The Broken Made Whole

JB Weld is not used in
traditional Kintsugi, but it worked.
Months before my father passed away I accidentally knocked over this piece of pottery I hand made from clay he and I cultivated from the woods. I will never forget the day he drove me miles up the mountain in search of clay. We spoke of our love of nature and of good past memories.

When my little clay pottery fell and broke, my heart sank. It was almost as if the universe was telling me something was going to change drastically. A few months later, it did when he died.


Many pieces carefully epoxied back together.
For a long time I have been enamored with the ancient art of Kintsugi
In brief, it is the art of taking broken pottery and repairing it with glue (of sorts) and gold which makes it even more beautiful. The cracks and the damage all become part of the pottery's history, a part of it's journey, a part of it's beauty. This piece, despite it's mishap, would be put back together.

I decided to use a very fast and untraditional method to weld the piece. Totally NOT Kintsugi, but seeing that this piece had a bit of my father in it and it reminded me so much of him, a carpenter and "handy man", using JB Weld was perfect! The pieces were adhered using JB Weld and once dry the cracks were carefully painted with Gold Leaf paint.

The technique, nor the finish is perfect, but it's perfect for me. The broken put back together.

This journey without my father is going to be a long one. I hope the JB Weld of life holds.....


The final touch...a bit of gold leaf.