Just Work

Job Opening: JustPotters Manager

2012-01-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

JustPotters is looking for a Manager with vision for ceramics, creative employment for marginalized individuals, beauty, and building on a business that integrates all of these. The ideal candidate would bring a diverse skill-set, a passion for our social mission, and a willingness to be immersed in the details of the work. The JustPotters Manager oversees all aspects of the social enterprise, working under the direction of one of JustWork’s General Managers. See the full job posting at this link. Email David Holcomb at david.holcomb@justwork.ca for more details.

Thanks for your support of A Taste of Dignity

2011-11-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few moments of the evening captured.

JustPotters at Christmas Craft Fairs

2011-11-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

Come and say hello and purchase beautiful JustPotters wares at one of these local spots:

November 18-19	All Handmade Sale (Eastside Culture Crawl weekend)	1803 Salsbury Ave, East Vancouver	Friday night 6-9:30 Saturday 9-4
November 24-27	Make It!	Croation Centre 3250 Commercial Dr	Thurs 4-9 Fri 11-8 Sat 11-6 Sun 11-5
December 1	Regent Artisan Sale	Regent College Atrium	Thurs 11-4ish
December 3	Crafts for a Cause	Rhizome Café	Sat 6-10
December 4	Got Craft	The Legion Commercial Drive	Sun 10-5
December 13	Auxiliary to BC Women's Hospital Christmas Market	Auditorium at the BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre 4500 Oak Street	Tues 11:00 - 3:30 pm

A Taste of Dignity

2011-09-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

See our Taste of Dignity page for all of the details of this delicious event.

Terrain Interview

2011-09-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Have you come across Terrain before? They are a beautiful gardenware (and more) store and their new website shopterrain.com has just launched, including an interview with our very own Leigh Wong! We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Terrain in this way as they sell our garden makers.

Have a look at the interview with JustPotters here.

Come and say hello one Sunday...

2011-08-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

JustPotters will be at Artful Sundays with our Commercial Drive mugs and more!

Summer

2011-08-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little slower around the studio lately as everyone is in holidays mode (woohoo!) (picking berries, swimming, gardening...) and many people are away. There is still lots going on behind the scenes however and we're excited to show you some of what we've been working on in the not-to-distant future. Enjoy the sunshine!

Magazine article on us!

2011-07-19T08:41:00.001-07:00

Every little bit of exposure like this helps. Thanks to the light magazine for featuring a small article about JustPotters featuring a photo of Nancy helping Jen on the wheel at the Pottery-24 Kick Off Celebration.

Thanks are in order

2011-07-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Pottery-24 was totally dependent on the energy of you - the Connectors, donors, our friends and supporters and we think it was a great success. Your work made it possible for some great things to be accomplished. Here are a few highlights:

Well over 200 individuals have made donations for the event and almost all of these were brand new to JustWork & JustPotters!

Over $12,000 has been raised so far, and we still have donations trickiling in.

Over $2,000 of pottery was sold during the 24-hour period.

The event has created wonderful momentum as we received so much positive feedback around the idea and the execution.

We hope that you are encouraged by your participation with Pottery-24. No matter whether you have connected many individuals to JustWork as donors or you haven't been able to bring in any, we are grateful for what you are offering. The thought and work that you are expending will reap benefits well into the future, and as a result people will have work, dignity will be gained, and community will be shaped. Thank you!

We would love your feedback around Pottery-24. If you can, please take a few minutes and send us a reply with your thoughts. What aspects made this a success? What areas could we improve? What other ideas should we consider? Email pottery-24@justwork.ca Thanks!

Finally, if you would like to continue supporting JustWork in some way, then we would love to have your help. Here are some possibilities:

Join our email list to stay abreast of JustWork happenings
Invite us to speak at your church or workplace
Sell our pottery to your networks and get some free pottery for yourself! (Just ask us about this new idea)
Promote our enterprises in pottery, catering, and renovations among your friends and co-workers
Volunteer your skills (whether weekly or occasionally) to help with our work
Become a monthly donor

Please send us an email if you want to inquire about any of the above.

Snaps from the Kick-Off Party

2011-07-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for our guests to arrive...

...the room was beautifully set with clay on every table...

...to let creative fingers play. There was a great turn out, with lots of happy chatter...

... while we were entertained by the wonderul Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer...

...and nibbled on an array of delicious food freshly prepared and served by the team from JustCatering.

Some of the many teacups thown over the 24 hours, Nancy and Matt serenade us, Terri shares her experience of volunteering with JustPotters and Robyn's creative "menu".

The pottery wheel began at 6pm Saturday. Guests came and helped us celebrate the kick-off from 7-10, but the pottery wheel didn't stop when they went home... and was still going at 9am the following day thanks to these amazing ladies (and others)... and it continued to go until 6pm Sunday! 24 hours non-stop! Phewf, I'm tired just thinking about it now.

Pottery-24: the first five hours

2011-06-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

5 hours down, 19 more to go!

Getting ready for this weekends big event...

