Oaks of Righteousness

God whispered an idea into my head, "Make pottery for Africa".  So I set up the studio in the basement.  I've had 2 days of pottery making for a big pottery sale in November to benefit orphans at the Zambia Project. 

These are the first two pieces are part of a series I am calling The Oaks of Righteousness.  They will each have part of the scripture below carved into them.

Isaiah 61;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,^a 

2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

4They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

 I'm planning on making a tree stump cakestand to go with the series.
I also made a whimsicle cakestand;

 here's the basement space I've been making into a studio.  The lower shelves are full of older pieces and tiles. Dorathea's sculpture is on the top right hand side.  I think this sale is going to be great for my kids too, Dorathea wants to sell her own sculptures for the orphans. 

 I am making these pieces to bring the Word of God into the small moments of your day, when you are pouring coffee, or slicing bread.  They are meant to be a comfortable reminder of the truth, that you can hold in your hand. 

What's extra cool about them is that as Christmas gifts they will be a gift to orphans as well, with special tags letting the recipent know about the orphan care the proceeds of the pottery goes toward. 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27

I'm a little excited, can you tell?  More pottery to come!