"I was actually getting a Chemo treatment at the Woman and Infant's Breast Health Center and playing with my clay. On the days of getting TAXOL I was there for 6 to 7 hours every week, and I noticed that the Nurses threw away tons of these little medication bottles. The trash was loaded with them. I picked one up and asked what they were and if they were "safe". I took some home, pried the tops off, soaked the labels off and covered them with clay. I made tops for them and brought them back in for the Nurses. They LOVED them and so did some of the women patients who saw me making them. They seemed fascinated with the clay and the colors, and for a while, they made people forget where they were.

"I started giving them away to friends I had made and called them "Wish Bottles". I told my friends to just make a wish, write it down and put it in the bottle, and it would come true. I don't know why, but we all just believed this... maybe because we just wanted to, or that it was something to hold onto. But they LOVED these little bottles, and believe me, it wasn't my art work<G>! They brought together - for one moment - women sharing pain without having to speak about it. Now all the staff have them and they are all over! I bring them down and put them in the window sill, and when the patients ask, the nurses tell them about me and the meaning of the bottles, which now have grown into bottles of hope, too!"
- Diane

That was the origin... here is the contest:

Winners of the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild's
Bottles of Hope Challenge
Bottles of Hope Challenge:

By Sunday at 2:00, please bring your decorated bottles to the designated table in Alumni Hall and make sure they are labeled with your name. Jody Bishel will judge them and the winner of each category will compete for "Best of Show". Winners do not have to be present. Bottles will be donated to chemotherapy patients at the Breast Health Center and Hasbro Children's Hospital, both in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Yale - New Haven Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut.

On the next few pages you will see all the wonderful bottles made by the Contestants of the Bottles of Hope Challenge that was held at the recent Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild Retreat. Here at PCC we commend everyone who devoted their time and creativity to this most charitable of efforts, and we know your beautiful work will truly bring hope to those who receive them.

We would also like to recognize all of the artists who contributed, so if you see your piece on the picture pages, please email Stephen with the bottle number(s) and your name and any category name you may have won, and we will add the information to the photo pages.