I have a confession to make. I can be quite clumsy. Fortunately this usually happens when no one is looking!
I may have already mentioned that the raku firing process can be quite volatile and that not every vase survives.
Today I have decided to share with you, one of my beautiful accidents.
This was the largest vase I have yet to throw on the wheel so far, so I have tried to repair it for myself. Unfortunately when I pulled this piece out of reduction I placed it in the cooling water too soon.
What have I learned from all of this? Larger Pottery pieces need more time to cool! I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon. It will be a good way to practice more patience.
Want a vase to call your own? Until May 15th, we are having a sale here at the Alchemist’s Studio. All raku vases (regularly $50 and up depending on size and effects) and owls (regularly $75) are 10% off, and any of our Christmas merchandise is 15% off!
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very beautiful, same happened once to ne with a torn painting, filled in the tear with gold and improved it .x
Thank you! Sometimes something broken and mended can be more beautiful than something that is whole. I hope you are having a wonderful day!
It’s true; sometimes the best (or most beautiful) things are created from mistakes. Velcro was created by mistake (as was antibiotics—I think).
That is very true! I can’t recall the details, but I have heard that and the story behind antibiotics before.
It’s so beautiful still! Just needs some gold filling like in Kintsugi!
I have been thinking the same thing and am contemplating getting some 😉 I hope you are well.
I love it!
Thank you so much 😉
I see no “mistake” — just an adjustment! I look for pottery at garage sales and Good Will and place them outside in the summer on sawed-off tree stumps…they add so much to the atmosphere, are lovely, and someone else’s cast offs. (I wouldn’t put an art piece like that outside). You keep going, girl!
Thanks so much for your kind comments! I love that you do that, and I am sure it looks great. For my broken pots beyond repair, I am going to put them in my garden 😉 I hope you are having a great week!
Your finishes are absolutely beautiful.
Thank you so much for your very kind comment. I hope you are having a great week!
Like scars, cracks add character. I think it’s lovely.
That is a very good insight. I view my scars as part of my history 😉
Me too. 🙂
Does one need to contact you to get a price for each of the pieces? Or am I missing something?
You understand correctly. If there is a piece you are interested in, send me a note via the contact page on my site with the name of the piece you are interested in and I will let you know the full and sale price. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I hope you are all having a wonderful day!
Thank you!
That “mistake” gives that vase a tale to tell. Accident made by man, purposefully done by the art gods. Its beautiful, still 🙂
I appreciate your kind comment and insights! I had a little laugh, because I do pray to the art gods and the kiln gods from time to time 😉 I hope you are having a beautiful day!
You said it ¨beautiful¨ accidents, it was beautiful. Since one member of my family has the habit and the passion to literally go through the trashes in the town, get whatever she wants and then créate a masterpiece. You probably don´t go out in to the trash to seek things, the vasse was beautiful, and i just love the creative mind.
I love the idea of reusing other people’s trash to make something beautiful! The world needs more people like your relative! Usually I pull things from nature to create things. I am putting in a little drift wood tree forest in my garden this year among other projects 😉 I hope you are having a fantastic week!
I am having a fantastic week, you said something about a garden…..for me it translates= garden-barbrku ( I spelled that wrong for sure), hey! I´m down here making a vegetarian barbeque
A vegetarian bbq sounds like a great way to spend a spring afternoon! For me the garden has meant lots of digging and tilling and hauling compost 😉 Glad your week is going so well.
I worked as a gardener, the right word would in english would be ¨handyman¨, the point being that I know one has to put the work in. But at the end, you look at the finish product and you feel good, at least me. Specially if they paid me extra.
You too have a great week, it´s an order.
I do feel good about all the work! It allows me to grow beautiful food, herbs, flowers and fruit! I will have to post some pictures of what I am working on soon. I just got my garlic planted this morning 😉
That is one order I will follow 😉 Thank you again 😉
What teype of vegetables you grow? Any potatoes? Tomatoes? Just curious,
love ya!
I grow both of those and many more. But I love tomatoes – I make my own sauce and salsa. Also grow greens, carrots, beets, peppers, squash pumpkins, celery, brussell sprouts, parsnips, and a number of herbs and also fruits – berries and grapes to make wine 😉
Maybe I will do a monthly post on the garden, so you can see it change as the season progresses. Love ya too 😉
You have to try ¨ gazpacho´
I love gazpacho, a perfect summertime treat of garden goodness!
This piece is just a GORGEOUS as the others. To me? Even more so. I feel a poem coming on, lol! I love this piece, more so than all of the rest. It was an “accident.” However, the process it went through, cracks & all, it still stands firm & MAGNIFICENT. It reminds me of a Japanese process called Kintsukuroi – gold mending of cracked or broken pottery (I’m sure you’ve heard of it),
http://www.becomingwhoyouare.net/japanese-pottery-can-teach-us-feeling-flawed/
This vase reminds me of myself & I connect deeply with it. Absolutely Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing your energy Jay. Great piece indeed.
“Namastè & One Love”❤️💛💚
If that poem comes on, please do share it and I will do the same! Your writing is gorgeous!
Part of my plans include learning how to do Kintsukuroi, because … well accidents … they happen 😉 Not as much as they used to.
It is funny you should share that piece by link, because I somehow ended up seeing the same blog post!
I really appreciate your kind words and insights and of course …
‘Namaste & One Love”
I hope the rest of your week is full of joy and beauty!
Thanks so much for your positive feedback Jay. You’re so refreshing😊 I also don’t believe in coincidences. You’re going to be great at Kintsukuroi, lol!
