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Small shop update

My goals for 2023 include re-establishing a daily yoga practice (because, among other things, it’s GREAT for stabilizing achy potter wrists!), and doing something (anything) creative every day.

So, I’ve been doing some website design for the last couple of days while my reclaim slakes so I can re-wedge it; and I’ve decided to release a few of my favourite pieces to make room for some new adventures in mud. Check it out!

  • Donut Vase glazed in matte turquoise, embellished with unglazed clay.
  • Double donut vase - two toroid forms in PSH 455 speckle clay with matte turquoise glaze and unglazed embellishments.
  • Donut vase on a narrow foot. Partially glazed with black and metallic silver.
  • stack of 4 plates, with one plate standing up to show the food surface of the plate. Plates are made of PSH dark granite clay body and are a variable gray colour, glazed in a clear glaze.
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It’s been a while :)

Happy 2023!! I’m not sure where 2022 went (or, 2021, for that matter), but let’s just say that life got in the way of my muddier pursuits for a while there.

But, I’m back and feeling creatively recharged with some big plans for 2023. You’re welcome along on the ride!

Since the mud business has been on the back burner, we haven’t been able to make as many donations as we’d like, but we did have the opportunity recently to donate about $400 worth of pottery to a fundraiser hosted by one of my neighbours for a project in Guatemala that helps create and support community kitchens in areas impacted by mudslides and other challenges.

In the spring of 2022, I had the amazing opportunity to run a 4 week pottery making session with the Keeping Six art collective. It was so rewarding to work with such a diverse and engaged group of artists, and to see inside their creative minds while getting our hands dirty. It’s a program that makes me so very excited, and one that genuinely deserves our community’s support.

In December, 2022, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to share some of my recent work at the Art Gallery of Burlington. I thought grad school had immunized me against imposter syndrome, but… I was very wrong. There is nothing as scary — and rewarding — as sharing pieces of your heart with people with amazing technical and creative skills. It was quite a thrill for this lil’ amateur!

A shot along a glass shelf holding three matte turquoise "donut" vases with raw clay embellishments.
A family of donut vases on display at the Art Gallery of Burlington

There are some new additions to our family of community projects and organizations that we’re prioritizing for donations. As always, the focus is on grassroots projects that don’t have charitable registration numbers (and can’t write donation tax receipts), because they often have additional challenges attracting donors.

I’ve missed you, and I’m excited to be back at the wheel, making a mess.

xo

Kerry

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Giveaway: narwhals need homes!

It’s time for some GIVEAWAYS.
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As I mentioned the other day, the donations in the remaining #100%er #narwhal #ornaments have been made. The ornaments, however, are in need of homes, so… Let’s rehome them!
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Narwhals benefiting Keeping Six, Kyle’s Place, Determination Martial Arts’ community fund, Ladybird Animal Sanctuary, and the cash-in-a-hand fund need homes.
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To enter:

  1. Go to our Instagram page and like the relevant post(s).
  2. Make sure you follow @be.ware_pottery AND whatever orgs/projects your chosen narwhal(s) supported.
  3. Tag a friend (one entry per tag). Share in your stories for 5 additional entries.
  4. If you’re able, please consider also making a donation of cash, time, or needed items to any of our donees (note: this is not required in order to win.) See bio for links.
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    If you’re in the #HamONT area, I’m happy to deliver your narwhal. Otherwise, I’ll mail it to you (but, in that case, you might see it arrive after the holidays.)
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    There are several Narwhals up for grabs. Feel free to enter for any (or all) of them. You’ll need to enter on each individual post (sorry – I couldn’t think of a better way to make sure winners get the one (s) they want).

All winners will be chosen and announced at 8pm on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18.
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This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or in anyway related to Instagram, Facebook, or any other platform you might see it on.
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xo
k

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Donation Update: November/December 2020

I figured I’d wait until I had all the special orders and other things out the door to sort out donations this time around. I was pleasantly surprised to realized that between November 1 and December 9, 2020, we were able to share quite a bit with the amazing people making our community better, kinder, more compassionate, and more accountable.

