0May You Never Thirst” inscribed on each plate! \u00a0Imagine the happy people who will receive a lovely hand made plate with that prayer instead of a piece of paper to hang on their wall! \u00a0I, along with 3 other potters received the honour of making those 40 plates.<\/p>\n

I was very pleased indeed! \u00a0I started making my plates as soon as I could and now the first 4 are cooling in bisque kiln as I type. \u00a0I have 3 or 4 more drying and today I will put another two into my plate molds and keep on making them 2 by 2 until I have 12. \u00a0I want 12 just in case, ya know? \u00a0Kevin always said, “If you’re making a 4 piece dinnerware set, make it at least 6 because you just never know what’ll happen. \u00a0And he was right! Something comes up. \u00a0It could be a crack, the plate could end up \u00a0being warped, there could be a problem with the glaze, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

Here’s a peek at the plates being carved.<\/p>\n

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Cleaning up the lettering<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ottawa Food Bank Appreciation Lunch 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

Adding my special touch – my initials; “LM” to the back of the plate.<\/p>\n

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My stamp or "maker's mark."<\/p><\/div>\n

The finished plate – leather hard clay.<\/p>\n

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This will get glazed - blue lettering, white background.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’ve read previous blogs, you know this plate is a style I call “Caveware.” \u00a0This is a 12″ plate that is meant to look uneven on the edges. \u00a0I roll out the clay with my huge<\/em> rolling pin and then place it in a\u00a0mold\u00a0I made from discarded acoustic\u00a0ceiling\u00a0tile. \u00a0I trace an uneven edge then hand cut each plate with my fettling knife. \u00a0After it is set up enough to retain it’s shape when moved, I remove it from the mold, bevel the edges and smooth out the bottom then get to carving the lettering.<\/p>\n

Although the plates ordered by the Food Bank do not need<\/em> to be functional, mine are and are meant to be used. \u00a0Alternately they can be hung up on the wall with the aid of a plate hanger.<\/p>\n

I intend to make a lot \u00a0more of these large plates, which would be nice as a serving platter since they are 12″ and of course more bowls with the same prayer carved into the lip. First things first though. \u00a0Commission for the Food Bank, orders from my customers that are still pending (and of course in progress!), and then the guild spring sale from April 28 – May 1 at which you will likely find said platters and bowls sans the tribute on the back.<\/p>\n

Hey, did you know that the Ottawa Guild of Potters Spring Sale and Exhibition will be at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans<\/a> this year?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been working hard these past few weeks against a deadline. In mid-April I’ve promised to deliver 10 commemorative plates to the Ottawa Food Bank for their awards Luncheon. The plates are being given to do-gooders in the community who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lmserafin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}