Your pieces are amazing. I get lost in them at times, lol! When my poem is complete I will gladly share it. Have a beautiful week as well & I thank you again for the positive vibes & well wishes.
As Always,
“Namastè & One Love”❤️💛💚
Always positive vibes and well wishes for you 😉 I can’t wait to see the poem you come up with for the piece.
Namaste & One Love 😉
Awww! Thanks Jay 😊
Go take a look. I just posted it😊❤️💛💚
I love it! It is beautiful beyond words and I would like to share it on my blog in the next day or two if you do not mind! I want that poem to be the official written reflection for this piece. It speaks to my personal experience and it touches my soul!
You are a poetess extradonaire!
Namaste & One Love
(((BOWING GRACEFULLY)))…I thank you ever so much. Trust when I say, I couldn’t have done it without you. You are INSPIRING!
It would be an honor and pleasure to have you post my poem with your piece. It’s Flabbergastingly Awesome, for you to make it an official part of your beautiful & expressive collection.
You & I have much in common. Our Souls messages are embroidered into our craft. I’m ecstatic, lol! I thank you again Jay, for the opportunity to collaborate with you. It’s a heartfelt pleasure & I look forward to future collaborations.
“Namastè & One Love”❤️💛💚🤗😍🥰
You are more than welcome! Your positivity is a beacon and I want to share that and your beautiful words with anyone who wants to hear them!
I will let you know once I have made the post.
I totally feel what you are saying about the our souls and craft being intertwined. I feel like creating beauty and love is my life’s work.
Collaborating with you is dreamy 😉
Namaste and One Love.
Awww stop it, lol!😊 I actually need a moment when viewing your pieces. I feel a variety of vibes, that vary from each piece to the next. It’s something to say the least.
Love is dreamy, lol! It’s the most vital dream of all humanity. Once we overstand this? That’s when the dream becomes reality.😉
“Namastè & One Love”❤️💛💚
P.S. Thanks again for sharing my poetry & vibes. We’re all beacons, lighting the path & helping those that come our way. It’s what makes us humane 🥰❤️💛💚
Your pottery is beautiful
Thanks so much for your kind comment. I hope you are having a fantastic day!
I am, thank you. I wish the same to you
Hi! I am interested in purchasing a vase for my birthday. (May 15.) Do you have an online shop?
Happy upcoming birthday! I am currently using my website as my online shop. The procedure to purchase is to reach us through our contact page by email and include the name of the vase you are interested in and I will send you a price. I thank you for your interest and I am excited to learn which vase you may be interested in.
Thank you!
You are most welcome!
Tis a stunning vase! Mistakes build character. 🙂
Thank you Eugenia! The build character and skills and are always an opportunity for learning. I hope you are having a beautiful day!
🙂
…yes, a stunning vase with character!
Thank you Phil! I hope you are having a great week!
Thanks, you too.
So it seems I´m not the only one clumsy, you can barely see the little crack. And if anybody realizes it you just say is the new ¨in¨thing…… you’re a perfectionist with your art, I admire that. And I give a prayer to the poor vase
haha! I love the way you think. I tend to have some perfectionist tendencies LOL! I will light the candle on the shelf with the vase to go with your prayer. How is your week going so far? Well I hope!
The week is going fantastically hectic, new roommate (so living now with two women, so I might find myself in an asylum…. or they really), at the same time gardening at my parents house since they want to sell the house so in comes Charly who is a Priest and puts the garden perfectly, paint this and that, move this and that, so when people come see the house they see beauty. Quite busy with so much garden my mother has, so much information to say I´m a Priest of a son. Plus I know the woman who is the one who just brought in the prospective clients (known her since we where little kids) and she is hot, so I had to stick around and say hell and again (she never wants I don’t know why…..) to leave her husband and kids and run away with me, maybe not that but I do think about those weird things. Better than thinking about being a serial killer though.
You too I hope you have a great week. Don’t ruin more vases!
Thank you for making me smile on a Monday! I can certainly relate to the gardening, painting and fixing things up. We are in the midst of gardening, fixing up the garage to convert to my studio. It is great you are helping your folks and I am sure your roommates will appreciate your handy energetic ways!
I think we all have those kind of ‘weird’ thoughts 😉 A little daydreaming is good for a smile.
As for your last comment – from your lips to the pottery gods 😉
This is a beautiful piece, I love the color. The repair instantly reminded of an article I read about kintsugi and how the scars on broken pottery can translate to the scars we carry and the repairs we make on ourselves. Like pottery, we are all broken and repaired at some point in our lives. I love seeing imperfections in handmade things, it really adds to the character and story that lives in every piece.
I saw that piece too after the original post of the vase and actually wrote my own piece on that based on my experiences. I love that metaphor. A reader also wrote a beautiful poem about this vase, which I have shared here:
https://rakupottery.ca/kintsukuroi/
Thank you for your kind and meaningful comment. I hope your week is off to a beautiful start!
That’s a beautiful poem. Keep making beautiful things, scars and all! I too hope you enjoy your week.
Thank you so much for your kind comments. Maxwanette’s poem touched me in a profoundly personal way, and thus I had to share it with everyone.
I understand, this platform is a great way to share and open up. It’s good for the writer, myself included, but also good for the readers who may connect with what we’re sharing.
Beautiful vase and I really love the colour.
Thank you so much! I hope you are having a fantastic day!
Still looks absolutely beautiful!
thank you!
Thanks for postinng this