We continued to make our 10% “reparations” donation to the Kanyenkehaka kanonhses (Mohawk longhouse repair) project at the Six Nations reservation. They’re about 61% of the way toward their fundraising goal, so if you’re moved to help out, please do!!

I made the executive decision (easy, since I’m it for an executive around here, lol) to take the donations for the cash-in-a-hand fund and donate them to Defund HPS. They’ve been working so hard to raise awareness of the importance of addressing houselessness in Hamilton, especially coming into winter; and have been advocating for the redistribution of the large (multi-year) surplus in the HPS budget toward emergency measures to get people housed now. Not surprisingly, the response from both the HPS and from the “leadership” of Hamilton has been generally poor, unconstructive, and absolutely solution-avoidant.

As for the rest of the cash, here’s where it went:

As always, thank you so much for your purchases. We (literally) couldn’t do it without you!

xo,

k

PS/ if you’re looking for more information about the donees, go here.

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1492 Landback Lane Legal Fund Auction, round 2

1492 Land Back Lane

From the 1492 Landback Lane Legal Fund Auction facebook page:

“Haudenosaunee Land Defenders who have been occupying their lands at 1492 Land Back Lane to oppose illegal development are facing expensive legal fees after a recent injunction hearing. Join us to help raise funds for these unjust legal fees that disporportionately fall on Indigenous Land Defenders & Communities challenging the theft of their lands by colonial governments and corporations.”

There is still a great need for funds to help defray the land defenders’ legal bills. The brilliant organizers of the 1492 Landback Lane Legal Fund Auction are back for another round after their incredibly successful first event.

We’ve donated a few cups, and there are so many other awesome donations. This is a wonderful way to both support this important cause and get some gifts (for yourself or for folks on your holiday/appreciations list).

Check it out!

xo

k

Other resources:

1492 Land Back Lane information on Facebook

GoFund Me for legal fund donations: https://ca.gofundme.com/f/legal-fund-1492-land-back-lane

Undulated tumblers for auction.
Undulated tumblers for auction.
Birds on a Wire thumbprint tumbler for auction
Birds on a Wire thumbprint tumbler for auction
1492 Land Back Lane soup bowl donation
shallow soup bowl
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Donation update: October 2020

Hard to believe that it’s been a whole month that we’ve been doing this, and hard to believe it’s only been a month!

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been sending out the donations that have accumulated as a result of your purchases.

To date, we’ve been able to donate $275 back to the community. There are still lots of pots in need of homes — including the “100%ers” for March for Black Lives, the cash-in-a-hand fund, and Determination Martial arts — so, there’s still lots more good we can do.

In case you’re curious, here’s how the donations broke down this time around:

10% of all sales (including the 100%ers) is directed toward a First Nations-led initiative, and for the moment, that project is the Kanyenkahaka kanonhses (Mohawk Longhouse) repair GoFund Me .

For the rest of the donations, they’re either determined by the purchaser or (in the case of the 100%ers) they’re sent directly to the project/group specified in the listing. (Remember: for more information about the donees, you can visit this page.)

For purchases where folks asked us to “choose for them,” we pooled those donations and distributed them evenly among the 7 project choices.

This is an exciting beginning, but there’s still so much we can do. Please share our site, or our instagram feed; buy some pots; and keep being awesome.

xo,

k

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100%ers, round 1

100%ers, round 1

It took a little longer than I’d hoped (due to some disagreements with the clay gods and the laws of physics), but the first round of “100%ers” are ready.

While everything you buy here feeds money back into community initiatives, 100% of the proceeds from these items go back into the community initiative they represent.

The plan is for there to be 100%ers in every update.

If you miss out on the specific pot you want, don’t forget that you can always choose to designate that initiative as the recipient of the donation for anything else that you buy.

Stay tuned for the first report back about donation amounts and destinations!

xo

-k

Top to bottom, left to right: Determination Martial Arts community fund; “cash in a hand” fund; speqtrum Hamilton; Kyle’s Place; Ladybird Animal Sanctuary; March 4 Black Lives; Keeping Six. For information about the initiatives we share your donations with, click here.