2011-06-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

Pictures:
*Leigh and Olga hand painting designs onto tea cups*
*Finished tea cups which will be given as gifts to Connectors*
*Commercial Drive themed wares including magnets (new addition!) and mugs*
*Post cards we distruibuted around the neighborhood*

We're having a Kick-off Party to launch our 24 hour fundraiser this Saturday from 7-10pm in the lower hall of 1803 East 1st Avenue (above the Pottery Studio) for Connectors, friends and supporters. Following this a group of committed potters and supportive friends (and possibly you if you're interested) will stay up, around the clock for 24 hours and keep the pottery wheel spinning the whole time! If you would like to come along Saturday evening to the Kick-off Party email: pottery-24@justwork.ca for more info. If you are keen to have a go on the wheel or buy some pottery or just want to come and say hello, come and see us on Commercial Drive on the corner of William St on Sunday from 12-6pm.

NB: Incase you've experienced trouble publishing recently... I have too! I was able to compose this message yesterday but 'it' wouldn't let me publish it. I kept getting a message saying "javascript:void(0)". I read that this problem can be connected with Internet Explorer and as we had just installed an update I installed a new version of Google Chrome instead and this browser let me publish.

The Significance of Donations

2011-06-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is. This project has been a long time coming, so we're glad to finally share it with the world. We'd really appreciate if you could spare a few minutes to watch this video which we hope will be a useful tool. As the introduction states:

Our goal is to inform individuals new to social enterprise about the financial challenges that social enterprises face. Also, we want to provide viewers with additional understanding of JustWork as we invite you to partner with us. Thanks for taking the time to watch, learn, and act!

12 steps

2011-06-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

These are the steps Olga went through in the video below. Looking at them now I feel like I may even be brave enough to attempt a mug for myself one day*... we are finalising a new video which we hope to have up this week so please stay tuned. (These sketches didn't make the cut for the video but might interest you.)
By the way, we now have over 65 Connectors signed up! Well on our way to the 100 we are aiming for!

*Just to clarify my inexperience I am quite a new volunteer to JustPotters and pottery in general - the ladies making mugs for remuneration are very well trained and experienced! Sharolyn

Thanks CapChurch

2011-06-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

A BIG thankyou to CapChurch in North Vancouver for a very warm welcome on Sunday. Leigh and Olga were invited to share with the congregation the work of JustPotters and Olga spoke about what JustPotters means for her as an employee. We were very pleased with pottery sales directly after the service and all of the positive feedback and encouragement. Thankyou again to the people from CapChurch for your support. We hope that you will enjoy many a warm cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate in your mugs and think of us often when you do!

Here is a quick video we put together for the presentation which shows Olga turning a block of ordinary clay into a beautiful mug, enjoy!

Pottery is very serious business

2011-05-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

A few recent snaps from a quick video we put together. May be able to upload that soon as well...

Recycling Clay

2011-05-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of what I hope to become a collection of insights into what happens on an average day in the Pottery Studio. I hope you enjoy!

Izac (an Aussie friend visiting) came in yesterday to find out a bit more about what happens in the studio and ended up recycling a whole lot of clay. He couldn't help but break the clay pieces with true percussionist beat and a hammer in each hand. I think it is so wonderful that broken greenware can be salvaged and given a 2nd chance. It is also excellent to see JustPotters working hard to minimise waste in all areas. For anyone not familiar with the process:

1. Broken greenware* is collected in bags according to clay colour
2. Once fully dry, broken pieces are broken down even further into small shards and fine dust using a hammer (or two)
3. Broken clay pieces are placed in a large bucket and water and a little vinegar is added
4. Clay mixture is mixed thoroughly with a paint stirrer type attatchment on a drill until mixture is smooth (sometimes it's necessary to get your hands pretty dirty to confirm this...)
5. Slushy clay mud is then poured into a plaster batt lined with a cloth (allowing water to evaporate) and left to sit and harden for 1-2 weeks depending on the weather.
6. Clay is bagged and labelled and can be used to create new pieces!

*Greenware I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is ceramic ware or clay that has not yet been fired.

Izac loved the slurping sound the mud made when mixing. It's a little like making a cake really, the ultimate mud pie!

Off to a great start

2011-05-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

For more information please email pottery-24@justwork.ca

Making crosses

2011-05-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesdays I have been volunteering at the pottery studio which is home to JustPotters to help out where I can. My husband and I are new to Vancouver and while settling into the neighborhood and looking for work I wanted to keep myself a little bit useful. I have wanted to work with porcelain for a long time, and had looked into doing a short course in the past, so this has been an absolutely wonderful opportunity and I have learnt so much in a short time (there is SO much more to pottery and ceramics than I imagined). I have been making ceramic crosses which will be glazed and re-fired and sold to support the Just Work social enterprise - Just Potters. This such a fantastic initiative, born out of a desire to help the people of East Vancouver in a practical way - through employment opportunities. Stay tuned for pictures of the glazed crosses. Sharolyn

Update in progess

2011-05-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

We are currently updating this blog. Please be patient while we sort a few things out and stay tuned for some exciting new developments!